Since its introduction in July 2011, Google’s answer to social networking has divided opinion across the digital community. This critique will analyse the pros and cons of Google+ and whether it has the potential to compete with the big hitters such as Twitter and Facebook.
Pros
Google+ Hangouts
Google+ Hangouts bring people across the world together in one convenient conversation. Google has been slowly but surely adding features to its Hangouts such as the “Live Q&A” app and slowly turning what began as a simple video chat app into a worldwide broadcasting service. There has been some success getting high-profile people using Hangouts, including President Obama during the last US presidential elections, but it has proved to be just as popular amongst the not-so-famous alike.
From live ‘Cookathons’ to academics sharing lectures and insights, Hangouts appear to be making waves which are set to continue. What makes Google+ Hangouts exciting is that Twitter and Facebook are yet to introduce this; this certainly gives Google+ the edge over its competitors.
Circles and Communities
Introduced in 2012 as a response to Facebook groups and to Twitter #hashtag conversations, Google+ Communities are growing quickly and are incredibly engaging. This is by no means an innovation to social networking but this feature allows users to tread familiar territory and engage in niche conversations as they do on other networks.
On Twitter, you might also use the lists feature to target posts and engage with a particular group of individuals in a particular sector, another great feature of Google+ is Circles, which allow you to segment the people you follow in one easy step. This is less cumbersome than the Twitter lists process and is easier to navigate with its clear visibility. No features lost, but easier functionality gained.
Potential for a Company’s Search
Google+ has the ability to enhance a company’s search and website traffic potential tenfold. Whenever a company shares content on its Google+ page, such as a status or video, elements of this content will be stored into the search results which ultimately means that the traffic to their website could increase.
In addition, with almost every Google+ company page also having a link to the company website, this will in turn increase page views and raise its profile automatically.
Proper Conversation
Although the conciseness of Twitter is what makes so many love it, sometimes you can’t help but feel that 140 characters just isn’t enough to get your point across. Google+ makes it easy to have a detailed conversation with no holds barred.
Similar to Twitter and Facebook, there is also the elegant +name feature which allows users to draw others into the conversation, so no one misses out.
Great for Sharing Creative Media
Scrolling through your Google+ stream is a visually pleasing experience. Imagine the visual loveliness of Pinterest and Instagram combined with the quality of conversation you find in good blog comments. The best of both worlds.
Cons
Confusing Homepage and Layout
Aesthetically, Google+ is brilliant, but many feel like they can get a bit lost finding their way around it. Without a doubt, this will get better with more use and practice, but in the meantime people are a little stumped. This is the case even when it comes to finding something as simple as their profile page.
Identity Crisis
Google+ has lots of features, but no one really knows what to do with it. Going through the rest of the big social media networks, it’s much easier to name a specific user group to its function.
Twitter for breaking news and networking; Facebook is personal for friends and family; Pinterest is the perfect platform for creatives; LinkedIn for professionals; SnapChat for a younger, cheekier audience who want to keep things private (or not so!) and Instagram is the platform for sharing photos.
Google+, though? That’s less clear. Utility and actual function are what gets you users, and that’s what’s harder to pinpoint with Google+.
Not everyone’s convinced
What’s making it hard for Google+ to launch is that everyone is still a little wary. Instead of throwing themselves into the network and deciding whether they like it or not, individuals and companies are holding back and not wanting to waste their efforts on something that may not potentially take off.
This is the single, main point of failure for Google+; what’s a social network at the end of the day if nobody is using it?!
Closing Words
When I started to write this blog post, I envisaged that there would be more cons than pros to the Google+ debate as the general coverage of Google+ in the press is negative.
However, upon analysis, the potential is undoubtedly brilliant. Google+ needs to play to its strengths, such as Hangouts and Circles, in order to succeed and become a big hitter, and everyday features and design need to be simplified to make it more user friendly.
Most importantly, current users need to spread the word and get their connections on board. A pet peeve of mine, however, is seeing the same post shared across all networks; differentiated content is what’s going to make Google+ an interesting place to be and not just an afterthought following Twitter and Facebook updates.
For companies that want to stand out from the crowd, Google+ is the answer. This will give the edge over competitors and will attract a more independent and discerning crowd, the people who should be targeting to make your business or personal profile boom.
This ingenuity and uniqueness is what will define companies as great thought leaders and forward thinkers, and not just sheep who are afraid to leave the safe environment of the herds on Twitter and Facebook.
