Galery

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Ivan Petkov

Rumors about a social networks developed by the giant Google were spread for a long time. After the failure of WAVE, which was more focused on business circles and on joint work on various projects, and not on ordinary users, everyone wondered not about whether Google will create its own social network, but when and especially how. Google + was launched with a closed test, and each tester was able to invite their friends online.
 The first reviews came soon, and the anecdote that best described the situation was:
"- Is Google + something like Facebook?
- No!
- What does it look like then?
- Like Facebook. "

 Indeed, in many ways Google + is reminiscent of Facebook, but it also has its distinctive sides and features that distinguish it from the big "F". Let me present them briefly:

Circles

Perhaps they are the most emblematic in the Google +. This is the organization of your contacts into groups that purely visually seem like circles. It has been made very intuitive and easy, and one can clearly see which circle a person should be included in. Aside from the good visual realization when posting you can choose which circle of friends to share the information with. The content you share is easily filtered and directed, so it always reaches just the people to whom it is directed.

One feature of Google + is that the account you are using is the same as for your Gmail and for any other service of Google. This implies that if you use your account from Gmail, you are immediately logged in with your real name. Thus the following situation occurs that many people shared also their professional information and I personally have currently over 250 professional contacts. Something I can not imagine happening in Facebook, which is perceived as highly personal space and after multiple cases of use of shared personal information on Facebook by employers, many people limited the visibility of the information they publish.

News Feed

This is like the wall of Facebook. Here is viewed the whole stream of information shared by people in your circles. You can like it, or, as it is in Google + (+1). Comments are updated automatically, although Google + was an early test version until recently, my personal feeling is for much more consistent performance, compared with some annoying problems on Facebook, especially the one concerning who will you share the information with. The comments appear in the top black navigation bar, from where you can also answer - this is very convenient especially if you are using your mail or some other services of Google, with the same account you use for Google +!
Overall, the design and functionality of the flow of news is more than satisfactory and in some respects it is also better than the one on Facebook. Videos are displayed much better (it can not be otherwise, given that the vast majority comes from YouTube, which is owned by Google). There is also the option to mark a location which functionality, I guess, will develop further and it is possible to compete successfully with Foursquare and Places on Facebook.

Photos

You can do everything you can do in Facebook, although, in personal opinion, they look better. You can perform also basic processing of the images such as image rotation, color adjustments, as well as to see some details about the photo. You can also link your Google +  profile to the Picasa web album. In the future, is likely to add new features that will further satisfy the expectations and needs of the more demanding users.

Chat options (Hangouts)

With just a few clicks you can create a video chat with people from your circle ... or join one if it is publicly shared. This is extremely useful, especially for people who are away and do not see each other often, without you having to install any specialized program such as Skype. The implementation is at a high level, but still the quality of your internet connection is important.

Sparks

The main concept of Sparks is to gather news on a chosen topic. The way of operation is not quite good and I think that it lacks some settings, as I think that connecting it to Google Reader is much more appropriate, along with its ability to share the news flow. Thus you will be able to follow news recommended by friends, as well as those filtered according to the subject.

Games

Having in mind the popularity, games have on Facebook, it was inevitable for them to also appear in Google +. The good news is that the notices about who of your friends plays what game and what is needed in the game, come in this section. Which is a great relief if among your contacts there are keen gamers. It is very annoying to open and Facebook, trying to filter out the important for me information, from the entire stream of annoying messages about who needs what in their farm or other game.

The games increase in number and diversity in Google+, provided that for the moment they are not many. I have no specific observations, as I am not an avid fan, and I don’t have time, but at first glance I see the hit "Angry Birds".

Mobile application  

I love it, simple, tidy and intuitive. You can easily track status, uploading photos is very good, as well as the sharing of locations. Since quite recently, the owners of Android phones are able to also use video chat in Google +.

What are the prospects for Google +? I think more than good. Google has very good services which in time I believe will be closely integrated with Google +. In addition to Gmail, Picasa, Google Reader and other services that are directly related to social networking, services to support the business are yet to be integrated. Even the aforementioned project WAVE, which was neglected, would now find its rightful place, along with Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google Translate in combination with real-time chat, etc.

I mentioned business services and this is what is currently missing from Google + - company profiles. Surely Google are working on the creation of corporate websites and services, especially related to advertising, where they are a leader. I look forward to what they can offer in this regard.

In conclusion, I want to say that this time Google managed and found the right rhythm. There are more things to add and areas to develop and they do it constantly. It wont be easy, Facebook have huge advantage, but if anyone can compete with Facebook, this is Google. We are awaiting to see when and how they will do that.