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Google+ Thoughts


If you have a Gmail account, you're
either on board or about to be invited. Like it or not. There is no thumb up or down button.

After spending some time exploring the tool, here are some random thoughts in no particular order of importance.

-Overnight you may find that you have a platform that allows you to think out loud instantly.
Plus: No signing in, no evaluating the tool, no time lost comparing it to others, no time convincing your friends to join. You do not need a YouTube account or UStream or Flickr or Ning (remember Ning?). Forget upgrades (Picasa offers unlimited storage if you have a G+ account associated, did you know?). Who needs diverse sources?
Minus: Just one company designing the kind of experiences you'll have. By the same token, never attempt to learn a foreign language that is not spoken by most of the world population. Disambiguation Note: I feverishly subscribe to diversity of content and means for learning.

-You tweet it; they plurk it.
Plus: Your audience is not trapped into 140 characters. They will decide whether your post deserves a near real time response as in Plurk, just a longer tweet, a forum-like troubleshooting thread, a thoughtful post (the one I wanted to link to has limited visibility- ouch) or merely a lazy +1.
Minus: You know how much time you spend posting. When do you end responding a circle?

-You could start blogging (by which I mean, reading, connecting, reflecting and getting comments while learning throughout the process) without knowing anything about blog engines or html. No need to ask people to identify themselves in a comment form, URL, email, captcha for each contribution. All done.
Plus: Fluency. Less stumbling blocks. More participants. Exciting. Short-term.
Minus: Many people rent before buying a home. It's better to have some home. Endurance. Long-term.

-You choose all: What to publish and who will view it. Taking for granted that old fashioned privacy is offline, near privacy is probably a G+ circle.
Plus: Control. At least you control sender direction. Wait for RSS-ing G+ tags. Or am I imagining too much?
Minus: Serendipity escapes control.

-Hanging out with people has never been simpler. No need to integrate video, usernames (Does everybody have an account? That's an old problem). Instant web conferencing platform? Maybe. Publish one. Search for one.
Plus: Anybody could be there.
Minus: Anybody could be there.


Shall we learn in G+?
Of course.
Think of the memoristic education we had and the blogs we write today. How has that been possible? Call me optimistic, but I believe learning rules.

Will it better or worse than (you name it)?
Just different. I don't feel any G+ hype yet, but I'm open to be surprised.

I'm there. Teach me.

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I believe you should apply to Google for an advertising consultant position. You're good at selling Google Plus. Oh, yes. You ARE.

Now that makes me laugh!

I just jotted down my first impressions about G+. I remember I did same with Twitter once. It's fun to read these things after the hype phase wanes.

Anyway, I still expect G+ to surprise me beyond recognition. It just hasn't happened yet.

July 31st 2011.

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