Google+ (Twitter hash tag is #GooglePlus) is the new social media platform from Google. It has many of the features and tools that users have been screaming for on Twitter and Facebook, but those platforms ignore user needs.
I've been on Google+ for a while now, and I like what I see.
Google+ will kill Facebook and I can't wait until it's entirely dead and gone.
Facebook needs to die, wither away, and be eternally forgotten. Facebook is the worst thing that ever happened to the web. It's a mine field of spammy game invites, malicious rogue apps, and personal data quicksand sucking the life and identity out of users.
Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, has famously stated that people are stupid to share all their personal information and preferences on Facebook, as this data is feed to advertisers who use it to target ads at potential customers. All you can do on Facebook is reveal more and more about yourself by clicking Like and Share buttons. It's all rather pointless and futile.
In managing Facebook accounts for clients, I notice that most people only publish one wall post per day, and it's generally frivolous remarks about trendy news events or personal items concerning family, sports, politics, or other private feelings. The goofiest or most inflammatory posts get some comment feedback, but generally nobody interacts with anybody else.
Inspirational quotes pollute the platform as unimaginative consultants hope to make people like them by rehashing the statements of others, rather than share their own expertise in their own words. Companies generally grind out product announcements and sales messages, with very little human warmth or desire to interact with customers.
The dysfunctionality of Facebook is legendary. Your "news feed" contains updates from only a tiny percentage of your friends and it's hard to tell what filters are eliminating the wall posts you thought you'd be seeing. That's okay actually, since Facebook contains mostly trivial banter, silly comments, and sales hype.
I tried using Facebook a couple of times, but finally deleted my account permanently. There is no value to be gained by being on Facebook, unless you have a retail business and want to use it to send messages to customers about new products and discount coupons.
Basically, I consider Facebook to be "Blogging for Dummies" and that's all it will ever be. You can't tweak your page or personalize it easily. It's just a big stupid billboard full of nonsense, spam, and phishing exploits.
Google+ on the other hand is sophisticated platform that empowers users. You can assign people to circles categorizing them as friends, family, acquaintances, or just someone you're following. You have a lot of control over your content, and who gets to see it.
The biggest problem that I've seen in Google+ is the domineering attitude of popular "A Lister" tech pundits who are flooding the platform with relentless links, photos, animated GIFs, and blabbering. They seem to treat Google+ as an alternative Twitter, a frenzied chat room, and get tons of boring comments on every post they publish.
That nonsense will die down as the platform matures and the frenzy abates.
What's nice is that Google+ is intentionally, or by default, poised to be the Facebook Killer, and many smart users are already dancing on the rotting corpse that is Facebook. Die monster die. It's time for users to mutiny and move on to a social media platform that respects user privacy and user-centric features.
Let's just hope the API, when opened to developers, doesn't result in floods of spammy game invites.
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