Why You Shouldn't Write Off Google+ Just Yet

TheNextCorner writes "Cmdr Taco writes for The Washington Post on why you shouldn't write off Google+ just yet: "Google+ is technically better than its rivals in a number of key ways. The user interface is comfortable and friendly. It's easy to maintain circles of contacts, and to segregate what you share with each group. Discussions of small-to-medium sizes are manageable and readable — even in real time. Facebook wins when it comes to the open graph and app ecosystem, but a lot of people don't care about that stuff.""

Re:Okay?

[MrEricSir]

...it has still made no big splash.

I'd say it's made a pretty big splash for those of us who haven't "upgraded" our accounts to use Google+. If you're not a Plus member, many links and settings in Google services no longer work or take you to 404 pages. And some of the help docs have been re-written in such a way that they only apply to Plus users.

Re:So?

[bill_mcgonigle]

NSFNet made up much of the Internet backbone for a while. Its AUP prohibited advertising. These were the days of the Internet Yellow Pages and David and Jerry's Guide to the World Wide Web on akebono. This ended on April 30, 1995, and at that point everything exploded - the Internet you see today has been built on advertising revenues.

Image sharing

[nxcho]

I use facebook,g+ and twitter, mostly for maintaining a presence rather than posting personal stuf. But I've discovered that google+ is quite good for sharing images with family and closer friends. The fact that you can can share things with people that doesn't have a g+ account just by their e-mail address means that I can show them whats happening in my life from a single place.

Re:We use Google+ for mini meetings

[Tough Love]

Google Plus's chat feature has rudimentary desktop screening, and is just more convenient than Skype for small group projects.

Not to mention more reliable, responds faster and presence notification is low latency. And doesn't crash like Skype does (some platforms). And seems to have better sound qualilty. And I'm more like to find people actually logged in there, people don't seem to hang on Skype any more like they used to. These days, it's more like send an email or call on a land line or cell phone to set up a Skype call. And that makes sense exactly why?

Re:Google What?

[horza]

With the Google Real Names policy, and always badgering you for your mobile phone number, apparently it is. Hence G+ being a desolate wasteground.

Phillip.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Parable of the format wars

[fiannaFailMan]

Betamax was technically better than VHS. Brunel's wide gauge railway system was technically better than the standard gauge. We all know what became of them. It's the scale of adoption that counts. A squillion people are now in the habit of living their lives through Facebook. They're not going to simultaneously migrate to G+ because of a few bells and whistles no matter how good they are. Sorry Google, you missed the boat on this one.

Re:Image sharing

[partofthepuzzle]

You can also invite people who aren't Google+ users to events via the same invitation that I use for the G+ folks. email address. This is a major usability win for me.

replaces iGoogle

[mathfeel]

Instead of thinking G+ as a Facebook clone/competition, I like to think of it as a replacement of iGoogle, Google's attempt at a personalized home page and portal to all Google's services, now the "social" element. Considering how bad iGoogle used to be, I would say G+ is a great success at replacing it. The interface is so much cleaner now.

Re:Google What?

[Anonymous Coward]

Do you have a browser cache? Because if so, companies can spy on you using e-tags. Hulu was discovered doing it, and others probably are too. No cookies/scripts necessary, just base html.

Hangouts/Youtube

[Anonymous Coward]

The only thing I know people to use G+ for is the hangouts/youtube stream. It makes it easy to do a video podcast with multiple people and not have to deal with the crap livestream/ustream/justin.tv makes you do.

Re:Google What?

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

Yes all that can happen if you don't handle your cookies properly.

You seem to have missed the last ten years worth of advances in systemic internet tracking systems. [eff.org]

Re:Google What?

[knorthern knight]

> Does anyone know the Ip range of the like button so i can drop it in IPtables?

There are half-a-dozen ranges, depending where on the planet you are. The following blocks all of Facebook that I know of (LIKE and facebook.com and various foreign versions). Here are the ranges in both CIDR and traditional formats.

66.220.144.0/20
66.220.144.0 - 66.220.159.255

69.63.176.0/20
69.63.176.0 - 69.63.191.255

69.171.224.0/19
69.171.224.0 - 69.171.255.255

74.119.76.0/22
74.119.76.0 - 74.119.79.255

173.252.64.0/18
173.252.64.0 - 173.252.127.255

204.15.20.0/22
204.15.20.0 - 204.15.23.255