But before you read this entry, it's better that you go and checkout this blog post from the Google blog. It discusses the Google+ project and talks about all the different functions available. Plus there are some really emotional/corny videos which remind you of life insurance ads.
1) Making my Picasa albums public
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Woah there! When signing up, I have to connect my Picasa account with Google+ and make my images public. I don't really have a problem with that, since I don't post pictures of my tits in my Picasa account. In fact, my account is already public and I only use it to host the images I put up on my blogs. But I would still prefer it if Google did not try to merge all of the Google services I use into one giant blob.
2) Changing my username
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On a similar note, my public Google username and my Google+ name has to be the same on sign up. That is why I did not use my real name during the sign up: I want to keep my blogs and my private social networking separate, and would feel uncomfortable if strangers, connecting to me via other Google services, can now know my real name. Which is why I avoid using my real name as often as I can and never give anyone links to my Facebook account.
This puts me in a bit of a dilemma: should I use my real name on my Blogger profile? (I have privacy issues with that.) Or should I use a nickname on my Google+ profile? (But then my friends won't be able to search for me to add me to their network.)
3) Layout
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At first I thought to myself: it looks a tiny bit like Facebook. But then I told myself to shut up and think a bit more.
I rather like the layout, it's nice and simple and all clutter has been brushed away. Everything is so polished looking and sexy - like the shop front of a luxury car dealership. I have no complaints on layout.
And I hope they don't let people customise their layout - before you know it there will be sparkling puppies all over the place.
4) Circles seem a bit complicated
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In writing, the Circle+ idea seems pretty neat - I can control what I share and with whom. I can form my own cliques, much like real life. On second thought, it seems rather complicated. I mean, call me a simpleton (don't do it to my face), but the whole idea of creating all sorts of different circles seems to tax too much on my mind when I am trying to share something.
I find it a bit hard to consider adding all the circles each and every single time I need to share anything (a status update, picture, etc). I understand the privacy idea behind this, but I feel like things are getting way too complicated with circles. If I don't want to share things with someone, I either simply delete them, or put them on a certain privacy list.
I understand that this is not Facebook, and the whole idea behind this project is to create an online sharing experience much like real life sharing. It is an interesting new paradigm, but I am not sure if in this fast paced online world, I am really bothered to create more intricate networks. Personally, social networking for me is black and white: either it is something I want to share, or I don't. If I don't want my mum to know something about me, I don't add her to my network at all, rather than add her to a special "circle".
(Sorry mum, but you were the first person who popped into my head.)
5) Hangouts and Sparks look like fun
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The main thing which excited me was the Hangout option. Video chatting with a group of friends in a cozy social networking environment would be great. Sure, there is Skype, but it never seems to like me for some reason and feels a bit dull. I like the look of the Hangout mode, and it makes chatting to a large group of people very simple.
The Sparks idea seems generic at first, but I rather like it. You can browse through different categories and see links to interesting things you would like to share. I am sure that when more users start using this, the content will get more dynamic and fun.
6) How to "add" someone
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I am a bit confused as to how do you approach someone and add them. Right now, I seem to be able to add anyone I want (via adding them to a "circle) and am able to view their profile and everything.
I am not sure about the privacy settings, and everything seems to be public. Although, since this is just a trial, I don't think this is something which will not change. I am sure more privacy settings will be introduced soon.
7) Merging my whole Google account into Google+
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Like I mentioned before, I don't like the idea of Google trying to join all of it's services into one giant blob of an account. It might help some people, since they might not want to log into a host of different services, but it doesn't help me. I would rather keep my social networking extremely private and only within close friends. The idea of an anonymous blog reader being able to find me and connect with me on my private social network makes me uncomfortable.
If Google+ takes off, and all my friends end up on it, and Google does not allow me the option to separate out my Google+ account from the rest of my Google account, I would either not use it, or shift my blogs to another hosting service, like Wordpress.
Before someone else mentions that I can simply open two separate Google accounts to get over the last point here is the answer:
ReplyDeleteYeh, I guess I CAN open a new Google account. But I am saying that I'd rather NOT.
My point was that, I don't fancy having everything on my Google account bunched up together. I KNOW I CAN hack a simple way around it, but I said that I don't AGREE with it. I'd rather not have multiple accounts and keep having to sign in and out of two different Google accounts (since I would have to keep using both for blogging and Google+ separately). And I don't want to use two different browsers because that is just stupid.
Secondly, someone said that Picasa albums are not made public. Are you SURE? Because when I was joining up, that is the exact notification that came up. It was either join and Picasa albums are public, or don't join. So I don't know.
Lastly, I found Circles and stuff quite taxing to use. Yeh, because this was a PRELIMINARY experience. Maybe I will write a review again when I have used it for 3 weeks in a row, 8 hours per day (kidding).
Yeh, so please read properly and if you have some proper criticisms feel free to comment.