At the time of writing this Google+ is about to hit 10 million users. As an early adopter, Google+ has been a revelation; it has addressed some of the core faults with Facebook. For a nice overview of Google+ see my colleague Jon’s blog post: Google+ 5 First Impressions. Also, be sure to check out these tips for migrating your Facebook contacts to Google+, and with that I present to you 6 reasons to make the switch from Facebook to Google+.
1) The Chance to Start Fresh
Add your real friends to the circles you’re going to share updates with. Don’t like the nosy neighbour who just added you? Stick them in a tertiary circle where they’re practically out of sight and out of mind. Circles will become your new best friend, instead of relying on Facebook’s Edgerank algorithm to decide what you see in top news, Google+’s streams let you decide whose updates you want to see, not who they think you’ll want to see. If you do Google+ right, you’ll also likely avoid having hundreds fake ‘friends’ you probably wouldn’t recognise if you saw them in person.
2) Google+ is a Bit More Grown Up
Maybe it’s just me, but the older I’ve become the less i care about a peripheral friend’s cat or which Irish pub in a suburban mall they just checked-in to. I’m sure all of that will eventually make it’s way to Google+, but they will stay in the circles they’re intended for. Sure Facebook has lists, but they’re difficult to set up and they’re very clunky, cumbersome and definitely an afterthought. Facebook lists do not let you filter what you see in your feed; the only way to do this with Facebook is to painstakingly block people from your newsfeed or better yet unfriend them completely.
3) Google+ Figured Out How To Play Nice
Nobody wants to be mean, that’s why you usually accept those questionable Facebook friend requests from acquaintances, your dog groomer or your mother in law. The beauty of Google+ is that you’re all connected, yet your never sure of whose circles you’re in. Thus, the only real marker of how well you’re connected to someone in Google+ is whether you see posts from them in your stream (what Facebook calls the news feed); and this is only for you, it’s very personal.
4) Data Liberation
Wish you were able to download all the albums, updates, posts, profile info, your newsfeed? Google+ lets you do that. Simply click on your name in the top right hand corner of Google+ and click on Account Settings and select “Data Liberation” from the left-hand menu. Here you’ll be able to download your data into a neatly compressed file, very liberating indeed!
5) Sending Feedback has Never Been So Cool
At the very bottom right hand corner of Google+ there’s a “send feedback” button, and it’s totally worth mentioning. It allows you to highlight areas for improvement visually and redact (black out) any personal information. It’s a feature that not only makes sending feedback easier and more accurate, but it also allows Google to better at interpret and implement user feedback. Hopefully this will lead to more feedback and in turn, a better product.
6) The Google+ Intuitive Interface
Without being a designer myself I can’t comment with too much authority on the Google+ layout, but from a user perspective it is very easy to figure out. As you can see the main navigation buttons are very clean and simple: home, photos, profile and circles.
In Conclusion
While your Google+ stream may not be able to completely sway your attention from your Facebook news feed, give it some time. It’s not likely that one will dominate the other; remember, although there are plenty people curious to try Google+, they still have an uphill battle when it comes to generating an active user base. What’s more likely to happen is Google+ and Facebook will duel it out, making both their products better in the process. A win, win for users no matter which side you’re on.
on
I also like Google+ because of the main fact that you don’t have to feel obligated to add someone and you can block people from seeing certain information/posts. Your information isn’t all out there unless you want it to be and I know you can block people on Facebook; but Google just does it better. No one gets their feelings hurt over not being added. I also love the group chats, you can basically have work meetings online. 🙂
on
I personally don’t like changes so I’m going to stay with Facebook to connect with my friends and family.
However, for business purposes having a Google+ account is very useful.
on
I have given Google + a try, but I don’t think it will become a Facebook killer. I think it is a very different sort of tool.
Maybe your experience with Facebook is different, but most of the time I am on there, my friends are bragging about where they had dinner last night, or how smart their kids are. They are posting funny pictures of cats, or sharing YouTube videos of songs we listened to in High School.
The rest of my Facebook feed is non-stop advertising from businesses that I made the mistake of liking at some point in the past. None of this really holds my interest anymore, and I just don’t sign on to FB very much because of it.
When I started my Google + account, I started following people I didn’t know, but who have interesting things to say. So the signal to noise ratio is much better there, but that could be as much due to who I follow than it is about differences in the platform itself.
on
Perhaps, Facebook will remain the most prominent platform for personal social networking among friends and family; whereas, Google+ pages may become the new venture for online business networking.
on
Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter or Google+, it takes a lot of diligence to keep your feed relevant and only containing the stuff you care about.
on
Google+’s Sparks feature is another important differentiator from Facebook. Spark is Google leveraging its search engine to do something Facebook can’t do—give users an instant wellspring of relevant information to share with friends.
on
Facebook needs to depend on recommendations from friends, where sparks depends on an algorithm to provide you with stories is thinks you will like. What better? An algorithm or your friends? I’m on the fence!