the tindog coffeehouse

Like millions of other techy folks, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on an invite to Google’s new Facebook wannabe, Google+. Now that I’m on, however, I can’t think of a single reason to actually use it.

Way to go, Google.

It’s not that Google+ is a bad product, although while it’s still in its early stages, it’s extremely bare in functionality. Rather, the problem as I see it is that it’s completely unnecessary. There’s nothing it does that other, more established social networks don’t already do, the biggest of course being Facebook. And this redundancy provides absolutely no value whatsoever.

Having been on Google+ three days now, I’ve added 10 people to my Following circle, all of which are people I already follow on Twitter. But only one of those actually posts anything. The other nine? Nothing.

Of the ten people I’ve added, four have added me back. Which is great. But I don’t have anything to post either. Anything I would post to Google+ I would also tweet, and those four people are already following me on Twitter, so what’s the point?

But what about family members and friends and coworkers and that kid who beat me up in junior high? Surely given enough time, they’ll all join in, and then I can add them to their various circles and share other non-tweetable stuff and it’ll be awesome, right? Well, no. I mean, first of all, you’re expecting everyone who’s already on Facebook to leave Facebook and use Google+ instead, and that’s not going to happen. Second, even if it did, is that really a good thing? Personally, I hate Facebook. I hate everything about it. The more I see of my friends and family on Facebook, the more I want to become Amish just so I never have to see another one of their stupid Facebook status updates ever again. (And yes, I know that some Amish actually do have Facebook accounts, which seems incredibly hypocritical to me, but whatever. I digress.)

The point is, I don’t want my Google+ stream to be another Facebook, but I don’t need it to be a carbon copy of my Twitter feed either. So what exactly am I supposed to do with it?

Instead of creating another version of Facebook, Google should do what companies like Gowalla, Foursquare, and Instagram have done: create a service that complements the existing Facebook/Twitter ecosystem instead of replaces it. Such services can act as stand-alone social networks, but they’re successful because they integrate and enhance the Facebook and/or Twitter experience. They extend the socialness of users’ primary networks, and that makes them valuable. So far, Google+ does none of that. There’s no integration with any other third-parties, no easy way to port your latest Instagram pic or Tweet or Foursquare check-in to it, and no way to port Google+ updates to Twitter or Facebook. And even once Google does open its API to third-parties, it’s unclear how that will work with the “circles” concept of Google+.

The bottom line is that at the moment Google+ is nothing more than a novelty, an interesting idea that had it come along four or five years ago would’ve been an instant success. But now that success is far less certain. If Google can convince its early adopters that it’s worth using, then it may actually survive, albeit forever in Facebook’s shadow. But if not, the novelty will soon wear off, and its users will go elsewhere.

Previously:
Welcome to the future
I can’t even pretend to care about Facebook anymore
Proof that in social networks, smaller is actually better
A little social network housecleaning