Friday, September 16, 2011

Google+ is a dud

Google’s latest attempt to compete with Facebook in social networking, Google+, is a failure.
The venture got a ton of press when it launched on June 28, primarily because it was by invitation only. When I finally got an invite on July 12, I immediately signed up to check it out. I connected with a few colleagues and tested out various features. But I’ve only been back a few times since.
There isn’t enough going on at Google+ to make me want to come back, much less abandon Facebook and start over. After all, seemingly everybody is on Facebook. So why switch? The experience on Facebook is not that bad.
On the plus side, Google+ has a nice clean look. Facebook looks cluttered by comparison. But that’s not enough to sell me on using Google+.
Except for its innovative Circles feature, Google+ is largely a Facebook copycat.
Plus, I’m already feeling social media fatigue from Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, each of which are distinctly different. I don’t need Google+.
And one more thing – I hate the name Google+. It should be called Google Plus or better yet, Google Circles.
Google+ may have 25 million registered users, according to ComScore, but I doubt a very large percentage is active. Recent articles by TechCrunch and HuffPo suggest that interest in the service is waning.
Even Google CEO Larry Page seems to have lost interest in Google+, Network World reports.
I agree with LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, who said people don’t have enough free time for another social network.
I'm going to let my account go dormant. Maybe it’ll be useful somewhere down the road. But I'm not holding my breath.

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