Where is...
Where is the +1 button you vultures?
Mountain View has added an "Ignore" option to its gestating Google+, just at the point when interest in the company's social network seemed to be on the wane. Google+ certainly isn't getting the kind of love from tech pundits that it experienced in the first few weeks of its creation. Our special undercover correspondent …
Of course it's on the wane. They have yet again neglected to enable profiles for Google Apps users, just like they did for Wave and Buzz. On top of that, I'm sick of having to opt-out of email chains from enthusiastic beta testers who don't seem to care if I've expressed interest in it or not. This should be opt-in, not opt-out.
The historical meaning is long dead, what with at least half of all web based apps seeming stuck in perpetual Beta, and almost all CD/DVD based apps being shoved out the door before many of the (critical) bugs are fixed.
Google has a history of hiding behind the Beta tag, with even GMail sitting in beta for five years (having only finished beta just over two years ago).
Google's efforts in social networking fail, time and again. Just as with Wave and Buzz, and now with Plus, they make a huge song and dance about it and then make it invitation only. So when people respond to the hype they are stonewalled by the invitation requirement. Seriously, Google's marketing manager must have the IQ of a fucking dormouse.
If you're still only beta testing, then don't make such a huge hype-up about it. Let word of mouth alone build the beta testing userbase, get your beta testers to sign NDAs and keep it under wraps until you're ready to go live. Then, and *only then*, crank up the hype machine when it's ready, exploit all the rumour and secrecy that's built up around it, and let people join up in their millions. Don't wind everyone up with hype and then drive valuable traffic away with an invite wall, which simply causes people to turn away in disgust and either go back to Facebook or on to the next thing. This is the root of Google's social networking problem.
Google will never beat Facebook if they don't consider this fact. In addition, this is their third failed attempt now. People are going to get sick of signing up to these social services only to find their time wasted as yet another one gets cancelled.
Well... As it launched, I thought: Sure, for the first time, I'll join a social network, just to see what it's all about, and if It's good for anything. Then it became invite only, and whlie I could probably get an invite, I don't think I'll bother to. Probably when it goes production, I'll have forgotten everything about it, including why I wanted to try it in the first place.
Never mind. I have lived without facebook, twitter, myspace, geocities etc. for the last 20 years, I can probably live without this next social thingie...
that you tell them who you are.
What I like about the Internet is that you can keep yourself as anonymous as possible -- with a little bit of effort it is quite easy to make yourself totally anonymous (such that even the security services couldn't trace you).
So why, if I don't want people to know who I am, would I SHOUT MY NAME ACROSS THE ETHER?
I once put my real name and address against some demo software I was interested in looking at. It took ages to stop the sales buggers keep ringing me up. And no doubt they sold on my name and address.
Given the above premise social media is not for me. Now as for my alter ego Marcia...
You only see your stream. Yes, your stream is comprised of other folks' published content, but unless Bob reshares all of Joe's content then you haven't described a problem. Further, Joe may not even allow for his content to be reshared. Out of thousands of posts and replies to date, I think I've reshared < 10 pieces of content and certainly not from the same source.
I signed up for the beta of google+ just to see what it was like - I already use other social networks to keep in touch with my friends (I live abroad and it's a very easy way to keep abreast of life at home). I honestly think that google+ is much, much better than Facebook (the main competition) BUT most of my friends have never even heard of it and so I find that there are very few active users in my streams. Facebook has the user base that means that I can keep in touch with all of my friends and know what they are up to. The only people posting on google+ are journalists and I already have RSS feeds and twitter for the people I am interested in, so I don't need google+ for that.
Facebook have managed to effectively create a monopolistic barrier to entry to prevent anyone else from getting into their market. 600 million users? Want to connect with your real world friends? Keep in touch with distant family? Use Facebook. Even if google+ is the best thing ever, it will be years before my mum, my sister and all my non-techy friends move over to it.
Tell me what is wrong with a phone call and/or email then, eh!
Phone calls cost bugger all, and if you use Skype they are even less than bugger all, especially if you are both on it.
You get to actually talk with your friends and family as well.
Group email if you want to impart important news to everyone.
Sheesh! Who the hell NEEDS Facebook.
As long as they don't open the service and noone can go and find out , what's the use ?
I mean .. you can comment , you can talk about it ...
Thing is : the service will have lost all shine and luster when it hits the net wide.
We heard about it for so long now , without being able to get it that it's becoming irrelevant fast.
It's a maybe we'll try it but imho Google+ has lost all interrest because it's been there inaccessible for WAY too long.
Terrible PR and a terrible way to kill a service before it even hits the streets.
Google+ is a non event and it's dead.