Google+ again
Google+ has now finally been opened up to those of us using Google Apps-hosted email accounts (e.g., my private email address is on the bibulus.org domain, but it’s Gmail internally).
However, all is still not well.
First of all, there’s a big problem with duplicate accounts: I now have two Google+ accounts, but I really just want one; I’m being offered Google+ for my work account, too, which again I’d prefer to be included in my normal Google+ account. I feel Google have made a huge error by making an equivalence between Google-hosted email accounts and other Google accounts – people tend to have many email addresses, but just one Facebook account.
Secondly, I think it’s disastrous that there’s no posting API for Google+, which means that Twitter, WordPress and the like can’t post to Google+. It’s probably a feature rather than a bug (my guess is that Google are trying to prevent lots of annoying autogenerated contents), but it simply does not tally with the way I (and many others) use social media. When I have something to say, I typically write a blog posting in WordPress which then automatically posts a link to Twitter and Facebook. (Actually, one of the things that are annoying me about Facebook is that it’s hard (or impossible?) to integrate Facebook comments with the comments in WordPress.) I just can’t be bothered posting links manually to Google+, so the likely result is that I won’t post very much there, and people are advised to follow me on Twitter or Facebook instead.
Along the same lines, Google+ seems to force you into using Picasa; however, lots of us are happily using Flickr or whatever, and a lack of integration will just annoy us, it won’t make us use Picasa instead.
Google really need to sort out these issues soon. If they don’t, I fear Google+ won’t ever get close to kicking Facebook off the throne.
For #1, I believe Google Apps are meant to be used for company intranets, where it’s really important that there is no leakage between it and normal Google. Personal users of Apps are using it very differenly from what it’s being developed for.
For #2, I think you hit the nail on the head. Google has been careful to avoid the spammines that other social networks have experienced, see for instance how +Pages can’t circle somebody until that somebody circles them.
For #1, that might well be the case, but Google forgot to tell people that this was the intention, so I know that lots and lots of people have created Google Apps accounts for their private email. Perhaps Google should consider creating two types of Google Apps, and then merging the personal Google Apps with their standard accounts.
For #2, although I understand what Google are trying to avoid, they still need to find a solution, or Google+ will die a quiet death because of lack of contents.
Also (for #1), have a look at this page and tell me where it says it’s “meant to be used for company intranets”.
I guess I was mistaken.