GAME NEWS:
My time with Google+ has been limited.
Google hasn't begun officially rolling out invites as the social media site is still in its beta stage, but some have learned ways around the limiting options. The invite trick is pretty simple, involves just a little amount of work, and offers those who make the effort an early entry to what is sure to be the next big thing in social media.
For those unaware of exactly what Google+ is, the briefest explanation would be that it is Google's version of Facebook. The question then, of course, is whether or not Google+ will be the 'Facebook killer' much in the same way that Facebook doomed MySpace.
That question, as of yet, is unanswerable.
Last week, Google streamlined their services by adding a few nice touches that actually compliment Google+ well. The first major change that many users noted was the addition of the black line across the top of Google accounts once signed in. These options have been around for awhile now, but the latest addition users with a Google+ account will see is that your name will be displayed on the top left with a + sign next to it. This is your Google+ account and clicking on it will take you straight into the mix.
Upon entering your Google+ page, you'll see a Stream that looks very similar to Facebook's Feed. This is like a newsfeed from your friends, and functions almost like a Facebook 'wall'. The Stream is defined by your Circles, and to go any further we'll have to break down what, exactly, Circles are.
Circles, in my opinion, will be the main reason people switch from using Facebook to Google+. You can create and name a Circle whatever you like, and then you can add anyone to that Circle.
An example here would be a Friends Circle and a Coworkers Circle. Say your best friend Bob has added you on Google+. You can create a Circle of your friends and include Bob in that Circle. Now, whenever you post anything on Google+ you can dictate who has access to see it by defining which Circles can view it. If you want all of your friends to see it, you would add your Friends Circle. Now let's say you've created a Coworker Circle and added Amy to it. You'd rather keep work separate from your personal life, so posting pictures of you, drunk at last weekend's block party, would be set to only be viewed by your Friends Circle rather than you Coworker Circle.
These Circles allow your Google+ account to be as open as you like, all defined by sharing only select aspects of your life with select people.
How frustrating was it when your mother tried to add you as a friend on Facebook, and you had to go back and delete all those embarrassing photos of yourself or face the wrath of questions on why you failed to add her as a friend? Circles fix all that.
Your Stream can be customized by your Circles as well for viewing options. By this I mean you can click on individual Circles to change the view of your Stream to see only posts by users from that Circle.
Right now, Circles seem a bit limited because of so few users with Google+ accounts. It's clear that Google has the right idea in mind when it comes to these Circles, and once more people have Google+ accounts their usefulness will be obvious.
Your Google+ account also comes complete with a Profile page, in which you can add and edit all sorts of fun personal things about yourself. Your Profile page keeps track of all posts by you, your About page, your Videos, and your Buzz page (who's still using this?). The About page has cute additions, like the 'Bragging Rights' section in which you can post fun facts about yourself. There's an occupation setting, as well as an employment and education form. What I particularly liked was the 'Places Lived' form, which lets you use Google Maps to implement your previous addresses, (city/state). You can include any personal information you want here, like phone and address information.
But what really stands out about your Profile page is the ability to set it viewable to certain Circles. This limiting factor in privacy really stands out, and the ability to hide your information from friends and other people you've added seems like a genius move on Google's part.
There's also a snazzy Photos page, which houses all photos you've added and then ones your friends have as well. You can browse these pretty easily and the way Google displays them looks great.
There are two areas in which Google has taken popular ideas off of Facebook and converted them into their own form in Google+. One such area is +1's, which are essentially Google's version of 'Like.' These +1's allow any of your users to basically 'upvote' your post and draw attention to them. You can track all of your +1's, but I saw no other real use here outside of just replacing the Facebook 'Like' button.
Also included here are 'Sparks,' which essentially replace Facebook Pages. You can spark your interest by clicking on things like 'Cycling,' 'Recipes,' and 'Gardening.' I was never a fan of Pages on Facebook, so these Sparks didn't really do much for me. However, I'm sure that adding Sparks to your Google+ account will be a great addition to those who were fans of Pages.
Another thing that will surely be a big draw for many, but isn't really practical at such an early stage, is the Google+ Hangouts. These Hangouts are ways to have group video chats with people in Circles. Many people can be added into the Hangouts, so big group video chats are totally possible. Again, this feature is sure to find a large amount of success once more users sign in to Google+.
The last thing to really discuss is the addition of Google Chat to Google+. The service serves (and even sits) to mimic the Facebook chat option, instead allowing you to chat with any user you have on Google, not just ones with Google+. This seems like a great feature, especially when so many people are still new to Google+.
My time with Google+ has been brief, but only because so few people actually have it right now. I fortunately have eight people active in my circles, but that's mild in comparison to my Facebook account. As such, Google+ isn't serving the purpose of connecting me to a giant, social network, but that is not a knock at the service. Rather, a recognition of the fact that once more people join, there will be many more uses.
If you've received an invite and are on the fence about joining Google+, I can't recommend it enough. It fixes all of the issues and bugs that make Facebook so frustrating, and the privacy options are absolutely fantastic. What's frightening though, is that Google hasn't structured Google+ as a real replacement for Facebook. Rather, they've cloned most Facebook options while adding the genius Circles to the mix. Arguably, if Facebook cloned the Circle option and allowed users to redefine their Friends list based on the inclusion, Google+ wouldn't give users a whole lot of reasons to convert.
The Google+ service has been made available to mobile devices thanks to the new Google+ app, which is currently waiting for approval on the iOS market. It's readily available for Android users.
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