I have been exploring Google+ since a few months now. And inspite of some of its much talked-about features like the advanced security settings and ‘Hangout’, somehow I haven’t really felt a real inclination to go back to it. So I made an attempt to understand why would that be the case. Here are a few thoughts:

1. What’s new here?

To me, the biggest issue or disappointment with Google+ is the lack of real innovation. I just don’t see anything ‘new to do’ here. Everything that I can do here is what I can do on facebook as well - share thoughts (status message), photos, videos, links, like (+1) stuff; and the interface is just too similar as well. There doesn’t seem to be anything compelling enough to get me to shift over to this place and build a social network from scratch. In the past, people moved over from platforms like Orkut to Facebook because of some real big changes to the social experience, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here. I was hoping to see some unique ways of expressing myself or reaching out to people in a way that hasn’t been done before. 

Above: Comparison of their Status Bars.

Above: Comparison of similar Posts on both platforms.

2. Is it like Facebook or is it like Twitter?

Facebook and Twitter are very distinct platforms, though they might have their commonalities. Facebook is where you become ‘friends’ - people get to know a lot about you and vice-versa. Hence somewhere there is certain amount of intimacy that comes into the picture. But Twitter is a platform where you ‘follow’ and ‘get followed’. You say something and people hear - it is more like a ‘leader and supporters’ model. You don’t necessarily need to or get to personally know the people who follow you; hence there isn’t much of intimacy.

Now, on Google+ they have attempted to merge these two - you can connect to people in a Facebook way (so that they can see your photos/statuses/likes etc.); or you can follow them, as in Twitter, wherein you just get to see what they have shared publicly. Though an interesting idea, this muddles up the overall theme of the platform in my opinion. Mixing friends and strangers on the same stage is risky as interaction with these are two are very different activities. It also greatly adds to the overall complexity of the product (explained later as well).

3. Does it make social-networking simpler?

Google+ gives you the provision to create separate groups within the people who you have connected with. It is an advantage that allows you to share stuff with only those people that you want to. Sounds simple isn’t it? But it isn’t that simple after all in my opinion. Firstly, categorizing people into buckets is a task that is extremely difficult - even if you can put each person in multiple buckets; having tried it myself. People categorize others at many levels and on the basis of different criteria, which again changes under scenarios. For example, I might have a good friend at office, with whom I share a lot of non-sensical stuff (a contradiction), but maybe I wouldn’t want to joke about the office/the people there in front of him (a rider) - so which clearly-defined bucket do I put him in? A simple way to segregate the lot is not necessarily simple.

And another very important thing to be considered is the cognitive load that such a categorization adds to the product. I believe it would add a lot of thinking on the user’s part everytime he/she adds a new contact, thinking which circle to put him into, and the act would be repeated again every time he/she shares anything (every status msg/photo/video..). Too much thinking, don’t you think? Maybe.

Above: Sample categorization of Contacts.

4. Does it map actual relationships?

When someone adds you in their circles, you never get to know in what circle has that person done so. So how would you know what kind of relationship is that person trying to build? Is he trying to be friends or just following you? What happens if I get to see someone else’s Google+ page and realize the person whom I had added as a Friend has me as an Acquaintance?

Relationships work two-ways. The intentions have to be transparent, not matter how intimate or formal. Here the intentions never becomes clear.

Above: A sample notification of addition by a contact.

5. Does the information/presentation make more sense? 

On the face of it, the interface is fairly minimalistic and clean, but there are places wherein the information presentation is confusing and can definitely be improved.

Above: Certain Terminologies hold no immediate meaning to the users.

Above: Photo Options on the left are again confusing.

Above: Google+ comments too look cluttered (e.g. too many numbers: +1 / +4 / 1share / 3comments); Facebook on the other hand, through usage of background colour and icons, has them better presented.

Based on the thoughts above, I personally feel Google will have to pull out some real tricks to bring this product to beat the well-established players, maybe by bringing in some elements from its other popular products. Though I have read some raving reviews on the web for Google+, somehow it hasn’t been able to pull me back - it’s still not a breakthrough product for me. Maybe i’ll wait and watch.