Sunday, July 24, 2011

I'm worried about Google+

I've read a few posts here about the pros of using scarcity as a technique for driving demand for Google+. Initially, I agreed with these ideas, as I waited impatiently for my invite. However, I am having trouble having any fun wasting time on Google+ in the way I am able to on Facebook. At the moment I am attrbituing this to the way Google+ recommends potential friends. These recomendations are based on who I have contacted via email. Aside from a very few close friends and my family, the majority of my email contacts are professional and formal--hence the reason I chose to email them and not Facebook message them in the first place.

Additionally, one of the reasons Facebook can be such a fun time waster, is that a large majority of my Facebook contacts are people I haven't seen or spoken to in a long time. It is psychologically pleasing in many ways to keep up on these people, even if I never message them directly. Google+ will not connect me with these people, and it will be a long time before I start amassing these types of long-lost contacts via Google+. My wonder is whether the new network will survive this psychological missing link. I could be very wrong, and I hope I am as I want Google to succeed, but at the moment it seems like this new network is missing some of the raw human factor that Facebook was able to cultivate early on.

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