Ex-Wave, Ex-Plus engineer on Google Plus • Hacker News Board

Re: Ex-Wave, Ex-Plus engineer on Google Plus

#101

Post by nck4222 » Mon, Jul 11, 2011, 2:38 PM UTC

parfe wrote: post #87

Facebook already has circles! Facebook groups is a distinct feature from facebook lists. Facebook lists are the same feature as Google circles. And the only reason you didn't know this already is that you did not care enough to look, so circles cannot be all that much of a killer feature. To utilize "Facebook Circles" first you must put categorize some friends into a list. https://www.facebook.com/friends/edit/ Click…

"I had originally assumed that he meant facebook would lack the agility to make the necessary technical changes, so central to their system. But I was wrong--the real point was that they would not be willing to change direction so fundamentally. And given such a large, captivated audience you could hardly blame them."

Facebook has always been about sharing every post with every person. You're right, the only difference is that g+ puts the UI in your face. You're forced to put people in circles, and it's stupidly simple. Facebook hides the feature, and in a community filled with highly technical early adopters, someone needs to write multiple step instructions to explain it.

Re: Ex-Wave, Ex-Plus engineer on Google Plus

#102

Post by sequoia » Mon, Jul 11, 2011, 2:49 PM UTC

Didn't read the article, design was too distracting (mouse wheeling with the mouse over the left side does NOT scroll the page). But check out that scrollbar!

::-webkit-scrollbar { width: 10px; }

::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb { border-radius: 10px; background: #ddd; } Thought it must be JS but it's webkit stuff. Can't decide if silly or nice, but I think it's pretty nice.

Re: Ex-Wave, Ex-Plus engineer on Google Plus

#103

Post by parfe » Mon, Jul 11, 2011, 2:49 PM UTC

bmelton wrote: post #99

parfe wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

so use http://www.circlehack.com/ The point is that facebook has the ability but chose NOT to deploy it. There isn't some barrier to "Changing their core product" that the blog author seems to think. with code: https://github.com/voloko/facebook-circles

Specifically, the blog author says that they would be able to technically deploy a 'Circles-like' feature very quickly, but that they would choose not to, because it changes the BEHAVIOR of the core product. You're trying to disagree with the author, but you're both saying the same thing. Oddly enough, that is his point.

Except the feature is already there? and it was there at in 2009, at least. We are not saying the same thing. He was worried Google+ would be trounced by Facebook deploying a clone of circles, except the feature already existed. Facebook has circles but chose to bury the UI. Probably because 99% of people don't care. Like most people here didn't care enough to utilize Lists but somehow think Google Circles is the killer feature facebook doesn't have.

Re: Ex-Wave, Ex-Plus engineer on Google Plus

#104

Post by prostoalex » Mon, Jul 11, 2011, 2:50 PM UTC

Angostura wrote: post #63

spullara wrote: post #5

It amazes me that this engineer appears to not know that Google+ Circles are already implemented in the core of Facebook as Friend Lists (though without a nice UI and pushed aside over time) and that Facebook Groups solve a completely different, unrelated problem.

Do you know anyone who knows how to use Friends lists?

On new friend confirmations it's in your face, i.e. friend confirmation dialog has a dropdown of lists.

Agree it's not obvious for existing friends.

Re: Ex-Wave, Ex-Plus engineer on Google Plus

#105

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jul 11, 2011, 2:54 PM UTC

nck4222 wrote: post #101

parfe wrote: post #87

Facebook already has circles! Facebook groups is a distinct feature from facebook lists. Facebook lists are the same feature as Google circles. And the only reason you didn't know this already is that you did not care enough to look, so circles cannot be all that much of a killer feature. To utilize "Facebook Circles" first you must put categorize some friends into a list. https://www.facebook.com/friends/edit/ Click…

"I had originally assumed that he meant facebook would lack the agility to make the necessary technical changes, so central to their system. But I was wrong--the real point was that they would not be willing to change direction so fundamentally. And given such a large, captivated audience you could hardly blame them." Facebook has always been about sharing every post with every person. You're right, the only differen…

[deleted]

Re: Ex-Wave, Ex-Plus engineer on Google Plus

#106

Post by parfe » Mon, Jul 11, 2011, 2:55 PM UTC

nck4222 wrote: post #101

parfe wrote: post #87

Facebook already has circles! Facebook groups is a distinct feature from facebook lists. Facebook lists are the same feature as Google circles. And the only reason you didn't know this already is that you did not care enough to look, so circles cannot be all that much of a killer feature. To utilize "Facebook Circles" first you must put categorize some friends into a list. https://www.facebook.com/friends/edit/ Click…

"I had originally assumed that he meant facebook would lack the agility to make the necessary technical changes, so central to their system. But I was wrong--the real point was that they would not be willing to change direction so fundamentally. And given such a large, captivated audience you could hardly blame them." Facebook has always been about sharing every post with every person. You're right, the only differen…

Care to write up a Google+ version for the same result that is not "Multi-step"? The only reason people weren't doing this on facebook before is because they never cared to.

Re: Ex-Wave, Ex-Plus engineer on Google Plus

#107

Post by bmelton » Mon, Jul 11, 2011, 2:56 PM UTC

parfe wrote: post #103

bmelton wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Specifically, the blog author says that they would be able to technically deploy a 'Circles-like' feature very quickly, but that they would choose not to, because it changes the BEHAVIOR of the core product. You're trying to disagree with the author, but you're both saying the same thing. Oddly enough, that is his point.

Except the feature is already there? and it was there at in 2009, at least. We are not saying the same thing. He was worried Google+ would be trounced by Facebook deploying a clone of circles, except the feature already existed. Facebook has circles but chose to bury the UI. Probably because 99% of people don't care. Like most people here didn't care enough to utilize Lists but somehow think Google Circles is the kil…

I suppose it's an argument of semantics at this point, so I'll let it go, but the one thing I would make amendment to is that Circles IS the UI, mostly. All Circles is is the UI and the integration, and honestly, while the integration is the technical aspect, it's the fact that the UI is what it is, and that it's up front and center that makes it noteworthy.

Re: Ex-Wave, Ex-Plus engineer on Google Plus

#108

Post by diogenescynic » Mon, Jul 11, 2011, 3:01 PM UTC

parfe wrote: post #97

diogenescynic wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

|The only difference is that google puts the UI in your face, which I like. But saying that Facebook cannot do this is absurd. It's there, you just never cared to look. I really don't think Facebook even wants you to use this feature. I had set up my lists a long time ago, but never figured out how to actually share specifically to them until reading your comment. Facebook practically hid this feature, but included i…

Why didn't you care about that feature until now?

I did, it just wasn't something I was going to delete my account over. I was definitely interested when it was announced, so I set my lists up, but how to actually share to those lists is, in my opinion, unintuitive so I never stumbled on how to do it. I don't think it makes Google+ the Facebook killer, but if they can offer a few more ways to differentiate in positive ways I think it's a good start.

Re: Ex-Wave, Ex-Plus engineer on Google Plus

#109

Post by scott_s » Mon, Jul 11, 2011, 3:04 PM UTC

parfe wrote: post #103

bmelton wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Specifically, the blog author says that they would be able to technically deploy a 'Circles-like' feature very quickly, but that they would choose not to, because it changes the BEHAVIOR of the core product. You're trying to disagree with the author, but you're both saying the same thing. Oddly enough, that is his point.

Except the feature is already there? and it was there at in 2009, at least. We are not saying the same thing. He was worried Google+ would be trounced by Facebook deploying a clone of circles, except the feature already existed. Facebook has circles but chose to bury the UI. Probably because 99% of people don't care. Like most people here didn't care enough to utilize Lists but somehow think Google Circles is the kil…

Users take cues on how something should be used. Since lists are not central to how Facebook works, it's reasonable that many people don't use it. It's possible that Facebook made a conscious choice not to make it a central feature. They may want the standard behavior to be that everyone can see everything.

Personally, I think of Facebook as a broadcast-to-everyone-I-know medium, and as a result, I don't say much on it.

Re: Ex-Wave, Ex-Plus engineer on Google Plus

#110

Post by ohyes » Mon, Jul 11, 2011, 3:06 PM UTC

mlinsey wrote: post #8

We'll see. I agree that Facebook Groups is much less powerful than Circles and much less fundamental to the core Facebook experience than Circles is with G+. On the other hand, Facebook Groups takes less effort to use - each person does not need to sort their friends, a small number of curators can organize the group. More importantly, it is clearer to the user just what is going on. I have been trying to talk to as…

Yes, circles could horribly magnify the ever embarrassing 'your mother rehashing the details of your childbirth in a Facebook post' problem.