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Google +1 is failing, miserably

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Re: Google +1 is failing, miserably

#11
post #7

+1 is failing miserably, as opposed to author's sense of perspective?

Could you elaborate a little more about your point please?

He's trying to say that by stating that a brand new service that is, by most measures, doing fairly well is "failing miserably", you've lost your sense of perspective.

Re: Google +1 is failing, miserably

#12
Comparing the Tweet, +1 and Facebook buttons next to each other, I can easily see how people just don't understand what +1 means. The button graphic has a colored ribbon at the top with the label '+1'. Next to it, I see the number of the total clicks. However, there is no explanation what it means. Compare that to the Facebook button. It says "Recommend", and "60 people recommended this".

'Recommend' is a clear call to action. '+1' requires a lot of interpretation and prior knowledge. It's the same issue G+ faces with huddles, sparks, hangouts and circles. By not adopting everyday language, features become mysterious.

Re: Google +1 is failing, miserably

#13
What benefit do I get from +1'ing something? It doesn't go in my stream, it doesn't affect anything that I know of... Why would I do it?

It's like they implemented it without have any idea why the customer would use it... They were just copying other people... Badly.

And while we're on the topic of sharing, why doesn't Google Reader send shared items to G+ yet? It has sent it to Buzz for quite a long time, and Buzz isn't even popular.

Re: Google +1 is failing, miserably

#14
Google doesn't get social... that's all. They demand everyone that applies for a job knows algorithms, but they fail to understand that to nail social, they need to hire people with a different type of intelligence: emotional and psychological. People who know what makes other people tick. We human beings crave attention, impressing others, and thinking we're special. We don't give a damn about placing people in Circles - that's a problem you solve once you give what people crave, not a problem that convinces people to join your social network.

Google does need computer scientists but the company has enough of them. This isn't a knock against Google employees, but the vast majority of their employees know how to scale search engines, or write efficient code, or write the next generation NLP parser, but to get social right, those things are unimportant.

To create a great social network requires less technical expertise, and more getting the little things right. Think about LinkedIn: You can't help but tweak with your skills and experience so it looks impressive to you, and to others (even if they aren't recruiters). Think about how much people care about filling in their Facebook profile, and making it look good. Now look at Google+. It's TOO clean. It's TOO private. That's a great recipe for a search engine. A horrible recipe for a social network.

Re: Google +1 is failing, miserably

#15
On a related topic, why is google going after the "like" game anyway? They have better data than the stupid likes they can use to direct advertising. And +1 is a "meh" name. It would be more intuitive if they used a star, like gmail does, instead. Star it, save it in your bookmarks and tell your friends.

Re: Google +1 is failing, miserably

#16
post #12

Comparing the Tweet, +1 and Facebook buttons next to each other, I can easily see how people just don't understand what +1 means. The button graphic has a colored ribbon at the top with the label '+1'. Next to it, I see the number of the total clicks. However, there is no explanation what it means. Compare that to the Facebook button. It says "Recommend", and "60 people recommended this". 'Recommend' is a clear call…

Excellent point. Very well put.

Re: Google +1 is failing, miserably

#17

What benefit do I get from +1'ing something? It doesn't go in my stream, it doesn't affect anything that I know of... Why would I do it? It's like they implemented it without have any idea why the customer would use it... They were just copying other people... Badly. And while we're on the topic of sharing, why doesn't Google Reader send shared items to G+ yet? It has sent it to Buzz for quite a long time, and Buzz i…

Ohhh...don't event get me started with Reader. Sharing articles in Reader deserves its own blog post. It looks like the entire UX for sharing is designed to make the user feel helpless. I cannot imagine a non tech user being able to share anything with anyone in that UI. We literally had to involve several software engineers the first time we tried to set the sharing settings among each other.

Re: Google +1 is failing, miserably

#18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you elaborate a little more about your point please?

He's trying to say that by stating that a brand new service that is, by most measures, doing fairly well is "failing miserably", you've lost your sense of perspective.

I am not talking about Google+ though. I am talking about +1.

Re: Google +1 is failing, miserably

#19

What benefit do I get from +1'ing something? It doesn't go in my stream, it doesn't affect anything that I know of... Why would I do it? It's like they implemented it without have any idea why the customer would use it... They were just copying other people... Badly. And while we're on the topic of sharing, why doesn't Google Reader send shared items to G+ yet? It has sent it to Buzz for quite a long time, and Buzz i…

The benefit is that it (allegedly) improves your search results. If someone in your social circle +1'd something, it affects your search results.

Re: Google +1 is failing, miserably

#20

On a related topic, why is google going after the "like" game anyway? They have better data than the stupid likes they can use to direct advertising. And +1 is a "meh" name. It would be more intuitive if they used a star, like gmail does, instead. Star it, save it in your bookmarks and tell your friends.

They wanna be Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Apple, Microsoft and Yahoo (just to be on the safe side). Is there a line of business in software that they have not dived into?
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