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Using Google without a Google+ profile

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Re: Using Google without a Google+ profile

#201

Post by gcb0 »

msandford wrote: post #9

Google's new motto: "Don't be evil, but only after trying really hard to be so, and then grudgingly accepting that perhaps your users have alternatives that they might avail themselves of, and capitulate" It's not as catchy, but perhaps a little more honest.

they haven't gave up on evil. they just optimized this iteration.

they saw that the most profitable info they could get was tagged pictures (in use even on their captcha service).

So they moved it out of G+, and forced everyone with an android phone to upload things for them with or without a g+ account.

that's another level of evil.

Re: Using Google without a Google+ profile

#202

Post by austinjp »

blakeyrat wrote: post #145
darklajid wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure. Admitted, I'm not a fan of Google and maybe a bit grumpy, but I read this blog entry as "Now everyone will need a G+ account, but it won't have a public profile". That said, the distinction between Google account G+ Account Google Profile is lost on me, I'm genuinely confused about the past and present state of these things. It feels like "G+ Accounts" are supposed to be the new "Google Accounts"? Like…

You aren't the only one. I have two Gmail addresses, and two YouTube channels. As far as I can tell, I have FIVE Google+ accounts (there may be more!): 1. Nickname email for friends 2. Real name email for family/jobs 3. A SECOND nickname account that somehow got created when I logged into YouTube one time 4. A SECOND real name account that somehow got created when I logged into YouTube some other time 5. The YouTube…

Amen. Anyone who has spent time setting up Google accounts, pages, authorship/identity details, maps and local, YouTube channels etc etc for SEO or similar purposes soon realises how horribly it's all cobbled together. Apparently they seriously think people will voluntarily use these services as some sort of unified social media platform.

Everybody has done this sort of thing simply for blindly hopeful SEO reasons, surely?

Re: Using Google without a Google+ profile

#203

Post by dannyr »

mangeletti wrote: post #127

I've been confused about Google+ for the longest time, wondering what reason there was for Google+ to exist in the first place, other than the (perceived) low cost of getting users (via marketing on their search page). What new value does Google+ add? Does anybody sign up for Google+ for reasons other than 1) Google Hangouts, or 2) accident? How is Google+ "quickly becoming a place where people engage..." and yet I d…

Believe it or not, there's a lot of activity in my feed on Google+.

Am I hanging out with all the wrong people?

I don't watch big Bang Theory and I don't know who does but it's been on for 7 seasons and their cast is the highest paid on TV.

Re: Using Google without a Google+ profile

#204

Post by rmtew »

marknutter wrote: post #176
macintux wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see the convenience, but that only works if you're willing to bare your soul to Google. If you want to have one identity for YouTube, a different identity for Gmail, and don't want Google to know where you are via Maps, that becomes much more problematic.

I wouldn't quite say I've "bared my soul to Google". I slowly signed up for those services as they became available and now I only have to login to one of them to use them all. If I don't want Google to know about me for something I just open an incognito tab.

If you have multiple google accounts like the gmail website in a browser on a PC, you can switch between them by just choosing the account from the google accounts menu. Tremendously convenient. Google can have my figurative "soul" for this.

Comparatively if I have to switch between my twitter accounts, it's way more convoluted than it needs to be on a PC/browser. Still, it used to be much much worse when going to their login page gave you a redirect to their app download page. It used to take me ages to locate a workaround.

Re: Using Google without a Google+ profile

#205

Post by cmurf »

The part of Google+ I didn't like was certain compulsory behaviors that seemed to have nothing to do with Google+ itself. And I see those same problems still in Hangouts. For example, this completely batshit idea in Gmail, when I click on Hangouts Conversation icon (middle icon bottom left), and then click on the magnifying glass to search, type in "mom" and this fucking goddamn piece of shit displays everyone's mom and not my mom. Why the fuckballs would this thing show results of people I don't know, have no way of knowing, don't know any of the people they know, and yet not my own mom? At least give priority to my contacts?

Shit like that, added with, you have to accept it mentality. It's what gets people deranged and they want to throw out the baby with the bathwater. So this blog entry just demonstrates to me they don't get it still.

Edit: Yes my mom is "mom" in my contacts. When I type in my sister's name, it does the same crap, it shows me everybody else with the same first name as my sister, but not my sister. WTF?

Re: Using Google without a Google+ profile

#206

Post by zmmmmm »

mkozlows wrote: post #29
bad_user wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Nymwars is why Google+ lost, but they'll never admit it.

Facebook has, and has long had, a real name policy. If you want a reason why Facebook succeeded and G+ didn't, you'll need something that's actually different between them.

Well, that's sort of the reason - they needed a differentiator, there was an obvious one for the taking and they threw it away.

Re: Using Google without a Google+ profile

#207

Post by mentaat »

I love Google+ and am rooting for it. To me its a great mix of Flickr, Twitter and Facebook.

What really hurt g+ was three things. First it became bloated with features which confused the average user.

Second was the aggressive push by some at google (Vic?) esp. with youtube comment integration. This totally backfired with media and YT stars who were dragged kicking and screaming.

And third, failure to consolidate multiple g+ profiles for people who have multiple google accounts. I've 6 g+ profiles but only use one. When someone wants to add me they search my name and are not sure which person to add. This is such a basic failure in user experience that I don't even know why g+ was launched without first anticipating and addressing this problem..smh

Re: Using Google without a Google+ profile

#208

Post by dredmorbius »

alwaysdoit wrote: post #77
exodust wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, it's frustrating. Youtube comments really are hopelessly broken. Re-shares are not good reading. They are written by users for their followers, not for the people on the actual video page. As you said, they have zero value. When I first noticed this way back when Google started publishing re-share comments under the videos, I would reply to those comments with remarks such as "I already knew that; yes I know wha…

To be fair, it's not like YouTube comments were ever working well.

As I noted at the time, fixing a roiling cesspit by draining it into the freshwater supply is hardly a solution.

YT comments should have been hauled out and shot. Not jackboot-forced onto other platforms as well.

Re: Using Google without a Google+ profile

#209

Post by mahouse »

rudolf0 wrote: post #137
lmm wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They were never great but they were better before.

If by "before" you mean 2008, then yes, arguably. Starting around 2009 I've started using various browser extensions to hide the comments, and I've never been happier.

I don't understand. Can't you just... not read them?

Re: Using Google without a Google+ profile

#210

Post by dreamcompiler »

austenallred wrote: post #19
marbletiles wrote: post #5

It's incredible how lightly they have thrown away the Google+ Account For Everything stance given how merciless they were in imposing it at the time. The wails from YouTube in particular have only just died down. Kudos to them, but a lot of pain could have been avoided if they did all this listening back then, instead of waiting until their thing was clearly dead.

They made product decisions, those were wrong, they tried to hold out, and now they're backing away from it. No company is immune to that cycle, not even Google.

I hope they eventually reach the same conclusion about the horrific monstrosity Google Maps has become.
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