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The Plus in Google Plus? It’s Mostly for Google

nytimes.com

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Re: The Plus in Google Plus? It’s Mostly for Google

#51

Post by spacemanmatt »

r0h1n wrote: post #38
eli wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't giving away services for free how nearly every consumer internet startup works, at least until they figure out a business plan.

(a) Google isn't like "nearly every consumer startup". It is arguably the most powerful Internet company in the world. Thus its actions must be viewed differently. (b) In this case Google is using its dominance in the search space (70-90% in many markets) to push G+ on customers who may not normally have signed up for it.

While it's true Google enjoys a near monopoly (maybe an actual monopoly, I'm not intending to split that hair) but it's very important to make the distinction between a natural monopoly and an illegal monopoly.

Re: The Plus in Google Plus? It’s Mostly for Google

#52

Post by dannyr »

diydsp wrote: post #25

I just fired up plus.google.com again. 50% of the space is "ADD PEOPLE." The other 50% of the space is "DO YOU KNOW THESE PEOPLE." Where is the V-A-L-U-E ? Under the fold at the bottom is "Continue to Google+" Oh, I wasn't there already? That was just the interrogation before Google+ begins? I continue. Long load time. First thing that appears in 50% of the page is a column of the same people from the previous page.…

I fired up my plus.google.com again.

Beautiful pictures from pro photographers and travelers.

Great links on Android Development by developers I'm following.

I dislike Facebook because it's mostly personal posts that I care less about. My Google+ stream are much more useful especially to my work.

Your network, my network are different. Applies not only to Google+ but on Facebook and Twitter as well.

Re: The Plus in Google Plus? It’s Mostly for Google

#53

Post by interstitial »

I just commented about this the other day in meat-space: The trouble with Google Plus is they control your identity through the email address (see Coding Horrors: worse is better). Whereas at LinkedIn you can change and/or add many email addresses. At Facebook, Twitter, HN, Reddit, Pintrest your account is not tied exclusively to your email address and unchangeable. I have several identities on google via different companies, they cannot be merged or managed.

Re: The Plus in Google Plus? It’s Mostly for Google

#54

Post by interstitial »

frade33 wrote: post #40

Social networking overall has run its course. below are the phases it has gone through like everything else. 1. Initial Launch: OMG! Cool. Signup 2. More people Jump in, it becomes even more exciting. 3. Everyone starts using it. 4. Eventually, excitement starts to fade away. 5. It becomes boring. 6. People’s addiction eventually starts to decline. 7. People totally lose their interest. 8. Eventually, it becomes a gh…

Correction: 1. Exclusive, ego-boosting sign-up process (.edu for facebook, beta invites for Gmail, etc.)

Re: The Plus in Google Plus? It’s Mostly for Google

#55

Post by cdcarter »

spacemanmatt wrote: post #11
chilldream wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook has an opt-in mechanism called "signing up for a Facebook account." G+'s equivalent is "signing up for an unrelated service, possibly as long as a decade ago."

I declined G+ for a while, but eventually pressed a button and consented to convert my accounts. I am not aware of any automatic conversion, especially from 10-year-old accounts. I assure you, my Gmail account is older than that.

Gmail entered private beta on April 1, 2004.

Re: The Plus in Google Plus? It’s Mostly for Google

#56

Post by [deleted] »

rlu wrote: post #47
habosa wrote: post #44

This article goes out of its way to make Google+ look bad when it comes to numbers. "Plus has 29 million unique monthly users on its website and 41 million on smartphones, with some users overlapping, compared with Facebook’s 128 million users on its website and 108 million on phones, according to Nielsen." Is that supposed to be a bad thing? If you have ~1/4 to ~1/2 as many users as Facebook, are you not a very succ…

Gonna make some guesses: 1. I have in the past counted as a unique monthly user by Googling something (restaraunt, hotel, ??) and then looking at the "Google Reviews" which would take you to a plus.google.com page. It seems Google changed the UI on this now: "Google reviews" brings up a popup thing and the hours and everything else is on a card on the right of search results. Good on them for changing it, but do I st…

[deleted]

Re: The Plus in Google Plus? It’s Mostly for Google

#57

Post by spacemanmatt »

adrianlmm wrote: post #28
davidnu wrote: post #2

This is quite insulting to G+ users to be so easily dismissed and declaring the place a "ghost town". Deeming the community worthless because it's not as large as Facebook's is ridiculous. There is also no mention of G+ fulfilling the purpose of an identity layer to tie in Google's offerings under one pictured profile like every other online service launching today. This attack which lacks any actual news and new dev…

"This is quite insulting to G+" Please clarify, how an insult to G+ becomes an insult to you?

"This is quite insulting to G+ users" was the slightly fuller quote.

Read the whole sentence -- it's not a long one.

Re: The Plus in Google Plus? It’s Mostly for Google

#58

Post by spacemanmatt »

blueskin_ wrote: post #19
davidnu wrote: post #2

This is quite insulting to G+ users to be so easily dismissed and declaring the place a "ghost town". Deeming the community worthless because it's not as large as Facebook's is ridiculous. There is also no mention of G+ fulfilling the purpose of an identity layer to tie in Google's offerings under one pictured profile like every other online service launching today. This attack which lacks any actual news and new dev…

There are very few things that can be said that won't insult some group of 100 people somewhere; just that in this case they happen to be Google+'s entire userbase.

Me and my 99 G+ contacts resent that remark!

Re: The Plus in Google Plus? It’s Mostly for Google

#60

Post by [deleted] »

cdcarter wrote: post #55
spacemanmatt wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I declined G+ for a while, but eventually pressed a button and consented to convert my accounts. I am not aware of any automatic conversion, especially from 10-year-old accounts. I assure you, my Gmail account is older than that.

Gmail entered private beta on April 1, 2004.

[deleted]
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