Yes,we now have another social networking site to deal with. Though invitations to Google+,the latest social network on the block,have run out,it wont be long before you start getting requests to join in from friends,family,colleagues,school buddies,college buddies and all.
To start with,Google+ is quite similar to the other social networks out there like Facebook and Googles own Orkut. The new site,however,hopes to make a difference with its privacy policy when it comes to sharing. You will be able to share stuff within a closed group or specifically to individuals. No one else will be able to access this stuff,except for,of course,big brother Google.
Once you have created a profile,users will be able to segregate their contacts into circles,what we would call groups in other sites. There can be separate circles for family,colleagues and friends. You can add people into different circles to share information with a group. People in your circles (but not the name of the circle) will appear to others on your Google Profile,unless you choose not to display that information, says the Google+ privacy page.
Google does not like the Facebook wall and will now call it the stream,where you can view posts from contacts. Then there is sparks,where Google will show content it thinks you might like.
What I am really looking forward to are the Hangouts,where you will be able to have a video chat with multiple contacts. This could really be the winner for Google+ as anyone who has tried to chat with more than one person using Google Talk or Skype will tell you. And Google seems confident too: Until we perfect teleportation,it’s the next best thing.
Another feature that scores high on my books is the mobile feature called Huddle,which will let users engage in a multi-contact text chat. Google has an advantage over competitors thanks to its ever-growing Android user base who could become a captive audience for the Google+ experiment. You will also be able to upload photos directly from the phone to Google+.
But the real question is whether the world is ready for another virtual meeting place,that too at a time when there has been a mass exodus of people from the popular social networking sites. Lets just hope user fatigue does not spoil the equation for Google+.
