Google+

With Google+ reaching its 10 millionth user within days we are all witnessing the biggest, unprecedented growth of a social network site. Ever. Regardless of whether you think its futile attempt to encroach on Facebook’s territory, - they’re making things interesting.

Google’s PR so far has been impressive. Initially G+ only allowed a special selected few to access the trial period of the site, which created an air of mystery and exclusivity. To put it simply, people want what they can’t have, and it certainly created a PR buzz. I for one was chomping at the bit to get involved.

Having used G+ fairly intensively over the last couple of weeks, I can honestly say that it is the most intuitive, inventive and innovative platform I have ever come across. Not to mention the fact that it’s aesthetically pleasing. Putting my own opinions aside and getting down to the nitty gritty- What does G+ actually offer that others don’t?

Firstly G+ has a lot of web3.0 elements within it, but before I get out of my own depth with the technical stuff I’d rather talk about its features, so let’s start at ‘Circles’.

Circles offer something that no other social networking site can. Google Circles is your organisational tool for your friends, associates, coworkers, or otherwise somehow connected to you, human beings online. You can make a group for your friends; for your family members, for your online game buddies, or even a group especially for the peculiar people you don’t want to offend by blocking them out of your online life- you can make circles for whatever you like.

The main idea behind this clever concept is the ability to separate the messages and media you share between groups, unlike Facebook where whoever you are connected to can see what you share. I’ve had the awkward situation of having to apologise to my Nan for a number of unsightly, inebriated university photos I have been tagged in. This Circles functionality plays with every other bit of this whole ecosystem.

Now the ‘Hangout’ feature. Some say it’s similar to Skype, but personally I prefer it.

The aim of the ‘Hangout’ feature seems to be the idea that it’s a meeting place for you and your friends, you and your associates, or if you feel like it, the oddball bunch. It facilitates up to 6 people in a hang out at a time, so although it can get messy if you all want to talk its more functional than Skype.

Now, the ‘Sparks’ functionality I find less interesting, although to others probably quite useful. Sparks offers real time streaming to anything you may be interested in from Cooking to Sport or my stereotypical choices of clothes, shoes and beauty products. A nice little add on that others don’t offer.

Once you’ve had your first taste of Google+ you really do find yourself immersed in social networking heaven - one that’s fully integrated, fully automated and ridiculously simple to understand.

Many cynics have commented that Facebook shouldn’t be worried about Google+, Google is a search engine and that’s what they are good for and Facebook is a Social Networking site and that’s what they do best, but need I remind you Google+ built the first fully automatically driven car- and they are certainly not a car manufacturer.

The scary thing is that it is still in ‘trial phase’ with ‘bug fixes’ and ‘additional features’ on their way……