Google Plus: A week later

I have been using G+ for a little over a week now, and have had some interesting epiphanies.  .  While I still share some of my earlier thoughts, here are some things I have noticed..

1)  G+ seems to be a place where information is shared and conversations occur around those pieces of information.  Facebook is becoming more of a “social” social network.  In other words, if I read an interesting article I am much more likely to share it on G+ then Facebook.  If I am going out to eat with my friends, I default to Facebook.  This is an interesting concept, where G+ is becoming more like twitter in its content but with Facebook features.  It could be that G+ has a lot of “techy” users right now, and most “techy” users are using social networking sites to share information rather then social events.   According FindPeoplePlus.com, almost 60% of G+ users identify themselves as some sort of Engineer or Software Developer (see chart below). I don’t think that’s the whole story though.  The fact that G+ is integrated into Google makes it very easy for me to share search results and articles.  Ease of sharing=more sharing.

2) I am still struggling with circles.  I have found myself remembering my early Facebook days when I was eager to add anybody who I ever remotely came in touch with.  I passed him in the hallway, let me add him on Facebook.  After years of use I had to question if I really cared that my 5th Grade Teachers Mother is excited about a new episode of Dancing with the Stars.  I’ve since cleaned up my friends list a bit, but it’s still pretty liberal.  I find myself doing the same thing on G+.  When someone adds me to a circle, my immediate reaction is to find a circle where they fit.  If I don’t really talk to them ever they have been ending up in my Acquaintances circle.  I wonder if I will eventually drop these people completely?  A friend of mine who made the cut into my Friends circle made mention that it may be a way to play “lip service” to someone without actually caring about them.  Make them feel important by adding them, but filter their circle out.  This way, you dont need their noise, but you have made the connection in case it comes in handy down the road.  This is where G+ becomes similar to LinkedIn.

3) I’m still struggling on managing multiple social networks.  I found myself engaged in the same conversation on Facebook, G+ and Google Buzz.  This needs to be solved quickly or people will naturally choose the one with the biggest market-share.  Hint hint google, its not you yet..

Although my overall first impression remains, I am sure that the true story of what G+ becomes has not been written yet.  While it continues to evolve I encourage conversation around other things that people are noticing, maybe it will change my opinion.