Google+ Limbo Has Given Me Time To Think

By
Craig M. Jamieson
– July 11, 2011Posted in: Business-Social Media, Social Media
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Within hours of receiving an invitation to Google+, and this being on the first day that they were available, it was snatched out from under me. That very next day I made the decision to push forward with the needed “transition” of my Google Apps account not knowing that this would preclude me from using Google+. As it turns out, a Google Profile is needed for Google+ and Google Apps users are not allowed to have Google Profiles. Sweet.

Mind you, my + account and my profile are still out there and I even know how to get at both via a “backdoor” discovery (see article below). Once I can complete my Google Apps transition (something I have attempted for the last several days and I am not very happy about that) I will be able to access both under a new Gmail address. Google has also made it known that Apps users will eventually get access to + and that may be sometime this fall. There is also talk of a Google Business Profile for Apps users vs. a personal profile for individuals. That creates its own assortment of questions and issues.

Not knowing what is going to happen with Google Apps users as it relates to + has caused me to not yet become active on the site. What if I spend a lot of time building circles and connecting with folks and then come to find out that the account is dead and buried when Google Apps users are granted access? That would have been a monumental waste of time so …. I think, I read, and I ponder upon what this is and where it is going ….

  1. Do I want + to replace a service? If yes, which one? At first I thought FaceBook but, + is an animal unto itself.
  2. Do I really want and need a 4th major networking site to go along with Twitter, FaceBook, and LinkedIn?
  3. Maybe I need two accounts, one for personal and one for business (Google Apps)?
  4. There is already at least one Chrome extension that will allow me to bring my FaceBook feed into +, why not combine the two? There is even a Chrome extension to send + updates to both Twitter and FaceBook.
  5. What is + best designed to be used as? Can it perhaps be used as a replacement for the other 3? Honestly, I’d love to see it as “FaceBook for Business”.
  6. Circles are an attractive feature but, are they really any different (in function) than FaceBook or Twitter lists?
Item #4 probably gives me the most cause for concern. If you look at your updates now in Twitter, FaceBook, and LinkedIn, you will likely see a whole heck of a lot of duplication. The simple fact is, people very often post exactly the same thing to all three networks. I am already seeing a lot of talk on Twitter about folks wanting to do precisely this with +. Personally, I see these actions as being counterproductive at the very least and certainly they seem shortsighted.

Me, I want Google+ to be something different. I haven’t quite figured out what that is yet but, I have a blank canvas at this point to work with and I am hesitant to start throwing paint on it without a strategy going forward as to what I want it to look like.

Thanks for visiting!

Craig

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Craig M. Jamieson  (296 Posts)

Craig M. Jamieson is a lifelong B2B salesperson, manager, owner, and a networking enthusiast. NetWorks! Boise Valley is a business to business networking organization for the most serious sales and marketing professionals only.


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