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The New Frontier

“Helloooo!”

“Is there anybody out there?”

That’s what it is like (or so I’ve heard) for the first brave explorers who have ventured onto Google+. Similar to Facebook, Google+ is a social networking site that has generated a lot of buzz since its launch in late June. Is it the next big thing? It’s hard to tell since its 20 million users can’t compare with Facebook’s 750 million, but it’s got potential with a few features that make it stand out.

Circles. Circles is a feature on Google+ that allows you to categorize your friends, thereby making your information a little more targeted and private. You can put your family in a circle, your colleagues in a circle, and your kickball team in a circle. Whew! No longer do pictures from the bar need to be shared with the boss or the things that only my sisters care about need to be shared with my other 273 friends.

Hangouts. As far as I can tell, this is similar to a chat room but with video. You can have more than one person “hanging out.” I find this one a little weird and awkward and likely won’t use it much since I can’t even Skype with my family until I have put on some make-up – a rare occasion when I am at my home computer.

Instant Upload. Now, this I like. You can take a photo or video from your phone, and it will instantly upload to your Google+ account in a private album. You can then decide who to share it with. But, even cooler is the drag and drop feature for uploading photos. As a photographer and a mom, I upload a lot of photos. Drag and drop is very, very cool.

Sparks. The people at Google call Sparks a “sharing engine.” You enter your interests and hobbies, and Google will create a library of things you might like related to that interest – blogs, links, books, articles, anything. I am wary of Sparks as I think it may lead me to have to go through a whole lot of crap.

Is Google+ the next social media phenomenon? Who knows. Time will tell, but for now, I am sticking with the time-suck that is Facebook.

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Posted by Kristi Estes on 08/05 at 01:59 PM
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