A nice writeup. I think the title is a little misleading though. The 'programmer' part was telling me that there would be a few more specifics on some of the smaller details. I'm really looking forward to checking out Google+ though. This review, like many, only makes me want to get my hands on it sooner
> I don’t mind curating my circles… to an extent. I added a few members and created a new circle, but had no desire to go through my thousands of contacts and organize every one.
Anybody else finds it weird that in gmail you get a hint when you write to a person who belongs to a group you write often together, that you should add the other people from the group, but Circles can't figure it out?
Good point. I hope this is one of those things that will appear as the service matures, though maybe they did it to make you think more about who you are adding? Just speculation.
Isn't it because of privacy issues? Google probably tried to avoid any Buzz-like backlash of people creeped out by them knowing who's who in their lives. Integration efforts like that can only succeed if people feel it's ok, which will come naturally if Plus succeeds.
Question (i 'm not signed up on g+ yet): People seem to be calling circles "groups" while they seem more like the "friend lists" of facebook. Does G+ have discussion groups that anyone can join (and start a twitter revolution)?
Hm, well, your stream gives you a way to select which circles you are viewing, almost like tabs. I'm not sure I'd call it a competition with Twitter, though, more just a filter on top of streams in this case. Though, we have yet to see what can really be accomplished with streams.
It occurred to me after posting this that Google+ is essentially stealing what was ORIGINALLY Facebook's business model (but which has been abandoned): exclusivity
No, the very concept of circles is about content being exclusive. The point is that you know who you are sharing it with, of course, but the result is that all content posted is inherently more exclusive than elsewhere. Even the very creation of circles feels like adding someone to a club.
I don't have a g+ acc yet, but I was curious if for example I have a couple of friends on G+, can other friends viewing my profile see all the friends I have?
On your profile, you can set it either so that they see people who you've added to a circle ('friended'), people who have added you, or both, or neither. The default setting is both.
I thought I'd add some additional clarification. For people you've added there are two sharing concepts: Who you're sharing with and what you're sharing. For who you're sharing with there are 3 options: no one, everyone on the web, only the people in your circles. For what you're sharing there is the ability to pick and choose what circles are visible. It might be confusing to think about, but suppose I have the following circles: "Family", "Friends", "Coworkers", "Poker Buddies". I can choose to share the friends in these circles to everyone on the web, but opt to exclude "Poker Buddies" so they don't show up on my profile.
For people who've added YOU to their circles, there are only two options. Show them on your profile or don't show them.
If anybody requested an invite to Google+ through the blog they should be sent out now (8:30am Thursday PST). If not, contact me via the About Me page.
I got an invite yesterday. The iPhone experience was a little opaque. E.g., when you go to Circles the first time, you see a note telling you there is no one in a circle, but there is no way to add anyone. But I definitely didn't have any of the profile-related difficulties the Manchester reviewer found, and I did get some circles set up. I like the default separation into Family, Friends, Acquaintances (which I just discovered I don't know how to spell) and Following.
The website experience is much better and now that there are some messages I see it is rather Facebook-y. Unlike Facebook, photos pop up instantly (vs. Facebook's sometimes interminable delays) but of course this may be load-related. It isn't yet obvious Google+ is _better_ than Facebook, esp. since all my extended family is already there. Perhaps there are some great features I haven't discovered. But, unlike Waves and Buzz, a decent stab at social.
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[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 27.9 ms ] threadAnybody else finds it weird that in gmail you get a hint when you write to a person who belongs to a group you write often together, that you should add the other people from the group, but Circles can't figure it out?
For people who've added YOU to their circles, there are only two options. Show them on your profile or don't show them.
interesting how the really basic info page still seems to be the most valuable aspect
The website experience is much better and now that there are some messages I see it is rather Facebook-y. Unlike Facebook, photos pop up instantly (vs. Facebook's sometimes interminable delays) but of course this may be load-related. It isn't yet obvious Google+ is _better_ than Facebook, esp. since all my extended family is already there. Perhaps there are some great features I haven't discovered. But, unlike Waves and Buzz, a decent stab at social.