The Tragic Beauty of Google+ (opens in new tab)

This is bizarre. This piece insinuates, with not a shred of evidence, that Google+ identity data is linked to Google Analytics data, and there is zero evidence that this is the case, or that it even makes any sense. (For starters, Google Analytics tracking code never touches the google.com domain in any kind of way and thus couldn't be used to link to account information.)

The best google products have largely succeeded on their own merit. Google+ is not one of them. Google+ is the product you start shoving in your users' faces because you are angry they are not adopting it. And the less people adopt, the more you force it on your users. Ultimately, this is why good companies fail and while google is far from failing, I really don't think google+ has added much value in this world which is extremely uncommon for a google product that gets so much press.

It is the worst product to come out of google to date. I wish it dies.

If this was the case, they'd fix the accounts system. Nothing I do on the web is ever tied to my G+ account because I have 5 different Google accounts and it's a crapshoot which one I'm signed into at any given time. One thing is for sure, though, that I'm never signed into the one that my Google+ account is tied to since you couldn't use Google apps accounts at launch to sign up for G+.

"it’s an identity system that follows you everywhere"

Yeah, that really sounds like a good thing...

Why do designers keep thinking that splitting a feed into two staggered columns is a good idea? It makes it much harder to skim down a feed to find a particular post, because your eye naturally wants to skim in straight lines, not zig-zag back and forth.

This seems to me like a classic case of designers thinking of visual "prettiness" first and actual utility second.

Facebook did this for a while with Timeline, until they fixed it with the newer Timeline which keeps the posts to one column. It really looks like Google+ is just ape-ing Facebook design, even when the design has implicitly been admitted to have been a bad idea.

I am willing to be persuaded otherwise, though, if someone wants to make the case.

I have hit a "tragic" bug of Google+ and I don't even have Google+. It is this one:

http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chat/tA22alXeQ...

I found out that my elderly mother for the last couple of days could not message me via Google's chat. And I couldn't message her. It was very odd. Eventually after a day of messing with it I noticed that her status was "blocked on Google+".

The kicker is, I never signed up for Google+ and neither signed her up for Google+. Nothing was fixed for days. The only work-around I found was to ... surpise... create a Google+ account. And lo and behold, my mother and other small group of friends ended up in the list of Google+ blocked list. Apparently Google+ block list also overrides regular block lists from other services and does it silently.

Of course I created the stupid Google+ account, unblocked the contacts then immediately deleted it. But it certainly left with a nasty taste in my mouth. It almost seems like a sneaky attempt to make me sign up for Google+.

I kept hearing of stories about people's accounts being locked and them losing their email, contacts, and other data and always thought it was just odd random incidents, now I am starting to get worried. It seems Google is become more aggressive and cavalier with my profile and my data.

(yes, yes, I know I am not paying for it, it is free and I am not a customer, I am the product being sold to their real customers -- the ad buyers).

Even though Google+ was/is compared to facebook...I don't think it is much like it. All I have really seen bloom from Google+ is hangouts with live streaming. I constantly hear businesses or other devs promoting a hangout feed.

Facebook I felt was more for the intimacy of family and friends; personal profile.

Linkedin for resumes and job experience; professional profile.

Google+ ... so far has really been promoted as a tool of Google's that is no different than Wallet, Gmail, Voice...or Google Reader. By a tool, I imply that the niche Google+ is carving is hangouts.

Please feel free to reply and tell me what/if you guys use Google+ and what for.

Side note: I'm a developer, and I closed my facebook and never opened a Google+ (at least by choice -_-, don't you love how Google automatically signs you up for G+).

Something that is not always readily apparent about an online community (or tool for socializing) is that features do not define the utility of the tool. Because the net benefit of the tool is the socializing and sharing, the culture within the community tends to define how the tool is used and how users benefit.

Facebook has a culture of sharing entertainment of any kind with people you know.

Google+ has a culture of sharing experiences and photographs with people that share your interests.

Some of this culture evolved from how the tool was built, in particular how you lump people into circles relating to topics of interest and channels of physical connection, as well as how the content is displayed to the users.

Most users will decide on the community culture they want to be a part of.

I like G+ and might be one of the millions who _don't_ have a facebook account , but are quite happy with a G+ account. I don't think its tragic, I just think they are paying attention to users like me, who you know use their service.