Along with the music sharing platform, Spotify, GooglePlus is one the shiniest new objects to hit social networking this quarter.
When I first heard about GooglePlus, honestly, I wasn’t too interested. My attitude was, “Another platform to set-up and monitor? And who has time for that?” I wasn’t alone in my thinking. When I took an informal poll of peers, friends, and families, that was the consensus. It took me over a week to set-up my profile once I got the invite, but curiosity overtook me. I needed play around with GooglePlus and learn more.
Despite my informal poll, the adoption rate for GooglePlus has been amazing. Especially since it has been invite only and still in beta. (It is going public the end of July.) It took GooglePlus less than a month to reach 20 million users according data compiled by Leon Haland. It took  Twitter and Facebook about 3 years to achieve that number.
Is it because it is such a great platform? Or is it that Google had a build-in user-base? Or maybe it is because people are more accustom to social networking platforms now? It could be all three.
In the two weeks, I’ve been using GooglePlus I actually like it. What I like about is it lacks the clutter of Facebook. It is clean and simple without all the filler of the games, the quizzes, etc. Stuff that drives me batty. I like how I have space to expand an idea from Twitter’s 140 characters. I like the idea of circles not friends or followers giving the impression of community.
GooglePlus is in beta missing some features that we’ve become accustom to on Facebook and Twitter such as private messaging, search, and ability to tag someone. If Google can do that it will make it a truly interactive and helpful experience. I’m sure they are working on it based on feedback given. As an aside, they are actively soliciting feedback with a “send feedback” tab on all of the pages, which I appreciate.
Questions are swirling around the blogosphere and on Twitter. With one big question being: will people give up Facebook or Twitter? Nope, not me. I’ve invested too much time in Facebook and that’s where I’m connected with most of my friends and family. Plus, they’d hunt me down because I’m the one who got them hooked on Facebook to begin with. As for Twitter, it remains my favorite social platform due to the great people I interact with on a daily basis. I’ve formed some great friendships. I like the crazy, fast pace of Twitter. I’ll juggle all three platforms.
The second question is: how can it be used for business? That one is a bit more complicated. Brands currently are not allowed on GooglePlus. You have to be an individual. You can be an individual representing a company.  It is too early to tell.
I’ll be upfront, by no means am I geek, just a user of social media. There are some really smart people writing about GooglePlus and I suggest you check them out:
Google+, Digital Sneetches and Getting Real Value From A New Tool by Christopher Barger
Maddie Grant has written two posts of worth:
Google+ Is Here. Now What?
What is G+ and Do I Need It?
So is it a really a positive charge for social media? I think so. Social media is what you make of it. I think it is best that you try it for yourself and see what works for you. There’s enough room.