After a few rounds of invite begging, invite suspension, resumed invite begging and finally invite reception, I have joined the excited wash of Google+ adoptees. I’m building circles and linking in my Picasa photos and other assorted Googleware like a good Google-ite should.
But once I got through with the initial stages of the experience –“It’s shiny! It’s new! Must. Click. Everything!” – the resounding feeling I was left with was mostly … now what?
Most of my “friends” (beyond the early adopters and the thinkgeek.com set) aren’t yet on Google+ so it’s hard to get a grasp on how rich the experience will be. It’s got a nice, clean look, and feels fairly intuitive, but will it really be able to unseat the mighty Zuckerberg?
Will it do to Facebook what Facebook did to Myspace, and what Myspace did to Friendster, and what Friendster did to … well, you get the point.
My answer? Who knows.
At this point, I don’t think it’s even up to Google.
The thing about a new social technology is that ultimately it’s not about the technology. It’s about the people. The mindset. In this case, whether or not Google+ is a success will depend largely on whether or not people can overcome the sunk cost involved with leaving what they’ve already invested in Facebook.
Creating a better experience isn’t the be-all, end-all. But it is a start. And from that perspective I’d say Google+ is off to a pretty impressive one.
It just might not be enough.
Then again, that’s just one quick clicking man’s opinion. Perhaps, I’ll go check my stream to see if anyone new has something to say. For now, I guess Google will just have to settle for having good Buzz (hmmm … maybe that wasn’t the best word to use there.)