A few weeks ago, I wrote over on the Voce Nation blog, pleading for patience regarding the new Google Plus social network; patience from users, businesses, social media marketers and Google itself.
It seems that everyone but Google failed to listen to me. What is wrong with everybody?
Seriously, what is wrong?
I see an old friend I respect selling a webinar about using Google Plus for business, seemingly minutes after Google said they were holding off on business profiles for Plus until they figured it out. Then other friends get vilified for pointing that out. Simmer down, folks.
(Oh, and the same BlogWorld blogger suggests naming names when we talk about things. I actually agree, Allison Boyer. So the above flap includes Chris Brogan, Gini Dietrich, and BlogWorld’s Rick Calvert (for the record, I don’t think Gini owes Chris an apology any more than Chris owed us a defense of a webinar some people were willing to pay for. This all started as a good discussion, but hey.)
I see a social media pied piper (oops, names- Robert Scoble) declaring that Plus is awesome because it was made for geeks, and our mothers will never join. I think he had a point, but I’m not sure the Google business model calls for a geeks-only social playground. True, the Google geek culture tends to roll out things that mortals have a hard time grokking in the first go-round. Remember Google Wave? Yeah, takes them a while to remember people might want to use the products.
I see a TechCrunch story that gleefully (it seems) reports on a dip in traffic after a whole month– Google Plus must be cooked, right? Even in “social media time,” most startups get more than a month before the buzzards tuck in.
I’ll give propers to my friend Chuck Tanowitz, whose post seems at first to be down on Plus (lighten up Eeyore!) but really takes a more pragmatic stance that I largely agree with.
This doesn’t get Google off the hook- where’s the Google Reader/Buzz integration? That would be fantastic. If it’s there I can’t find it. The Android integration is pretty cool at times, but I wonder what the iPhone folks are thinking? Also, please add Flickr/Twitter/Facebook cross-posting integration and open up your API and get on Tweetdeck or Seesmic or something.
You want to keep me? Feed the “integrated products” beast that this GMail/Reader/Buzz/Analystics/Feedburner/YouTube user wants to be. Put it all together and make it work (but again, I’m willing to wait for you to work it out).
See what you all made me do, you made me write about Google Plus again. Sheesh
Be patient, you’re all giving me a rash.
Where is the Reader/Buzz integration is right! I haven’t decided whether or not Plus is going to make it. There are certainly those of us who think it’s cool in the hopes that it replaces some other social networks (oops, names – Facebook). But, in the big scheme of things, I really wonder if it’ll be useful for businesses because, well, they don’t use Gmail or Google Docs or anything else Google creates. It may become something super useful for small businesses and freelancers, but big biz? I don’t know…
Doug, you are 100% right, and this post is a great summary of the craziness. The reason I’m very bullish on Google Plus: Google has shown that they have the patience that the early adopters and gurus so clearly lack.
Pundits have been clamoring for a Google social strategy for years. But Google took its time, learned from some misfires, and has slowly and without a lot of hype launched something that is remarkably elegant.
All of the features you ask for will come. When they’re ready. As will the business strategy, when it’s ready. And the integration, and the open API. And when that happens, Robert Scoble’s grandmother will be on Google Plus without even realizing that’s where she is.
YES to the Google reader integration, and how about also easier integration of Blogger into Google+? Google is valiantly trying to keep people on Blogger instead of going to WordPress, so how about making it easy to stick my Blogger blog feed into Google+? Or some other tie-in.
You are a most welcome voice of reason. Thank you very much for writing this. The horde will no doubt not want to read it, because of course today, everyones an expert. On just what, they’re not quite sure, but they’re an expert. You my good man, are a seer. Thanks again! I will now say “Yay!” and share this!