A friend asked what I like about google+, and as I started posting a reply , I noticed there were enough to make a blog post. So here goes…
Here’s a quick list:
1. Mobile app on android and iphone are awesome!
2. Automatic upload of pics on phone/picasa
3. Non-crappy photos (allows 2400+px, and g+ renders pictures better, since they don’t mess with the image, if it is smaller than the max size)
4. Easier to mention specific people in a conversation. (auto-completes ppl’s profile name)
5. hangouts (free video conferencing)
6. Group messaging done right (huddle) on the mobile phone
7. decent integration with email (I guess this is just coz I use Gmail)
8. Privacy - predictable and manageable (not that it matters to me)
9. Much less noise (a - mostly used by techies for now, b - allows asymmetric relationships à la twitter)
10. Keyboard shortcuts (J, K work. Someone at google like vi – a lot)
So, there’s 10 reasons to dump Facebook for G+. There is a lot more in terms of features (new ones are added all the time), but mostly the community is awesome, and the engagement is better!
11. (bonus). I was going to say games, but they have that here too, but I’m not bothered by it, and don’t have to see someone’s update on buying sheep
Having said the above, I miss a couple of FB “features”. Really, its the of the same: 1. There is no way to start a conversation with someone, unless, you address it specifically to that person (in which case nobody else see it). Facebook does this simply, by providing a “wall”.
2. There are no “Groups”. Ie each circle is local to me, and hence, if I want to have a group for all my friends from university, I will have to add them to a circle. In order to simulate Facebook “groups”, everyone in that circle, has to add everyone else to a group of the same name. Adding one more person to that group, now means that everyone has to add that person manually.
I’m sure, google will come up with something to address the above two. We’ll have to wait and see how it goes!