# Is it too early to say Google+ is a failure? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 26, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404 "2011-07-26T17:24:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/1 "2011-07-26T17:24:57Z")
Consensus around these parts is that it’s dead in the water, not enough activity, not unique or engaging enough to wean people off the auld facebook. What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/2 "2011-07-26T17:27:18Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Consensus around these parts is that it’s dead in the water, not enough activity, not unique or engaging enough to wean people off the auld facebook. What do you think? It’s not even publicly open yet, is it? I mean, lots of folks are distributing invites, but I thought it is still in the testing phase? ---
**Author:** ![Kalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/df705f/32.png) [@Kalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalypso)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/3 "2011-07-26T17:30:41Z")
I think it’s too early. More and more of my friends are coming over to it every day. So far 62 friends have added me to circles, that’s pretty good for a product still in beta that’s only a couple weeks old! I’m still commenting on Facebook, but I’m posting my new content almost exclusively on g+. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/4 "2011-07-26T17:35:15Z")
I would have said it’s too late, not too early, to say it’s a failure, I’ve heard mostly good things about the amount of people using it. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/5 "2011-07-26T17:51:08Z")
I have heard that some celebrities are upset with it, since you get a notification every time someone adds you to one of their circles. So several thousand people toss you in their Following circle, that’s a whole ton of noise to dig through looking for notifications from the people you actually want to communicate with. But that’s kind of a rare problem to have. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/6 "2011-07-26T18:00:28Z")
I don’t understand how it could be a failure if it’s still in Beta and most people don’t even have access to it yet. Most anything that might be seen as crappy/cumbersome/failure-worthy will ideally be smoothed out before it opens to the public. Same goes for Friendster[sup]Beta[/sup]! ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/7 "2011-07-26T18:08:37Z")
I had assumed it was public since most people I know interested in such things is on it already. It just doesn’t seem like they’re doing much once they sign up. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/8 "2011-07-26T19:58:49Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > I have heard that some celebrities are upset with it, since you get a notification every time someone adds you to one of their circles. Celebrities are idiots, since you can disable every single notification possible on Google+. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/9 "2011-07-26T20:05:40Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Celebrities are idiots, since you can disable every single notification possible on Google+. Not that I’ve seen, and I’m looking now. You can choose to disable which ones get _emailed_ or _texted_ to you, but there is no option to just turn off notifications. Turning off all notifications would be a bad thing anyway, as there’s stuff they’d still want to know about, just not who added them to a circle. And there’s certainly no way for you to differentiate between two different people who’ve added you to circles, whether they’re Joe Smith, a dude who worked with you on your last project, or Joey Smith, a random teen who likes your music. So high-profile celebs get hundreds or thousands of notifications sent at them, and while they can break out ‘mentions me in a post’ notifications from ‘adds me to a circle’ notifications by having the former emailed to their account, they can’t break ‘adds me to a circle’ down any further. So, yes, they do have to deal with a shitload of noise on their accounts, and it’s not an insignificant issue for them. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Quixotic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Don\_Quixotic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Quixotic)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/10 "2011-07-26T20:07:46Z")
I use Facebook to read news (DailyBeast,NPR,PBSNewsHour,etc.) and follow local businesses mainly, as well as keep up with family and friends. I can’t figure out how to do anything but post pictures and comments to the poeple I know on Google+. I don’t care for it, but all my technologically advanced friends have already declared Facebook dead because Google+ is so much better. It’s new and has Google in the name; how could it not be better than Facebook? Techno-snobbery can be irritating at times. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/11 "2011-07-26T20:31:35Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Consensus around these parts is that it’s dead in the water, not enough activity, not unique or engaging enough to wean people off the auld facebook. What do you think? Consensus around which parts? Growth of G+ has been explosive. It took them about 2 weeks to hit 20 million members, and that’s with the restrictions of it still being in beta. It took Facebook about two years to reach that sort of membership. The primary advantage of G+ (other than its cleaner, tighter interface) is that it has a Twitter-style connection model. Instead of creating a default symmetrical relationship between two people (I friend you, you friend me), it supports a continuum of asymmetrical relationships. I can follow a famous person on G+ without them having to friend me. I can stick marginal acquaintances into a circle I check rarely so they don’t clutter up my feed. I can keep my personal and professional lives separate. It’s a much better way of handling the variety of connections we have with each other in the adult real world than Facebook’s one-size-fits-all-we’re-all-undergrad-buddies approach. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/12 "2011-07-26T20:33:08Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > Consensus around which parts? Every single person I know in real life who has signed up for it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/13 "2011-07-26T20:35:17Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Every single person I know in real life who has signed up for it. Strange. My experience has been exactly the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/14 "2011-07-26T20:37:01Z")
I’ve been using G+ quite heavily. Most of my IRL circle of friends has switched over most of their posting there. ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/15 "2011-07-26T20:58:25Z")
Does it have Farmville? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/16 "2011-07-26T21:02:51Z")
> [@Foggy](#): > > Does it have Farmville? Not yet. Games and business sites haven’t been rolled out yet. ---
**Author:** ![tavalla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tavalla/32/89_2.png) [@tavalla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tavalla)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/17 "2011-07-26T21:46:23Z")
I think consensus depends entirely on which ‘parts’ you’re in. I use it and enjoy it - I got in pretty early under that loophole that they closed after a few days, where sharing with a non-user got the non-user an email that acted virtually as an invitation. Same loophole let me send a bunch of similar invitations, and they all went to the early-adopter types that I work with and know. They picked it up quickly, so I’ve got a thriving network of interesting people, and no Farmville etc cluttering the joint up. Just about perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/18 "2011-07-26T21:47:23Z")
I’m signed up and have my Doper circle, but I just don’t think about visiting when most of my other friends are still using FB. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/19 "2011-07-26T21:51:29Z")
I have no idea. I’ll see when it becomes public, because nobody in my circle, as far as I know, is using it yet. ---
**Author:** ![eddiec3434](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cab0a1/32.png) [@eddiec3434](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eddiec3434)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/20 "2011-07-26T21:55:23Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > I have heard that some celebrities are upset with it, since you get a notification every time someone adds you to one of their circles. So several thousand people toss you in their Following circle, that’s a whole ton of noise to dig through looking for notifications from the people you actually want to communicate with. > > But that’s kind of a rare problem to have. Oh god, let’s not piss off the celebrities [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404.md?page=2)