# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/21 "2011-07-26T22:01:45Z")
I doubt I’ll even try it until everyone on FB is sending me invites. ---
**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, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/22 "2011-07-26T22:02:25Z")
> [@eddiec3434](#): > > Oh god, let’s not piss off the celebrities Eh. They’re a small segment, but they also drive a ton of traffic. It’s not just celebrities, either. Business users who’d like to use G+ for networking, blogging, and such have the same issues. Anyone with high-traffic profiles will have the same problems. ---
**Author:** ![tygre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@tygre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tygre)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/23 "2011-07-26T23:44:15Z")
I got an invite and well, it just doesn’t do much for me. Privacy seems a lot less intuitive than FB. I really don’t like the mobile interface on my Droid. I guess I kind of don’t see a benefit to it. So, I have an account but routinely go 3-4 days without checking it. I can’t say the same about FB ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/24 "2011-07-26T23:46:50Z")
I don’t know about cleaner interface. It looks more cluttered to me than Facebook. And c’mon, Google has Orkut. It’s not as if they’re new on this (and successful). ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/25 "2011-07-26T23:57:38Z")
I only switched from Myspace to Facebook a few months ago, so I’ll probably be on Google+ about 3 weeks before it’s superseded… ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/26 "2011-07-27T00:08:06Z")
I never made a facebook page, a myspace page, I never twittered a tweet. But for some reason, I am excited about google+ and I have signed up for an email when they are ready to role it out more. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/27 "2011-07-27T00:17:24Z")
A lot of my friends seem to have moved most of their “interesting” stuff over to G+. Some use both. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/28 "2011-07-27T00:23:14Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > I never made a facebook page, a myspace page, I never twittered a tweet. But for some reason, I am excited about google+ and I have signed up for an email when they are ready to role it out more. PM me your email address and I’ll send you an invitation if you don’t have one already. I think everyone I’ve invited so far has got in. They seem to have opened up the doors a little more since the first few days. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/29 "2011-07-27T00:24:59Z")
It’s weird, the publishing to circles has, for me, made it more intimidating. With facebook, a status update or shared link or video just kind of went out into the friend aether and yeah, it shows up in their feed but it’s still kind of impersonal. Google+ makes me feel like I’m being more direct and saying, “YOU! Yeah, you! Read this article, status update, video whatever and LIKE IT.” The result being, it’s turning more serious for me personally, which I don’t really care for but I can’t quite seem to make it as laidback as facebook has been. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/30 "2011-07-27T00:28:01Z")
I like the interface for privacy much better. You can easily make subsets of friends and release info to just those folks. Eg, I have a SDMB circle and only they see my username in my profile. ---
**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 27, 2011, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/31 "2011-07-27T00:28:55Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > I never made a facebook page, a myspace page, I never twittered a tweet. But for some reason, I am excited about google+ and I have signed up for an email when they are ready to role it out more. If you want in now there are people here giving invites. Check this thread: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=614385&highlight=google](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=614385&highlight=google) That will get you in faster than waiting for Google to work through its queue. ---
**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 27, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/32 "2011-07-27T00:38:28Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > It’s weird, the publishing to circles has, for me, made it more intimidating. With facebook, a status update or shared link or video just kind of went out into the friend aether and yeah, it shows up in their feed but it’s still kind of impersonal. Google+ makes me feel like I’m being more direct and saying, “YOU! Yeah, you! Read this article, status update, video whatever and LIKE IT.” The result being, it’s turning more serious for me personally, which I don’t really care for but I can’t quite seem to make it as laidback as facebook has been. I had the opposite reaction. With Facebook I know that everything I post is going out to everyone I’m linked to. They’re going to see it whether they’re interested or not. With G+ I have much more control over filtering things for a particular audience, and I know they have more control over filtering me out if they’re not interested. If they’re bored with having me in their feed, that’s their fault. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/33 "2011-07-27T00:44:51Z")
I don’t have a facebook account for a number of reasons but I did sign up for G+ in the first few days because I wanted to be one of the first ones. In the end, I’m not going to use G+ either for the same reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/34 "2011-07-27T01:04:29Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > PM me your email address and I’ll send you an invitation if you don’t have one already. I think everyone I’ve invited so far has got in. They seem to have opened up the doors a little more since the first few days. Oh! I just saw this. I just posted in the other thread begging for an invite like a schmuck. I will send PM now. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/35 "2011-07-27T13:21:30Z")
I think google is going about it exactly the right way…low-key, and just letting users sort of try it out for themselves. I deleted my FB account long ago, but I am on google+; I will probably stay with it. As for getting in, I just went to google+ and got myself in - I have a gmail account, so i think that helps. I didn’t need an invite, though. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/36 "2011-07-27T13:34:10Z")
It’s a crappy version of Facebook with a tiny fraction of the user base. The supposed advance that Google+ made over Facebook, “circles”, has been a feature of Facebook for donkey’s years. The hype over any Google product, the majority of them being distinctly mediocre lately (Buzz, Wave), is ridiculous. This is no exception. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/37 "2011-07-27T13:39:37Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > It’s a crappy version of Facebook with a tiny fraction of the user base. The supposed advance that Google+ made over Facebook, “circles”, has been a feature of Facebook for donkey’s years. The hype over any Google product, the majority of them being distinctly mediocre lately (Buzz, Wave), is ridiculous. This is no exception. I was aware of Facebook’s “lists” feature and used it to some extent, but Google has made it much easier and more intuitive to use. I have seen a bit of scornful commentary about this to the effect that if people couldn’t figure out how to use lists on Facebook then they are just idiots who don’t deserve to use the Internet (or whatever) but having used both, I have to say that Facebook’s lists were clunky and awkward, and Google’s are not. It is not surprising that it has a tiny fraction of the user base, since it is still in invite-only beta. Would you expect otherwise? Anyway, I’ve been liking it well enough. If anyone else doesn’t, that’s their business. As I said up-thread, most of my IRL friends have started using it fairly heavily, so of course that makes it more attractive for me. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/38 "2011-07-27T13:44:54Z")
Honestly, circles feels like it should be a Facebook beta feature, rather than a whole new networking site. It’s a HUGE improvement over lists (which fall distinctly into the “can’t be arsed” category for me). The only other real plus is the possibility of an asymmetrical relationship, but I can’t imagine, personally, posting anything publicly (i.e. outside a circle) anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/39 "2011-07-27T15:12:59Z")
Man, the more I hear folks talking this thing down as a bootleg Facebook, the more I’m rooting for it. I’ve already set up the entire page, and am sending out invites like a motherfuck. My best friend is stunned. She knows how much I have resisted social networking sites entirely. ---
**Author:** ![Blackhawk441](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/76d3ee/32.png) [@Blackhawk441](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackhawk441)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404/40 "2011-07-28T06:41:11Z")
I’d say the lack of unity in this thread is, in and of itself, the answer to your question- yes, it is too early to tell. That being said, however, a lot of people could be getting a G+ account because they feel special/privileged to be getting an invite to a closed beta and then never do anything with it (Not mudslinging here, I did the same thing myself). I think it will probably fizzle out after a while, because Facebook simply has a critical mass at this point, and when people inevitably get bored of having to maintain two social networking sites (and it’s not like facebook v. twitter, FB and G+ fill the same niche) they will revert to the one that more of their friends are on and abandon the other. Regardless to mention, I expect Facebook to roll out a revamp to the lists system as soon as they can get their shit together. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-too-early-to-say-google-is-a-failure/590404.md?page=3)