Extra Credit - Google+ Experience

I have been a member of Google+ since June of 2011 and I have to say, I really like the entire package. Google+ has taken all of the essentials provided by facebook and more! I don't have alot of friends on here yet, but hopefully alot of people on facebook will make the transition to Google+. 


My google+ homepage: https://plus.google.com/103511755377218568721/posts


Some of the cool features:
One of the first things I noticed is the way you can group people you know. Previously on facebook, you had two options when creating a friend request, a friend or not a friend. While that may work for some people, others would rather not divulge all that much information about their personal life to someone they don't know that well and conversely not be annoyed by constant status updates from this acquaintance. The official categories are Friends, Family, Acquaintance, Following. Those categories make logical sense to me. 


Google Hangout
I really liked this option. It was something I tried within a few days of using the site. It takes the functionality of  webchat interfaces like skype and joins it with an actual social network. Another interesting feature is the intelligent design behind it. For example, I tried it with two other friends and the camera would automatically shift over to who ever was talking onto the main screen while still having your other friend visable in the smaller screen. Inside the Google Hangout was a functionality for playing youtube videos. This is something that I think is revolutionary! 

Created by Brad Amidon, using Print Screen 

Instant Queue Photos
When you snap a great photo with your cellphone and would like to share it with people, the typical thing you do is find a way to upload it online. Well google+ sort of skips a few steps here. I discovered the pictures I was taking was being stored on google+ in this instant upload area. The thing I liked about it is that it gave you the privacy you needed by not automatically uploading just any picture, but letting you scroll through which ones you wanted to post and not post. 


Facebook Poll Opinion 
The article here states that a survey showed 50 percent will abandon facebook as their primary social networking place to go to. It revealed that many aren't switching from facebook for purely reasons of innovation, they are using google+ more because facebook is making users more frustrated. I would switch to google+ if more of my friends regularly posted on there, but I don't see all of them moving over to the new site anytime soon. 


Funny Video: