Who do people share the most information with? Of course people share information with their closest friends and family members – the people whose opinion they value the most. I may see a billboard for a local doctor but I am more likely to ask my brother or best friend for a recommendation before even trusting an advertisement. It all starts with building relationships and trust, then based off that trust, we dig deeper to share our opinions and suggestions. The Google+ project illustrates the value in gaining information from close groups, or what Google refers to as “circles”, in order to formulate an opinion or try something new. In a recent Google Blog, it is said that the new social project is basically bringing “circles to software”. Google has gained the highest percentage of the search market, but what about the social realm? In the past, Google took a few stabs at social networking by creating Orkut, Google Wave and Google Buzz – all of which resulted in failures. Will Google take over the social market with its new project?
Prior to the announcement of the Google+ Project, Google introduced Google +1. Google +1 is a new social entity, replicating the Facebook “Like” feature. The difference here is that these results are based off your (and your network’s) +1’s – your social connections help improve the content appearing in search results. In other words, if people that you know well and trust give a piece of content a +1, that information will be more visible in your Google Search results. Google’s new approach with search results and social opinions will go hand in hand. Now through Circles, Streams, Photos, Hangouts, Chatting, Profiles, +1’s, and mobile capability, your search results and social networking is combined in one place: Google.
Facebook took an idea from other social networks and improved it, but did Google take an idea and perfect it? What are your thoughts and opinions on the new Google + Project?
