

Raise Your Hand If You’re Still Using Google+ - emwa
http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/15/raise-your-hand-if-youre-still-using-google/

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dfxm12
I use Google+, but not as much as Facebook or Twitter, and the reason is the
mobile app isn't that good.

I do my social networking on the go, and I use Tweetdeck to keep everything in
one place. Until Tweetdeck gets Google+ integration, I can't be bothered to
open up another app...

What I do use Google+ for is pictures. The background upload is great and I
like that Google+ doesn't seem to compress pictures.

That said, Google+ needs to differentiate itself by integrating with more
Google apps, most notably Google Docs...

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chime
I do. And love it. I scripted my blog to import all my public posts on G+. My
friends read my G+ posts, my family reads my blog. There was some service
posted here on HN that I signed up for which auto-posts all my G+ public posts
to my Twitter. So I only have to post in one place. Works out quite well.
Also, I created a sorta popular G+ extension (Plus Minus) and people from all
over the world have started to add me. At least to me, G+ doesn't seem to be
dying and new features keep coming out on a daily basis.

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darklajid
Liked it, put up a 'Moved to G+' image on FB and stopped reading there.

Then Google decided that they are in charge of the name policy and my account
was blocked ever since. G+ as a concept was wounded.

Then Google thought it's a good idea to give me a popup saying 'You know what?
Your account is blocked, you cannot read the content here anymore. Appeal and
bend over or - hey - you can take your data with you when you go out of the
door. We won't stop you'. Every link to a G+ post was inaccessible. It died in
my world.

They fixed that now (so now I get a popup saying 'You're still not part of
this community. Really, you can leave us if you want' - but I can close it and
read the posts), but I don't care anymore. I didn't bother to delete my
profile completely yet, but I haven't used it forever now and I'm missing
nothing at all.

For my tiny micro cosmos (not representative, my own view) they failed hard to
keep the enthusiasts. Opening my profile brings the cliche 'wait for the
tumbling weed' feeling up in me.

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simmons
It may be a serious problem for Google+ that Google Apps users cannot sign up.
They are alienating their most loyal customers.

I still check G+ every day, and there's a core of active users in my circles.
But it would be more useful if I could connect with my colleagues who are Apps
users.

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e40
I still use it, because I like it better than FB. However, most of the people
that signed up when I invited them don't appear to use it much. I feel like
I'm yelling into the wind.

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hvs
G+ is becoming sort of the tech section of my social universe. Only my
technology friends are really using it, but there are usually a couple of
posts a week.

Which is actually fine for me, because my tech friends don't really post tech
stuff to FB anyway, it's just family/photo stuff.

Plus, I can follow Linus on G+:
<https://plus.google.com/102150693225130002912/posts>

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Rotor
I was using Google+ within about a week of the open beta. I was excited to use
it in a way similar to Twitter, the circles feature is definitely great there.

Then they shut down my account due to the full name policy. I never went back
or attempted to reactivate my account. I am not going to use Google+ if the
name policy is in effect. Twitter does not require a full name.

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beej71
Still using G+, no longer using Facebook.

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yanw
I do. And I haven't published even one post that wasn't targeted to a specific
circle (non public).

I think maybe the author should wait for G+ to be visible to all users and
integrated over all Google's products, have a search feature and not to
mentioned easier to sign up to before he starts echoing unreliable and
meaningless stats.

~~~
Triumvark
> I do, and haven't published even one post that wasn't targeted to a specific
> circle.

Exactly. The article is measuring the number of G+ users who don't understand
circles. Declining public posts isn't necessarily a bad thing.

~~~
hvs
I wouldn't call people who don't publish to specific circles "users who don't
understand circles." I publish almost everything publicly because I honestly
don't care who reads most of it. I only publish to specific circles when I
actually care, which is rare.

~~~
Triumvark
Fair point, I was too hyperbolic.

I just wanted to emphasize that the 'public posts' metric is not necessarily
ideal for a system where "easier private publication" was a showcased feature.

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FredBrach
Most google products are too beta to be really used. I really think and insist
here that the "ship as soon as possible" is not a magic recipe, it's a good
card which have to be played at the right moment for the right thing. Some
product need a pretty good polishing (like video games) at the first public
release. A facebook competitor has to be really polished as soon as possible
and nothing else I would say. Google could have its social network, it's just
organic. But they still can mess it up. Don't know if it's the case but...
they can.

