So the entire world is talking about Google+ and is searching for the product invite. For those who were sleeping for the last 24 hours, Google+ is the ‘latest’ social network from a compan
y that hasn’t’ had a significant traction in social space (the only successful stint, i.e. Orkut is probably rechristened to ‘Google –’?).
Keeping the sarcasm aside, when I first heard about Google+, I almost wanted to say “Hasn’t Google already launched this?”. But wait, that was ‘Google +1’, the button (and not Google+ ).
– Coming back to the title of this article, let me ask you this – How many of you actually say ‘I +1 this? ‘. ‘Let me categorize you in a different Circle’, ‘I follow these sparks’?
As far as product review is concerned, one can argue that Google has taken an anti-Facebook stand and is ensuring privacy, but hold on – do people really care about privacy so much? Right now, it’s a hypothesis and Facebook’s growth doesn’t seem to validate that hypothesis. Ideally, one would expect the system to automatically understand the intent and enable sharing (right now, you need to select which ‘circle’ you want to share your current status with, which I think is a serious pain). But more on Google+ review later.
Product Language : English OR Googlish?
Google Plus uses jargons (Circles/Sparks etc) which aren’t really a layman’s language (Question: Who is a layman?: Answer: People who click on ads thinking it’s a content).
What’s a layman’s language then? Like. Share. Recommend. Follow. Connected. Friend. Heard of these terms somewhere? Maybe on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter?
And that raises an important question (and observation) – Google is still run by geeks and maybe, there isn’t much of ‘consumer psychology’ they bring to social products (reinforced with the recent goofup on Father’s day feature)?
– What I am coming up to is the usage of English, vis-à-vis product’s internal language/messaging and am not really sure if Google Plus actually lives up to a consumers expectation (yeah, this is a private beta, but don’t expect Google to change product jargons during public launch, whenever it happens).
Want proof? Eat this:
People have already started searching for ‘what is google+’ – which is a dangerous sign! This reminds me of Google Wave – there were books written to explain ‘What is Google Wave’ and we certainly hope that somebody right now is toiling to write ‘What exactly is Google+ and what it means for your cat’s pics’.
So in short, people just can’t guess what Google+ is; and might as well lose interest by the time product is actually made available for public access (haven’t we seen this happening with Nokia product launches?)!
Another ‘Wave’ in making? We will track the ‘Buzz’ and keep you updated.
What about iCloud?
Well, I spotted these ads (for the keyword Cloud computing) and look, who is speaking English (as opposed to technology jargon).
Guess who has a very basic and simplistic definition of Cloud [hint: think beyound iCloud].
Also see: Is Google Docs Another MS Word in Making ? [Product Messaging]
