Why AV loves Google+ (and retires Facebook/Twitter/Tumblr)
Some stats to begin with. I am using G+ since July 2011. I was among one of the first who got invited and I have over 3600 followers as of August 14th. via SocialStatistics
The follower growth does impress me and when I compare it to my Twitter, Facebook pages or Tumblr, Google+ beats them all. I have decided to move my blog from Tumblr to Google+ and I am hardly ever at Facebook anymore. I was not using it to connect with “real” friends. Facebook was always a place to build pages with – for myself and for my clients. I have thought about reasons why I love Google+ and I want to share my findings with you.
1. FAST PUBLISHING. When I started to use the Tumblr bookmarklet years ago I quickly realized that this is the fast and micro way I want to blog and post. It is still great and easy but Google+ publishing is even better. The best is the drag-and-drop feature. I often enhance a screenshot with Skitch and drag it to the desktop. Now I drag it into the G+ publisher and I’m done. It doesn’t get easier and faster. Using the Tumblr or Facebook photo uploader suddenly feels cumbersome.
2. BEAUTIFUL (ENOUGH). I always hated the small thumbnails in Facebook. Posts never looked good – but the load fast – big deal. Facebook feels like a complicated database. I often thought: “Facebook looks like a badly designed database demo you would only show to your client to approve functionality.” On the other hand – Tumblr blogs often look spectacular just by using one of their amazing templates. The predefined posting styles help you to look consistent and entertaining. Google+ lies in the middle. It could be better but it is beautiful enough.
3. MY NEW BLOG: My blog is on tumblr. Wordpress is great but too much work for me personally – although I am consulting clients to use it. My blogging style works best on Tumblr. Until I started to use G+ as my new blog. I am sharing about food and technology and I hardly ever have a post without a graphic. This seems to work and is maybe one reason that I gained so many followers in such short time. I am not sure how I will use my Tumblr and G+ in tandem. There is no integration yet but I am sure it will come.
4. PLUG-IN CREATIVITY. It is amazing what great plug-ins you already can use only weeks after the launch of Google+. My favorite are +Photo Zoom, Answers and More, G+Me (probably the most impressive Plug-in) and Surplus. When the API gets release this will only get better.
5. EDITING. This seems like such a boring feature but I am editing my blog posts and comments a lot. Not being able to do that on Facebook drives me crazy. Well, you can edit now seconds after you posted but this is still ridiculous. Posts and replies on Facebook are full of typos – this is unbearable and looks horrible and cheap. I would NOT want my blog on such a system. It just wouldn’t work. I rather would prefer a feature like on Quora, where I even can edit questions from other people (like on Wikipedia) to enhance quality.
6. VIRALITY AND FEEDBACK. Let’s face it. Social Media is more fun when you have a lot of followers who give you feedback. Just my 150 “real” friends on Facebook don’t work for me. I get feedback from the same few over and over again. On G+ it’s different. You have to earn your followers but you can. When you post interesting content you get attention. It’s encouraging and fun. Maybe it was like this when Twitter started but I was not part of THAT early adopter game that time.
AV’s Resumé: Google+ is great. I really like to use it, like to blog there and make new contacts. The feedback is fast, enough, makes me laugh and gives me new ideas. I meet interesting new people and get myself known. What else do you want from Social Media?
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