Google+: Yes, No, or Maybe?

I couldn’t really call myself a communications professional if I didn’t have an opinion to offer about Google+, the newest kid on the social network block. Like the almost 10 million others, I too have been tooling around on the site, wondering if this – Google’s third attempt at the social scene – is … well, I’m not actually sure how to describe it. Not as the “answer to all our social networking problems,” as truthfully I think millions of us are doing just fine using Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. But there are so many that are enthusiastic about the new service – and so many reporters, marketers and self-professed experts that are already dissecting, promoting  and even parodying it – that I felt compelled to add my two cents:

Yes!

• Can anyone say ubiquity? Google = Internet. Even a friend’s four-year-old asked her the other day to “gurgle” something. If the ultimate goal of a social network is to spread its tentacles across every Web citizen, then Google+ is the natural answer.
• Speed and user experience. Google is all about making the Web faster, easier to use. Look at Chrome, Page Speed and so on. Given this, hopefully there won’t be a Google+ version of the infamous Fail Whale.
• Traffic! A huge goal for any marketing and social media professional. Google+ could help good content spread fast and furious like measles in a preschool, contributing to soaring SEO and increased traffic and leads. I can only imagine that soon enough data and insights from Google+ will find their way into Google Analytics reporting, revealing the holy grail that so many other social media monitoring and measurement tools still struggle to report in one seamless fashion – ROI.

No!

• Not another one! When Google+ was announced, a collective sigh could be heard from PR and social media professionals around the world. Really, another social channel to monitor, participate in and measure. I mean, weren’t we doing just fine?
• Show me the API. If this sounds familiar, this was my lament in a post I wrote during the frenzy of attention that Quora received back in January. Our default solutions for daily management of the social universe are tools like TweetDeck, HootSuite, Cotweet…etc. Given all of Google’s muscle, I would have hoped that at launch, Google would have partnered with at least one, if not several, of these players and present their millions of users with a seamless and intuitive way to publish to Google+ and manage it as part of the social mix.
• Don’t make me change. It is possible to post to Facebook and Twitter from your Google+ account but it means that Google+ has to be your starting place. Sorry, but TweetDeck is more or less my launchpad for my entire social app addition. It’s going to take a lot more than a shiny new toy to get me to change this.
• Debunk Facebook? I don’t think so. For millions of people – the regular, non-social-media-expert types – Facebook is the default. It’s their online social life. Daily posts, comments, events, photo and video uploads – and now video chat. Facebook’s roots are deep and I doubt many of its 750 million members are going to be willing to shift loyalties. What’s the incentive? (Why would you want to move all your Facebook photos into Google+? Beats me.) What’s more, I’ve witnessed wide confusion from people who are curious but ultimately have no clue what Google+ is or why they feel that they should use it.

Maybe?

• If Google+ didn’t look promising, the skeptics would have torn it to pieces by now. But, au contraire, I’ve read several applauding articles and already see several respected journalists using the network.
• Just because we are so used to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and so on, it doesn’t mean they are the be-all and end-all. They are, after all, just what we are used to. There’s must always be room for innovation.

So once again I find myself on the fence, following the crowd, trying to make my own sense of Google+ so that I can be better informed and be able to make sensible recommendations to clients. Check back with me in a few months and we’ll see which camp I’ve chosen – yes, no or maybe?

What about you?