Importance of Google+ communities

Importance of Google+ communities

Welcome to the future! 

Google+ continues to be one of the most influential social networks online. I call it influential, and not simply 'popular', because it has, in its own way, redefined the very principle of social networking itself. The established model that we have seen in MySpace and Facebook witnessed a great deviation, in a positive manner, with the introduction of Google+. Despite the fact that most users continue to remain more 'at home' on Facebook here in India, the scenario is changing fast. 

This post is primarily concerned with the task of introducing new users to the working scheme of Google+, and telling them how it is different from that of Facebook. 

The limitations of Facebook

This is one of the most frequent questions asked by users. Many people aren't interested in maintaining another social network account just because it is different. However, this 'difference' that marks Google+ is what gives it its own set of advantages over more conventional networks such as Facebook. In a country like India, where everyone wants to be an online celebrity, Facebook opened door to that opportunity for many. Using Facebook, we can keep on chatting with our friends and family, share pictures and images with them, check out their shares and so on. Thus, Facebook helps us maintain a healthy connection with the people we 'care about'. 

The purpose of Google+, on the other hand, is quite different. It aims to help you discover new communities, meet interesting people and establish new connections online. Facebook acts like a family reunion or a private party, where we meet the people we know intimately. Thousands of users on Facebook regularly try to find and meet new people, by joining groups and throwing random 'Friend requests' at strangers, but this is a tedious process at the least. Worse, they often get rejected, lose hope and morale, and finally plunge into gloom. 

Not everyone has a large circle of friends. And Facebook is hardly an effective tool for meeting new people. We can't blame Mark Zuckerberg or the Facebook team for that. Its purpose is different, and it still serves that to an extent. Thousands of weird, irritating trolls and even some really dangerous people can be found online at any given moment. Facebook is not built to filter them out. Instead, it simply discourages sharing details with strangers. 

Why Google+? 

Spice up your circles with communities! 

Google+, being specifically designed to deal with this problem, approaches the solution differently. Instead of directly encouraging strangers to communicate and share, it settles the matter cleverly through what are known as 'communities'. Each such community is like a club, for people with similar interests. I am a member of multiple communities, such as India community (for people of India and India-lovers), GIMP community (for users who like and use GIMP), Science on Google+ community (for scientists and science-lovers) and so on. 

Before adding anyone to our circles, we can actually check their posts and shares, their interactions with other members, and in addition we can discuss about them with others. This is the benefit of Google+. And since by default Google+'s conversation threads are much more public, something similar to Linus's law is applied here. Trolls stop trolling, and online abusers are simply discouraged and banned. Exceptions do occur, especially with determined trolls, but those really are exceptions and not the main sequence of events. 

Google+ thus performs its primary task very elegantly, introducing us to new people with similar interests. If you maintain a secondary social network such as Facebook, Google+ would give you the perfect opportunity to discover some real friends online in the case you're interested, before adding them to your network. 

Advantages of Google+ over Facebook 

A community is what makes Google+ so special

Compared to Facebook, Google+ has a far cleaner interface. Not only are the updates more frequent and the overall UI simpler, but there are no ads! This is quite possibly the greatest edge that Google+ enjoys over Facebook. Some of the other benefits that Google+ provides us with, compared to Facebook, are: 

1. Google+'s interface is more modern. Using a greater degree of customization, Google+ can be tailored to suit your needs. It is also simpler to use. 

2. Google+'s privacy policies, in my opinion and those of many others, are better than those of Facebook. 

3. Google+ communities are more professional and better integrated compared to Facebook groups. This is a chicken-and-egg problem again, like Linux vs Windows. However, let me state it again that Facebook wasn't built originally for supporting groups. Facebook is user-oriented, while Google+ remains community-oriented. 

4. The pluses of Google+ automatically make your content more discoverable. In the case you're a blogger or site administrator, you'd want better SEO and pageviews. This is settled beautifully by Google+. Google+ is automatically tuned to provide better SEO, thanks to Google's dominance over the web. 

5. Google+ is far better integrated with Android and Google's web products and services such as Gmail, Google Play and Picasa. Facebook can work with some of them, surely, but that's only through third-party apps, or else an incomplete, alien-looking mixed interface. 

6. Google+ is fully integrated with Blogger, making your blog earn more views. Once you share your post, all comments are then integrated with your blog's interface, making it easier to interact with your readers. 

7. Google+'s image-enhancement features are really neat. 

8. Google+ gives you a 'voice', and professionally so. By acting responsibly, you can be read and heard by many, many users. This makes your business/hobby/brand more successful. 

9. Hangouts! 'nuf said! 

Combining all these factors, I would say that Google+ is truly the social network of the future. Whenever there is a technological evolution, it's through a revolution. And this revolution, at present, is Google+.