What is Google Plus? After reading The Plus in Google Plus? It’s Mostly for Google, I am still struggling to understand why Google Plus is beneficial for me, the consumer. Google Plus serves a higher purpose for brands because it allows them to understand the consumer.
According to Bradley Horowitz, “Google Plus gives you the opportunity to be yourself, and gives Google that common understanding of who you are.” Horowitz is the vice president of product management for Google Plus.
Does this not bother people? It bothers me. Basically, Google created this social media platform so that it can track, collate and quantify our habits. We are being stalked. Perhaps I am misunderstanding the platform, but that is the feeling I have, as a consumer.
There does seem to be potential benefits in Google Plus if you are a brand. It allows a brand to find its audience and, potentially, new audiences. This is only possible because consumers information is being collected. Google Plus then knows the consumer better than anyone else due the different ways users use Google Search, Gmail, YouTube, etc. For brands, this is handing over free information on a silver platter.
I will admit that Google Hangout is an amazing feature. This is the only digital face-to-face platform that has huge potential. Last year, Tim Cigelske’s class used Google Plus to interact with a guest speaker. This was brilliant. It allowed more than one user to connect at a time. Google opened a door of opportunity for the future of communication.
Dennis Jenders shared three valuable features that Google Hangout can provide:
- Live Streaming
- Live Conversations
- Live Apps
Imagine the possibilities! Each has its benefits for different audiences and organizations. The two I like the most are the capabilities to live stream and converse.
Influential people and brands can live stream events. This is amazing because they can now allow anyone to be at the event. What is even better is the fact that it will automatically save and post to YouTube. Google is doing all the hard work for you, and more.
The ability to have a live conversation is also beneficial for people because, from a professional standpoint, it can allow us to have live press conferences or interviews. This could be huge in the entertainment business. Imagine having the opportunity to be one of a few selected to participate in a Hangout with a celebrity.
In conclusion, I do not necessarily believe Google Plus can benefit an average person. It can definitely benefit influential people and organizations, especially through it’s tracking and Google Hangout features.
Aaron Jay Ledesma 
Great post and love the headline. So, do you feel the same way about Facebook, Twitter or any other social platform that is monetizing your behaviors and actions? Obviously Facebook and Twitter are doing it through advertising. Many sites do it through third party tracking. Do you feel the benefits of those platforms outweigh the price of giving up your data (and some privacy)?
I definitely feel that the benefits of those platforms outweigh the price of giving up my data. Those are social networking platforms. Google Plus does not give me as many social networking benefits. When it was first launched I thought that was just Google’s way of trying to compete and that they launched it for the sake of having a platform.
I agree that Google+ has a creepiness factor about how much info they collect about each user. It is slightly unsettling as a consumer. However, I see the beneficial factors that you mentioned and agree with them. How do you think Skype feels now that Google+ has basically taken over the online-Live chatting realm?
I agree to a certain degree that Plus may not benefit an average person, but only if they are like most of us and don’t have many friends on the network. If a group of friends are all on and using google plus, I believe its hangout feature would take off and be very useful. Unfortunately, that may never happen.
I think you bring up some very good points that criticize Google +. Even if it may be helpful at times to have Google know certain aspects about our life (for example: our location when we are searching for local restaurants), there is a fear that our information will become over self-selected by what we already like. It reminds me of the Ford quote, “If you asked people what they want they would ask for a faster horse.” Oftentimes, we don’t necessarily know what is out there- and if our browser is pushing information at us that it already knows we enjoy we might be missing out!