Are you wondering what this Google+ thing looks like, but haven’t yet got an invite? Maybe you’ve been offered an invite, but can’t be bothered to try it out right now?
Well, having just set up an account and found a few other people I know. Mine, looks like this.
Main screen
Stream/news feed
My profile
Interestingly, when it came to photos, while I was setting up my profile, it gave me an option between allowing it to use/access/share my Picasa account, or not setting up a profile at all. This seemed a bit harsh, to me.
That said, it does give some interesting privacy options.
Specifically, I think the “see how your profile appears to” specific other people, might save a lot of people from the old Facebook trick of uploading pictures of themselves drunk/naked, and not realising their boss can see.
Also, the “circles” functionality, means you can have one group that is your work colleagues, and one group which is just the work colleagues you actually like. This instantly raises a potential problem in my mind, though.
You see, you don’t get to know which circle you’ve been placed in. If I add Dave to “good friends”, but John and Mike to “acquaintances”, none of them know.
This could lead to you mentioning something sensitive to Dave, which he talks to John and Mike about, assuming they already know. With hilarious consequences.
Data liberation is a nice touch.
I’ve no idea what you would do with a .zipped version of your stream or buzz posts, except upload them to another Google+ account, but it’s nice to be able to get your photos out, easily.
There’s another slight oddity, that you don’t really agree to be friends so openly. If you search for Sarah and put her in your “attractive people I’m stalking online” circle, she just gets a message saying ‘Pervy Graham’ has added her. Presumably until she adds you to a circle, you see only what is publicly available, unless she blocks you altogether. And if you can’t see anything, then you know you’re blocked? Maybe Sarah “added you on Google+” is the new “accepted your friend request”? All of which begs the question of what the new term will be, that only gets used in terribly overrated films and DailyMail columns. If you can’t say “I Facebook’d her” (not that anyone ever does), what do you say instead? “I plus’d her”? “She’s plus’d up”? “She tested positive”?