First Impressions About Google Plus

I'm sure you've already read lots of articles about Google+ but no harm in reading another one, right?

Before going to my impressions it is necessary to note some important facts:

Google+ is available only on an invitation basis. For now you can create a Google Profile even if you don't have a Google+ account because this profile will be your "about" page in G+.

It is currently a field trial and not a complete product, so the current features are not final and they can change and other features may come as well.

Assuming you already filled out all the information for your Google profile, one of the first things you will be asked is creating circles of your friends. This feature is like an upgraded form of Facebook's friends lists. Although it is easier here to organize them and you can add people in your circles even if they are not on G+. An important implication of this is that you don't have to add people to your circles just because they added you. For that aspect it is similar to following people on Twitter. Its difference with Twitter is that you can set your each individual status update or share, to be visible publicly or to only specific circles.

Here are some notable features of G+ Stream:

You can reshare posts/updates of others (unless they are not set to "disabled for resharing").

You can enable/disable commenting posts/updates. You can mute/filter posts/updates/comments from certain circles.

You can + (like) posts/updates/comments.

You can tag/mention people by adding "+" or "@" symbols in front of their names, and they will get notified.

You can edit/delete your comments.

You can format the text in your posts ( *bold*, _italic_, –strikethrough- )

One important feature missing from G+ is that you can not exclude a circle from viewing a post. You may need this feature when you share post in a language that some people in your circles may not know, or if you want to make a public post which will be totally uninterested for some of your circles. This feature exists in Facebook.

Hangouts

- I haven't tried this feature yet, but basically it is a group video chat.

Sparks

- My first thought about this feature is that it is a very primitive form of news feeds yet.

This is not just a social network, it is unification of all Google services with a social aspect on top. For this reason it is in direct contrast with Facebook. Because FB is a social network with third party apps on top of the platform, while G+ is built on top of other Google services.

One of the most important features of G+ is that you can take and delete all your data from all Google services if you like with using Google Takeout. This feature will be very attractive for people concerned with privacy issues.

We may see some changes and new features in the next few weeks.