Google+: Social network fatigue or the next big thing?

Right now it is hard to see how Google+ is adding value to my life. If anything it’s making my life worse. Not only do I feel obligated to check my Twitter, Linked-In and Facebook accounts, but I am now also expected to make time for a growing Google+ network. I know I don’t have to use Google+ but I do have to give it a try at least.

Sometimes it feels as though I’m developing social network fatigue.

I’m all tweeted out; I have no more witty one-liners desperate to be shared with the world; I’ve photographed (and shared) most of my daily hum-drum surrounds; and I’m exhausted by the idea of finding yet more links that I absolutely must not miss.

Despite this, the moment Google+ was released I signed up. I was eager to see if something new had been added to the mix. The answer to which is a very definite yes; and no.

On the downside, Google+ is not all that different to Twitter and Facebook. Long streams of incoming posts from friends, colleagues, people you barely remember and many that you’ve never actually met. It’s perfect if you’re desperate for some procrastination opportunity, but not that great if you’re prone to being easily distracted from work at hand.

Being new to Google+, however, I dutifully added all sorts of people to my Google+ circles. Big mistake. What do some of those people do? Apart from post items to social networks? Do they actually have time to sleep given their five minute updates? They certainly can’t work or they wouldn’t have the time to post all those animated gifs.

The thing is, Google+ is like Twitter in that it actually encourages you to add as many users to your network as possible. It’s not like Facebook which most of us reserve for people we actually know or have at least talked to a couple of times. In that way Google+ offers far more mayhem than Facebook if you’re not cautious about how you expand your network.

A couple of days in and I was pretty close to shutting my Google+ account (can you do that?) and walk away. I didn’t actually do that for one reason: I actually think that Google is onto something here.

The easy mistake to make is to think of Google+ as a social network. It’s not. It’s so much more than that. Google+ is about bringing everything Google has already created to date into one cohesive unit. Personal misgivings aside, I find myself continually sucked deeper into Google’s domain because they are so good at what they do. I love Google Docs, Apps, Gmail – nearly everything that Google does I eventually find a use for.

Google+ is the first step to pulling all of these things together and it has some pretty cool potential. I love the idea of being able to share Google Docs with my “work” circle on Google+. Or being able to message people in my circles individually, as a group, or entirely. I also love the idea that in one place I can see status updates, I can IM with contacts and start up video calls with friends. I love the idea of everything being together in one place.

Google+ is still very much in development. There are still many things that just don’t work for me. For example, I do quite like extending my circle with new, and unmet people; it’s the best way to find new inspiration and ideas. I hate that I can’t just mute the ones that make so much damn noise. Or at least throttle them (not literally, of course) so that I only get a few of their updates.

I also don’t like that as of yet there doesn’t appear to be a way to create circles that are more like Facebook groups or pages. I can create a circle and I can add people to it, but they can simply ignore me. What I would like to see is a way for others to voluntarily join a group (or circle) that I host, in which we could discuss areas of common interest.

I know that’s it’s still early days for Google+ and I can sense that there is much potential in its future but for now I’m feeling like it’s just not enough. I’m not going to close my account and I am going to keep an eye on it, but for now Twitter is still very much my network of choice.