Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Google Plus turning negative
Jack Schofield charts the background to Google+'s failure to
make it into the social networking Premier League and looks
at how things might go in the future. He
writes:
G+ started out as a slow, bloated website, it attempted to gain users by compulsion — locking G+ to YouTube comments, Gmail and other Google properties — and it tried to enforce the use of real names...All of these were unpopular with many users...
The clincher is in his conclusion:
G+ might have done better if it hadn't been delusional about replacing Facebook, and aimed at providing something that users -- rather than Google — actually needed.
There are useful things in Google+. Google Hangouts are OK even though I've struggled to get them working as well as FaceTime or Skype. However, there's no logical reason why Hangouts should be part of Google+ and not a stand-alone app or, possibly, integrated into Gmail.
Google Plus is turning negative, but dont bet on it going away | ZDNet.
Bill Bennett
Freelance journalist.
Auckland-based Bill Bennett writes technology and business stories that are directly relevant to New Zealand readers.
His emphasis is on telecommunications, but he also covers other aspects of technology and business. You can find his features in the New Zealand Herald and hear him regularly on RNZ Nine to Noon and the NZ Tech Podcast.
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