One reason that Google stands a chance against Facebook where no one
else ever would is the existing landscape of technology that marketers
and developers can draw from. Google has its own browser, its own email
client and a bevy of other tools that everyone already uses.
Facebook has…well, it has Facebook and that’s getting old.
And before you guffaw and tell me that nothing with that many users could fail, don’t forget what happened to MySpace and its 200+ million users. It took the better part of a year for it to fall out of the public consciousness and no one wonders why or how any more – most people barely remember it existed at all.
Google can succeed as Facebook succeeded because it has the tools and the technology in place to offer what people really need – the ability to customize and access anything from anywhere. Here are some of the common tools that people have been using already to make their Google+ experiences that much better:
Google+ is pretty impressive already, considering it’s only a couple months old and the numbers keep pouring in, but there are still quite a few functions missing that would make it even better. That’s why third party developers are already putting together a number of extensions for the Google Chrome browser that add functionality to your Google+ account. These include:
G+? Why Not A+? – This extension allows you to do a few cool things like zoom on photos, mute audio in Hangouts, retry in Hangouts with a single shortcut if it’s full and much more. It’s a good hodgepodge of missing features that I’m happy to see integrated into Google+.
AutoSave – Not quite done writing a post but you need to go make dinner or use the bathroom? This will save your posts before they are posted so that if the Internet goes down or your spouse trips over the power cord, you don’t lose all your hard work.
Share Widget – A great widget similar to many others created for Facebook and Twitter that allows you to share anything you’re looking at from any website on the web.
PinIt – Pin your favorite posts to the sidebar and come back to them later. Very useful considering how fast you can get buried in the huge volume of information that tends to crowd a social network.
RSS Share – This not only adds a Google Reader box to your Google+ interface; it allows you to share the cool stuff you find in your Reader feed with people on you Google+ account.
SGPlus – This extension will show both your Facebook and Twitter feeds inside your Google+ stream, allowing you to include all three in a single interface. I much prefer to keep my Google+ separate from the other two since I post completely differently here, but if you like to maintain a single platform for all three, this is the way to do it.
Goodbye for G+ Games – Some people are not happy to see games added to the Google+ interface. After all, we’ve already seen what happens to a social network when games enter the picture…it’s not pretty. So, you can remove the games tab and never worry about it again this way.
Notification Extensions – There are a few options here, so I’ll list them each individually:
Notification Count – Shows your unread notifications in your browser bar.
GPlus Notifications – Same thing, with a slightly different package.
G+ Count Favicon – Places unread notifications in the favicon for Google+
G+ Fix – Puts that gray Google bar at the top of your screen in a fixed position so you can see it when scrolled down forty or fifty pages in your account.
Plus One Anything – Right now, to +1 something, the website owner needs to have integrated a +1 button into their website. Since not everyone actually does this, there are options to get around it with extensions. This one places a +1 button on your browser bar to do this whenever you visit any site.
There are a lot of other extensions too, so feel free to look through them and see which ones cover the needs you have for your social network functionality.
Pretty much every Google+ plugin for WordPress looks the same (most of them are +1 buttons), but there are a few specific options you might find that can add functionality. I covered the +1 button options earlier in the guide, so here are a few others that offer specific Google+ functions:
GoogleCards – Shows your name, number of people you’re in the Circles of and a button to “add to Circles”
Google+ Plus WordPress Widget – Shows your most recent posts on Google+ along with a short overview of your profile. You can choose what to show and how on your profile.
Scriptrr Google+ Profile Widget – Another profile sharing widget for your WordPress homepage.
Lots of options out there and most of them are similar, so make sure to find ones that have good reviews and are stable in your version of WordPress.
Like any social network, you probably don’t want to be logged in 24/7 just to stay caught up with the people in your Circles. So, it’s nice to have a desktop gadget for when your browser window is mercifully closed. Here are a few options that have cropped up thus far:
GClient – Gclient is simple enough. It appears in the windows tray, shows you recent posts in your Circles and allows you to shift between Circles easily. It’s simple, but for most of us that’s perfect. The interface is very similar to a mobile login interface with Stream, Photos, Circles, and Profile options to look at.
G+7 – For those that actually use Windows Gadgets, the G+7 Desktop widget is a great addition to your PC. It allows you to see what people have posted, your various posts and anything else you need to change in your profile.
Desktop apps are relatively simple thus far, but in due course we will probably see the first true Adobe Air based apps for our PCs and integration into existing apps like TweetDeck.
Facebook has…well, it has Facebook and that’s getting old.
And before you guffaw and tell me that nothing with that many users could fail, don’t forget what happened to MySpace and its 200+ million users. It took the better part of a year for it to fall out of the public consciousness and no one wonders why or how any more – most people barely remember it existed at all.
Google can succeed as Facebook succeeded because it has the tools and the technology in place to offer what people really need – the ability to customize and access anything from anywhere. Here are some of the common tools that people have been using already to make their Google+ experiences that much better:
Google Chrome Extensions
Google+ is pretty impressive already, considering it’s only a couple months old and the numbers keep pouring in, but there are still quite a few functions missing that would make it even better. That’s why third party developers are already putting together a number of extensions for the Google Chrome browser that add functionality to your Google+ account. These include:
G+? Why Not A+? – This extension allows you to do a few cool things like zoom on photos, mute audio in Hangouts, retry in Hangouts with a single shortcut if it’s full and much more. It’s a good hodgepodge of missing features that I’m happy to see integrated into Google+.
AutoSave – Not quite done writing a post but you need to go make dinner or use the bathroom? This will save your posts before they are posted so that if the Internet goes down or your spouse trips over the power cord, you don’t lose all your hard work.
Share Widget – A great widget similar to many others created for Facebook and Twitter that allows you to share anything you’re looking at from any website on the web.
PinIt – Pin your favorite posts to the sidebar and come back to them later. Very useful considering how fast you can get buried in the huge volume of information that tends to crowd a social network.
RSS Share – This not only adds a Google Reader box to your Google+ interface; it allows you to share the cool stuff you find in your Reader feed with people on you Google+ account.
SGPlus – This extension will show both your Facebook and Twitter feeds inside your Google+ stream, allowing you to include all three in a single interface. I much prefer to keep my Google+ separate from the other two since I post completely differently here, but if you like to maintain a single platform for all three, this is the way to do it.
Goodbye for G+ Games – Some people are not happy to see games added to the Google+ interface. After all, we’ve already seen what happens to a social network when games enter the picture…it’s not pretty. So, you can remove the games tab and never worry about it again this way.
Notification Extensions – There are a few options here, so I’ll list them each individually:
Notification Count – Shows your unread notifications in your browser bar.
GPlus Notifications – Same thing, with a slightly different package.
G+ Count Favicon – Places unread notifications in the favicon for Google+
G+ Fix – Puts that gray Google bar at the top of your screen in a fixed position so you can see it when scrolled down forty or fifty pages in your account.
Plus One Anything – Right now, to +1 something, the website owner needs to have integrated a +1 button into their website. Since not everyone actually does this, there are options to get around it with extensions. This one places a +1 button on your browser bar to do this whenever you visit any site.
There are a lot of other extensions too, so feel free to look through them and see which ones cover the needs you have for your social network functionality.
WordPress Plugins
Pretty much every Google+ plugin for WordPress looks the same (most of them are +1 buttons), but there are a few specific options you might find that can add functionality. I covered the +1 button options earlier in the guide, so here are a few others that offer specific Google+ functions:
GoogleCards – Shows your name, number of people you’re in the Circles of and a button to “add to Circles”
Google+ Plus WordPress Widget – Shows your most recent posts on Google+ along with a short overview of your profile. You can choose what to show and how on your profile.
Scriptrr Google+ Profile Widget – Another profile sharing widget for your WordPress homepage.
Lots of options out there and most of them are similar, so make sure to find ones that have good reviews and are stable in your version of WordPress.
Desktop Tools
Like any social network, you probably don’t want to be logged in 24/7 just to stay caught up with the people in your Circles. So, it’s nice to have a desktop gadget for when your browser window is mercifully closed. Here are a few options that have cropped up thus far:
GClient – Gclient is simple enough. It appears in the windows tray, shows you recent posts in your Circles and allows you to shift between Circles easily. It’s simple, but for most of us that’s perfect. The interface is very similar to a mobile login interface with Stream, Photos, Circles, and Profile options to look at.
G+7 – For those that actually use Windows Gadgets, the G+7 Desktop widget is a great addition to your PC. It allows you to see what people have posted, your various posts and anything else you need to change in your profile.
Desktop apps are relatively simple thus far, but in due course we will probably see the first true Adobe Air based apps for our PCs and integration into existing apps like TweetDeck.
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