Poll: Google+: Like it/prefer it to FaceBook

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2729809

by mrspeaker • 15 years ago

105 149 15 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

hernan43• 15 years ago

I like it and prefer it.

kloncks• 15 years ago

You should add an option for those that haven't gotten a chance to try it out yet. Some people, including me, just aren't that cool yet :)

mstolpm• 15 years ago

Agreed. Count me in the "I'd like to have a chance to test it over Facebook" section ;-)

revorad2• 15 years ago

If you guys have gmail accounts I'll invite you.

EDIT: HN usability fail navigation Tip #97: The email field in your profile is invisible to others. Put your email in the About field so that others can see it.

jimmarq• 15 years ago

I'm trying it out, but I can't invite any of my friends and family. That kind of defeats the purpose. It's social networking without the network or social aspects.

richardw• 15 years ago

Kinda. Until you get friends and family on board think of it more as Twitter, where there are many interesting people to follow and interact with and there's a bit more 'bandwidth'. I have a few of my friends on there but am already enjoying it more than Twitter.

gokhan2• 15 years ago

Create an empty circle. Add them by their emails. Post to that circle, G+ will send a "X shared Y with you" email which is actually an invitation.

Does this work for you?

jpk• 15 years ago

I'm in the same boat because I have a Google Apps account, so Google Profiles (and thus Google+) isn't available to me (yet?).

barleyman20• 15 years ago

I always feed like a second class citizen with my google apps account.

pakeha• 15 years ago

Same situation here. I'd love to know if this is ever coming to Apps accounts.

pkulak• 15 years ago

This was the last straw for me and my Google Apps account. I thought it was a good idea at the time, but I'm sick of being an afterthought. A couple nights ago I migrated everything over to my @gmail account. I even moved my phone over, which meant I had to wipe it completely and re-buy a couple apps! But it's all done, and now... I feel... good. I'm a first-class Google citizen again!

benmccann• 15 years ago

One of the guys working on this said "Please tell your friends using Google Apps that we're working to make Google+ available to them. Sorry for the delay - we need to do it right!" Teams from across the company have been working very, very hard to make sure all the consumer apps are available to Google Apps account users: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/ten-times-more-applic...

jdorfman• 15 years ago

srsly it is becoming a little ridiculous. http://bit.ly/mKEveX

padobson• 15 years ago

I haven't gotten in yet either. My gmail is in my profile if some blessed, kind soul wants to send me an invite.

stuartjmoore• 15 years ago

Apathetic to both (yet still use both)?

look_lookatme• 15 years ago

I can't imagine the option "like it and prefer it to Facebook" not mopping up here.

There is an overwhelming anti-Facebook sentiment on HN. Disproportionate in almost every sense, actually. It's just the way it is.

sahaj• 15 years ago

It is the way it is because of a reason, and HN folk are clever enough to spot it.

ColinWright4• 15 years ago

You're missing an option:

* I'm sick of the hype already and I can't be bothered to try it.

========

ADDED IN EDIT: Oh, goody. Down-votes. I'd be really interested to hear from someone who thinks this isn't a valid reaction to the whole thing.

Let me just say - I really don't care about Google+. I'll wait and see what happens, I'll wait to see who uses it, I'll wait to see what people say, and I'll wait to see if it looks useful.

I'm not going to go "OOOO! SHINY THING!!" and immediately jump all over it.

Allowing that as an option in the "poll" seems reasonable. Certinaly none of the options presented represent my point of view.

Of course, maybe you think my point of view isn't worth bothering about, and that everybody should be interested in the latest shiny thing from Google. That's called selection bias.

corin_4• 15 years ago

It's a perfectly valid reaction, just not a valid comment on HN. This page is clearly for people who want to discuss this topic, if you're not one of those people, don't click the link.

Ironically, I'm sure you don't go into every single topic on HN and comment when you don't care about the subject, yet you complain about the hype that made you bother to write a comment about it.

ColinWright4• 15 years ago

It's a poll, it's asking for people's reactions. If you exclude options, people or opinions it's selection bias.

If you want to know what people think, ask broad questions and listen to the answers. Asking questions like this where you specifically exclude some points of view means you'll get "data" that statistically worthless.

Well, even more worthless than the usual polls on HN.

I'm sure lots of people on HN are all very excited about Google+. Fine, I'm happy for them. Really. It's just that they're currently like puppies, pissing about all over the place. I'm doing my best to ignore it all, but it's not easy.

But I'll do what some people clearly want and go away now.

hackinthebochs2• 15 years ago

Well, when the front page is covered in Google+ stories since it launched, I think its fair to voice disapproval at the hype.

mashmac2• 15 years ago

Different tools for different purposes?

pandaassembly• 15 years ago

Man these google+ threads, start to be annoying...

harel• 15 years ago

There's another option missing:

I like it, prefer it to FaceBook, but won't switch until all my friends do.

I think the make or break of G+ is in mass migration of circles of friends (pun intended). Facebook takes enough time out of my life as it is. Managing 2 separate sets of 'social networks' seems a bit over the top to me.

bryanlarsen2• 15 years ago

All of your friends? That's a little extreme, and will ensure that you'll never switch. I have friends that will just stop using Facebook rather than switching if all of the action moves to G+.

Goladus3• 15 years ago

The poll isn't asking whether you'll switch, only which you prefer.

reaganing• 15 years ago

I like it more than Facebook, except none of my real-life friends are on it.

Hopefully, Google will open it up soon. And not ruin it with games and other annoying applications.

jmspring• 15 years ago

G+ will be popular with the tech set (and probably their freinds), but I can't see moms, dads, grand parents really switching to it. Nor can I see it becoming as popular until there are games, etc. For better or worse, the vast proportion of FBs users will not move over.

Take a look around, how many people still have yahoo, aol, and MSN email addresses? Yahoo still is a very popular destination for people (groups, etc).

jarek2• 15 years ago

Wasn't that the same thing said about Facebook circa 2005-2006?

tejaswiy• 15 years ago

Indeed, Inertia shouldn't be an excuse for Facebook to not improve their track record. Atleast now that they have some competition, they might actually get better.

hackinthebochs2• 15 years ago

The situation then was vastly different.

The concept of social networking was still being defined. facebook is social networking in most people's minds. The concept has been solidified. Google's recent offering does nothing to reinvent the concept.

Also, social networking was still something mostly young people were into. The network-effects now are much greater in magnitude than they were then.

The biggest factor was that myspace was perceived as a "ghetto" (I had multiple people describe it to me as such). People didn't join facebook because it was more compelling, they left myspace because it had degenerated to a ghetto and facebook was the most viable option.

The social networking battle is facebook's to lose, not google's to win.

mtogo• 15 years ago

Needs a "who cares!?" option.

KirinDave2• 15 years ago

Oh there is. You don't click on the link.

Which is pretty much the opposite of what you did. So presumably you're asking for such an option for "a friend." ;)

ColinWright4• 15 years ago

That's not the same thing at all. Taking the time to provide information that you've read the question, considered the options, and specifically want to say that you don't care about Google+ is different from not reading the item, or not considering the options, or deciding not to provide information.

I, for one, sometimes choose to share information even about topics in which I have no interest. Why? Because I think information is of value, and I will provide it to a community in which I have an interest. It's the community I care about, not the topic.

embeemb• 15 years ago

This might be easier to use http://j.mp/mykDyn

pistoriusp• 15 years ago

I don't have enough "friends" that are able to use G+ to make a fair comparison.

lugia• 15 years ago

I just don't like the Google's Like button, a.k.a. the tiny +1 rectangle. It's just not obvious. It looks almost like a logo and I'm afraid Google is making the same mistake as Microsoft Office 2007 (the big office globe button on the upper left that many thought it's just for decoration). My fear came true when a friend of mine yesterday told me she wish she could 'like' my posted photos. I hope Google can change that button, right now it's just not as obvious and psychologically commanding as the Like button of Facebook.

generalk• 15 years ago

I've tried it out with my regular old gmail account, but I hardly use that anymore. I'll love it once I can use it with my Google Apps account.

ericmoritz• 15 years ago

I like it but without events I'm not giving up Facebook anytime soon. I'm more opt to ditch Twitter for G+ than I am to ditch Facebook at this point.

cgallello• 15 years ago

What's with the capital B?

ry0ohki• 15 years ago

It's not really a Facebook killer IMO. I like Facebook because it's just my friends (since it requires a two way confirmation). It more seems to fill a gap between public and private friendships. So most likely it will just be yet another social network I'm on all day in addition to Twitter and Facebook :)

stanmancan• 15 years ago

I like Facebook because it's just my friends (since it requires a two way confirmation)

You may use Facebook like that, but lots of people don't. The majority of Facebook users have 300...400...800 friends. Very very very few people are actually friends with 500 people in real life. I trimmed my friend list down from 380 to 40 a couple months ago and it's already crept back up to 60ish.

I think part of the genius of G+ is that it isn't a two way mutually agreed on relationship. You get to decide what you share with who. Facebook you're either friends, or your not. Everything generally gets shared with everyone of your 800 friends. Thats not the case on G+.

jedberg3• 15 years ago

My parents have a rule about new TV shows: They won't watch anything in the first season. Instead, they record the entire season, and once it is picked up for a second, they'll watch the first season and then become regular viewers.

I have the same rule with social networks. I'll sign up right at the beginning, but I won't participate until I see a good chunk of my friends are on it. I don't want to invest the time if it is going to flop.

mcdowall3• 15 years ago

I wish I could stick to that rule your parents have adopted!. Case in point for Firefly, Flashforward, Surface and The Event most recently for me.

Flow• 15 years ago

Good list, I think these belong there too: Invasion(2005) and Threshold

ditojim• 15 years ago

i like your parents approach, but there are sometimes good shows that get cancelled after the 1st season. if you let the masses make decisions for you (as your parents are doing in this situation) things tend to slip through the cracks.

jedberg3• 15 years ago

Right, you end up missing out on some great shows. But those great shows leave you with a bad taste, because you only get 1/2 the story, since they are cancelled before their time.

TV shows, at least in the way they are currently produced, are only valuable if at least some subset of the masses likes them.

Just like social networks. they are only valuable if at least some subset of the masses likes them enough.

davidells• 15 years ago

Your parents sound like the "early majority" on the tv show adoption life cycle.

corin_4• 15 years ago

I don't like that rule. Sure, it sucks when a show you love gets cancelled, but I'd rather have a little bit of something awesome than nothing.

Great example, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, a 2005 comedy show written by Aaron Sorkin. It's ratings weren't great and it was canned, but I think it's amazing, and I rewatch that one season at least once a year.

mcdowall3• 15 years ago

Great series wasn't it, much like those first 4 seasons of West Wing he wrote

jedberg3• 15 years ago

I agree, Studio 60 was awesome (I don't follow their rule). But at the same time, I feel very unsatisfied that I got so little of the story arc with the cancellation.

juliano_q2• 15 years ago

Shows are cancelled because the people are not watching it. What is the logic to dont watch it because it can be cancelled? If everybody do this every show will be cancelled.

Zakuzaa• 15 years ago

The logic is - not everybody do this.

shandrew• 15 years ago

The big difference is that social networks are often the most interesting in the beginning. Novelty makes them a lot more fun.

And you can't relive that new social network experience on DVD.

eps• 15 years ago

I don't use either and have no plans to.

bonch• 15 years ago

Definitely needed yet another Google+ link on the front page.

mark-r• 15 years ago

You're going to get a huge amount of selection bias in a poll like this. The people most likely to try out Google+ are the ones who were already looking for an alternative to Facebook.

patton01• 15 years ago

I would like to have an invite as well so I can vote.

make_lemonade• 15 years ago

Don't know why, but FaceBook just looks weird (as opposed to Facebook)

winsbe01• 15 years ago

I said "I like it but don't prefer it to Facebook", but that needs some explanation.

At the moment, Facebook still has the edge because it has all my friends on it. I also am less than 24 hours with +, so I haven't gotten to fully explore. But when more people join and I figure out all its quirks, I believe I will prefer it to Facebook (as I haven't particularly liked Facebook for quite some time now).

webwright• 15 years ago

I like it (UI-wise). As an experiment, I updated on both Facebook and G-Plus that I just celebrated my wedding anniversary (yay!). I also tweeted it, for good measure.

results: Twitter: 2 @replies Facebook: 8+ likes, 3 comments Google Plus: Nothing

I have ~80 people who have put me in some sort of circle (versus 200 or so facebook friends).

So how do I feel about Google Plus's efficacy as a place to share stuff? Jury is still out, but it doesn't seem too promising.

wnight2• 15 years ago

People "liked" your anniversary?

This is why Slashdot has multiple reasons for +1/-1 mods. More flexibility.

Congrats might be appropriate, but should that count as a +1 making your update more visible? It's hard to say. Perhaps it should differ by user - being a +1 to users who tend to congratulate others.

But anyways, your experience might lead me to try G+ where I haven't tried their competitors.

Daniel14• 15 years ago

An imho better poll would have looked more like this: "a) Google+ > Facebook b) Google+ < Facebook c) Couldn't try it out yet d) Don't care", since the way mrspeaker asked the question, a lot of people get left out.

reidrac• 15 years ago

I have a Google+ account but I've never used Facebook, so I can't compare. I like Google+, I can see the potential.

jarin• 15 years ago

It's sort of like Twitter was back in the day: a good place for techies and techie friends to nerd out away from the noise.

I think it will probably take off, just based on the fact that I'm actually still using it (unlike Buzz or Wave).

joegaudet• 15 years ago

Given I've not been able to invite hardly any of my friends, I haven't really gotten to make much use of it. I think, for me at least, this is a mediocre entree to the platform, since my first impression is that it has almost no utility, they really should have just opened it up to everyone so I could quickly have my FB buddies on here and be having fun and socializing.

kelnos• 15 years ago

I go back and forth on this. On one hand Google of all companies should have no problem scaling a new service up to a huge number of users, and quickly.

But I think the real issue is they want to tease out problems early, with people who are likely to be a bit more forgiving. I've been using G+ for almost a week now, and I've heard of a few bugs that were easy to fix with a small userbase, but could have caused trouble -- and a lot of negative opinions/press -- if it had been open to a wider audience.

So yes, it's a little frustrating that I'm missing chunks of my real-life friend circles, but I totally understand why they're rolling out the service as they are.

justncase80• 15 years ago

I like it and prefer it to Twitter

aaronykng• 15 years ago

I like it and prefer it to Facebook, but as long as I have years of history in albums, photos, videos, tags and notes...it'll be hard to warrant a complete switch without a mass migration of my friends over to Facebook.

That being said, Google+ has some neat features, so I may use it occasionally-- but just taking a look at Facebook's history: they're probably going to copy many of Google+'s features.

Remember when Facebook didn't have deals and didn't even have status updates?

dlsspy• 15 years ago

"I have years of history in albums, photos, videos, tags and notes..."

This is primarily why I don't use facebook today. It's not easy to get that stuff out. I don't have API access to G+ yet, but my hope is that I can move data in and out pretty freely. That will make me quite comfortable to use the service.

trbecker• 15 years ago

And this is why Facebook should fear +.

Poll: Google+: Like it/prefer it to FaceBook

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