A weird thing has happened over the last few weeks, I've become obsessed, nay besotted with Google+
Exploring how I can use it, how my clients can benefit, my Missus, my dogs, (really), the possibilites are epic.
To be honest when I first started using G+ I had a hard time getting my head around it. Circles, Who sees what, Hangouts, Ripples, Sparks, Huddle..enough already! etc, etc
And then the penny, or several of them started dropping like Billy-O.
And I had some revelations.
1. In exploring ways to use G+, via Circles hangouts, photo sharing, search etc I was looking in the wrong place. There's a killer-app feature staring us all in the face, but very few folks are using it.
2. Author rank (in my humble, what-the-F-do-I-know way), is going to blow the doors of search. (And as I by-product, I wonder aloud, also kill-off Klout, Kred etc.? I was never a fan truth be told.)
3. It is still a bit, (oh okay a lot) of a ghost town, but that's to miss it's essential attraction. It's not the numbers 'inside' on G+ that matter right now, but the numbers 'outside' on Google Search. And with sign up numbers everyday,(for obvious reasons) going high and to the right, it won't be a ghost town for much longer.
4. It's Google. IT. IS. GOOGLE. Enough said.
5. I think the Google Wave and Google Buzz fiasco are reasons why + will succeed, not indicators of history repeating itself. Did someone just say, (rightly) your last chance is your best chance?
6. I don't know if you're old enough to remember and have been a user of Friendfeed, before it got bought over sadly by FB. It was before it's time/ahead of the game and awesome. Most of my friends who actually used it, got as hooked as me. I think G+is somewhat similar. The more you use it the more you get into it.
But one thing I have noticed when you hover over the profiles of many who've signed up, you get the Google equivalent of the tell-take Twitter 'Egg' profile/avatar. i.e Not yet fully converted/convinced default banner/cover/masthead.
Looking at how anyone uses G+ is a bit like looking at a Linkedin user profile.
When you know what to look for you can look inside a person or a brands 'social soul' and see whether they do indeed 'get' it or not, in about 37 seconds.
7. Chrome Extensions like 'Extended Share' mean you can reverse plumb your social work from G+ to Linkedin, Twitter, your blog etc a really effective way not just to 'Manage the Message' but also 'Manage the Messenger'.
Expressed way better than me here by +Mike Elgan :http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9218283/Elgan_How_Google_ends_social_networking_fatigue
Anyway, I know this has all ben a bit rambly and fan-boy'y, so I ask your indulgence and will wrap up here.
I'll maybe get a bit more specific further down the G+ track, along my learning curve to mix if not mangle my metaphors.
But thanks to G+ my 80 hour weeks have ramped up to 100 hour weeks. Not complaining, not bragging. Just time well spent.
