The Pros and Cons of Google Plus

*Originally published on 5/21/12



Social networking is all the rage. For those who like to interact with friends online, or just want to establish an online presence for the purposes of promoting their content, there are more networking sites than you can shake a stick at.

You've got Twitter and Facebook (obviously), not to mention relative up and comers like Tumblr, Stumbleupon, and Pinterest. Of course, there are also blogging sites like Wordpress, Livejournal, and Blogger. This is just the tip of the iceberg, but you get the point. Social networking sites are legion.

One platform that, oddly enough, doesn't get a whole lot of mention is Google Plus. I remember there being a fair amount of hype before it launched, but it didn't take off the way other sites did.

It's almost a shame because they had a solid layout. Now, granted, Google's redesign turned it into a weird hybrid of Twitter and Facebook's layout, but it still gets the job done.

One of the perks of Google Plus is that it is conducive to anything. There is no character limit, but if you want to just use it for "tweet"-like updates, you can. You can also write lengthy blog posts if you so desire, something that doesn't work quite as well on Facebook. It also allows you to promote your work if you write articles or make videos online and you can share photos and other forms of media as well.

One of the more distinctive features of Google Plus is the "hangout", that allows you to talk with those in your social circle. I couldn't tell you how well it works, but it is something that makes it standout from the other sites.

So what are the downsides? Well, not a whole lot of people seem to use it for one thing. If you go browsing around, you'll find profiles that have next to nothing on them. I'll admit, my profile was like this for a long time until I randomly decided to start using it. Others simply use it to post things that they post on other networking sites anyway, which just makes it feel redundant.

It's not a perfect platform, but it's a pretty decent one. The interface is easy to use and the layout is pretty straight forward. While there are those who don't put any content on their pages, there are many others who do. There are communities to be found and the site grants you a versatility that others don't.

While the result of using Google Plus is like any other networking site in that you get what you put into it, I can't help but feel like there's still a lot of potential just waiting to be tapped.