Google’s ‘plus’ (Google+) although only in trial, has two things right: (1) not all social media ‘friends’ are created equal, and (2) Facebook makes it too hard to filter your FB connections to deal with that reality. So, in another effort to leverage/operate in the social media ‘space’, they’re pushing Google+ …

+Circles: share what matters, with the people who matter most
Not all relationships are created equal. So in life we share one thing with college buddies, another with parents, and almost nothing with our boss. The problem is that today’s online services turn friendship into fast food—wrapping everyone in “friend” paper—and sharing really suffers:

  • It’s sloppy. We only want to connect with certain people at certain times, but online we hear from everyone all the time.
  • It’s scary. Every online conversation (with over 100 “friends”) is a public performance, so we often share less because of stage fright.
  • It’s insensitive. We all define “friend” and “family” differently—in our own way, on our own terms—but we lose this nuance online.

In light of these shortcomings we asked ourselves, “What do people actually do?” And we didn’t have to search far for the answer. People in fact share selectively all the time—with their circles.

Google +: recognising things you want to share aren't relevant to every one of your social media network 'connections' (click to watch 2 minute intro video)

Watch their ‘quick look’ video (below the fold), and (tuning out the schmaltzy, deep-and-meaningful, ‘inspiring’ dialogue) they show how their project is going to make it way easier to filter your ‘friends’… if enough of them join in …

More schmaltz on “friends who’ll be with me (you) till the day I die” here:

Oh boy. These are very well done videos but of the same genre as the phone company ads to ‘ring home’ …
– P