First things first: I don’t have any Google+ invites. Sorry Ken! I had some, but only minutes after I got into Google+, Google closed the doors saying “We’ve shut down invite mechanism for the night. Insane demand. We need to do this carefully, and in a controlled way. Thank you all for your interest! ”
I’m sorry about that. I’d give you all invites if I could. Why? Because why Google+ is still just beta, it has several features I really like. These are, in no particular order:
1. Easily Share Information with Select Groups: Circles
On Facebook, everything I say is, pretty much shared with everyone who follows me. That includes close friends and relatives who actually do care-or do a fine job of pretending that they care-about what “adventures” I’m having with my pair of dogs. And, it includes people who want to know my latest thoughts about Ubuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com) or IPv6. As you might imagine, only a very few of my Facebook friends care both about my dogs and technology.
With Google+ circles, it’s easy to divide up the dog-lovers from the Linux fans and vice-versa. Sure, you can rig up something like this in Facebook as well, but it’s not simple. Advantage: Google+
Google Circles are easy to use.
2. I own my information.
Facebook co-owns anything I put on the site. That’s never made me happy. While Google, as the more paranoid among us are acutely aware, tracks almost anything we put on the Web, also states in its Terms of Service that “You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services.” Now, that’s more like it!
