It’s worth the wait. Clearly, some brainy Googlers have gone to school on the two best-loved social sites, Facebook and Twitter, and come up with some shrewd, attractive upgrades. But Google+ can’t supplant Facebook; I’ve got too many friends there. So it’s two online hangouts for me, instead of just one.
The best new idea in Google+ is the concept of “circles,’’ a simple way to organize your online relationships. I have hundreds of Facebook “friends,’’ but hardly any I would ask for a loan. It would be nice to sort out close friends from family members and co-workers. You can do so on Facebook, but it’s not easy.
With Google+ circles, it’s practically painless. There is a circle for friends, acquaintances, family. And you can create more: a school circle or a church circle, for instance. You assign people to one or more circles. When you post a message, you can post it “publicly,’’ so every Google+ user can see it, or deliver it only to one of your circles. Now a snarky comment to your drinking buddies will not scandalize your clients.
Another clever Google+ feature steals a trick from Twitter, the social site that allows 200 million people to exchange brief text messages. While Facebook requires you to be recognized as someone’s “friend’’ before you can see his messages, Twitter lets you “follow’’ almost any user’s postings, with no need to ask permission.
Google+ works much like Twitter. You don’t have to friend people. Just add them to a circle and follow their message postings. Already, I have dozens of strangers following my messages. I can block them if I choose or add them to a circle and begin following them.
Forget Twitter’s notorious 140-character limit on message length. Google+ lets your posts go long. You can include videos, photos, or audio files, just as you would in a Facebook posting.
