The Advent of Google+: I Have to Create Another Profile?

Written by Rachel Friedmann, MA, MSM, former Senior Business Development and Marketing Manager

I have profiles everywhere these days – from association communities (including AMA, ASAE, YAPstar and Ad Club), to my personal accounts (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.), to McKinley’s corporate accounts. It seems that all of these platforms want you to register, create a profile and connect to people; it is time consuming and exhausting. But what if there was one place where all of these accounts and your contacts converged? What if it even connected you to contacts in your address book?

Enter Google+. I received my invite a few days after its launch and from what I can decipher; Google+ is trying to be the only social media platform you need. It even has functionalities similar to Twitter and Quora, where users ask and answer questions from other users. You can be specific about which of your “circles” can view elements of your profile and the information you post. For example, instead of going on LinkedIn to share something work related, I could use Google+ and only share that information with those in my “work” circle. The other plus to Google+ is that connections can be placed in more than one circle, because we all know people who fit into more than one category in our lives.

In an ideal world, this could be the solution to everyone’s daily social media habits. You even have Google monitoring your analytics for you! But Google+ ignores one important element of social media; the innate desire to belong. I do not feel like I am part of a community on Google+, well, except the community of “lucky” people to have received an invite. The reason Facebook, LinkedIn and others work is that they give that sense of community people are looking for online. It remains to be seen whether Google+ can replicate that feeling and replace these other platforms.