Google+ is currently issue #1 in blogs, on facebook and twitter and, of course, on Google+, as well. as a consequence i have read an awful lot about it. here are my, hopefully not too redundant, two cents.
- "Circles" in Google+ are inspired by (aka copied from) the "aspects" feature of the open source social network diaspora. i really wonder why so few bloggers are bringing that up. to me, this is another example of why small upstart companies are so important for innovation; even if they fail (as diaspora is more and more likely to do), their best features often survive.
- the "Incoming" stream delivers messages of all those people that want to share with you but are not included in your circles (probably because you don't know them or don't consider their posts worth reading on a regular basis). this feature is underestimated in its potential for serendipity in the sense of coincidences that inspire innovation and creativity (see also Steve Johnson's book "Where Good Ideas Come From").
- the more the internet happens in social networks, the more important these become for providing most basic internet services such as search. having access to (real-time) social network data is therefore of utmost importance for the future also of the Google search engine - at least as long as facebook does not allow indexing by third parties. the question remains, however, whether this development makes competition in the market for search engines even more difficult in the future.
(you can find me at Google+)
