I have been playing around with Google+ for about a week now, after receiving a highly-coveted invitation from a friend. I have to say that I'm impressed with the polished interface, the ease of sharing content, and the "Hangout" video chatting feature. I also like the idea of separating my connections into "circles," as I don't necessarily want my co-workers seeing all the same content as my close friends. Although the site as a whole is a bit derivative, there are undoubtedly a lot of great ideas at play.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find too many familiar faces on Google+, but that's too be expected since the product is still in beta. After all, Facebook and Twitter were similarly barren the first few months after release Another gripe is with the "Sparks" feature. Instead of displaying a stream of relevant content, the main page features ten pictures of generic interests, forcing users to go to the sidebar to select each interest individually (this will make more sense when you're actually using the site, I promise!)
The biggest hurdle Google+ faces is that it's unfashionably late to the game. Everyone is already on Facebook, and many people feel that they don't need or even want another social network. A small cadre of tech-savvy individuals is eagerly embracing Google+, but what about my parents, or my decidedly less geeky friends? How will I be able to convince them that they are missing out by not joining? Right now, I don't have an answer to that question.
To conclude, I highly doubt that Google+ will overtake Facebook as the king of social networking sites. Facebook has simply become too big and too ingrained in our culture. However, Google+ certainly proves an interesting diversion, and as more people join in the coming weeks/months, I envision spending a decent amount of time there.
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