I first learned about the Norway bombing and murders on Google+. So did Scoble. So did lots of people. Images and videos appear as part of the feed, unlike Twitter, and there’s no 140 character limit. On Facebook, what you see is filtered, so you may not see all of someone’s posts. This doesn’t happen on G+. Everything is open and it’s easy to jump in and add to a conversation. It was also easy to find posts from people in Norway with had photos, videos, and thoughts to share.
The Gillmor Gang — Robert Scoble, Andrew Keen, Kevin Marks, and Steve Gillmor — convened for yet another G+ conversation. This one, however, was noted for its evenhandedness as @ajkeen and @scobleizer traded social blows over the new Google service. As someone in the Friendfeed chat on the livecast noted, @stevegillmor seems surprisingly positive about the new service. As Keen observed, that’s because I think the new service is Friendfeed revisited.
Of course, it is. But it’s also Twitter without the 140 character limit, Facebook without the unseen authority algorithm, and the Gillmor Gang without a human director (Hangouts). @kevinmarks says it a little differently, seeing G+ growth gaining on Club Penguin. And that’s the fundamental reason Google has a winner, by underlining the best parts of each of these services and floating all boats on a rising tide.
That’s the crucial point. G+ has raised the bar. We all will benefit from this. The video is an hour and definitely worth watching.