Google had two abortive attempts at social networking, Buzz and Wave. Both got a bit of buzz then disappeared beneath the waves. Google+ is different. It’s fun to use, powerful, has features Twitter and Facebook don’t, and perhaps most importantly, shows no sign of slowing down a few weeks after it was introduced.
The early adopter geeks, unlike with Wave and Buzz, are still using Google+. What’s more, they are enthusiastic about it, their followings are growing, and they are getting more comments on Google+ then on their other sites or Facebook. Techies aren’t the public at large but clearly something is happening here.
Respected tech blogger Robert Scoble says that the enthusiastic response by users has spurred the Google+ team, who will be introducing new features soon. Some of his posts on Google+ get several hundred comments. Chris Pirillo, another techie with a large following, practically lives on Google+ now. This is a marked difference from the reaction to Wave and Buzz.
Scoble also says Google+ has made Twitter boring, and maybe Facebook too, I might add. I expect both of them will introduce new features soon. This benefits all of us.
If you want an invite to Google+, send me your email address.