Google+

A slow weekend, time to write

I really like Google+. The user engagement here is near instantaneous sometimes and the discussions are quite good (all trolling aside). It's unlike any social network I've used, but since my last long post, I've been pondering something.

Why can't Google+ replace my blog?

Technically, as it stands right now, it actually could. I don't write there very often, and when I do, not a lot of people visit. So I began asking myself, why can't Google+ just up and replace mine(or anyone else's) blog?

Style

Already I've been able to bold words, italicize them, and I can even strikethrough them if I so desire. The ability to add some kind of stylized formatting to a post is awesome, but there's a lot left to be desired.

Headers, colors, fonts, and sizes all can play into the reading experience. We've got the most elementary of tools at hand to try and organize text as we'd like,and while it works, it's not perfect.

Formatting

Similar to style, the ability to format a post is incredibly important. Yes, I can attach media to this (multiple pictures, URLs, videos, etc.), but because I can't put them where I want them to be, they're kind of like an afterthought in the grand scheme of the work.

Take something I've been working on the detailsfor for, a post titled Tater tots vs. french fries: An objective analysis. Because this is a media-heavy post, pictures really need to be where I want them for the text to not only flow and make sense, but be enhanced by the visual. Google+ doesn't let this happen.

Brand (or, ego)

While you could make the argument that your name (or identity, natch) is the best brand you have, I'd still like to have a personal brand that exists off of a social network, and I assume others do, too.

By limiting posts to here, your brand might never get kicked off the way you'd want.

It's not all doom and gloom, though...

Something powerful Google+ has is the lack of a barrier to entry. It's instant, immediate, and in real-time.You don't have to go anywhere else to read what's up.

I'd assume had I written that post up on my blog, pasted the link, and shared it, engagement would have been lower. Externals link, yuck. You mean I have to go someplace to read this? And comment on it?

So Google+ presents an interesting dilemma. Does it stand a chance to become the next blogging platform? Probably not, not with Google having Blogger and stuff.

But can it serve as a gateway for someone to increase their engaged audience, then say, ween them off of the teat of Google+ once you've proven you truly have something to say? Maybe.

When Google+ first came out, the Android Central writers had an impromptu Hangout/podcast, talking about Google+. Thet said in six months (right around the start of the new year), they'd have another one, to talk about if Google+ flourished or floundered, how it'd changed, and if it was here to stay.

Thinking about the future of Google+ and all it can be used for really gets me excited. The fact I can say all this to y'all, right here, makes me excited, too.