Google +: A Visually Social Network
Google stepped up its game this week and took another stab at social networking. People are wondering: “Will it beat Facebook?” “Will people actually join?” “Will it flop like Buzz?” and “How can businesses and organizations use such a social social network?” I’m not going to try to predict the future.
Facebook used to be just for friends and classmates. I remember when I couldn’t join Facebook because I didn’t have a university email address yet. Now I help plan and implement Facebook strategies for many different clients. Things change, and they change fast in our industry. For me, the biggest takeaway right now from Google + isn’t how it will be used,what it tells us about a “Less (written) talk. More (visual) action” movement in social media.
We want visuals, and we want them now. Twitter only allows 140 characters and the stream is immediately updated (as long as you don’t get the dreaded Twitter overload whale). Tumblr has created a visual platform based on more photos and less written content. See Jay Dolan’s post on that one. Just about every phone doubles as a camera. We can check email, Facebook, Twitter and more from phones whenever we want.
The days of digital cameras might even be over – unless they have mobile internet capabilities. The Flipcam has joined the Polaroid as a has-been. This week, Capstrat president Karen Albritton said she ditched the digital cam for her iPhone so she could get pictures and captions from a recent mission trip out to family and friends back home.
One of Google +’s main draws is an instant mobile upload feature. Pictures and video are automatically uploaded when taken with a Smartphone. As a notorious procrastinator when it comes to posting personal pictures, I couldn’t be more excited. I am constantly nagged because I haven’t posted a single picture from my senior year at UNC-CH. I graduated almost 2 months ago. Google says, “Taking photos is fun. Sharing photos is fun. Getting photos off your phone is pretty much the opposite of fun.” I couldn’t agree more.
How does this shift to instant visuals apply to agencies and businesses? Visuals need to constantly align with messaging. We rely more and more on our talented creative and web teams to produce eye-catching, imaginative and insightful images and websites. On the social media team we’ve noticed that many times it’s the graphics in our Facebook ads that make the difference in performance.
If you haven’t already, go take a look at the Google + tour. The clear, visually streamlined interactive site will show you just what I mean.
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