Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Google + Circles, Part 2

http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/
http://www.google.com/+/demo/

So the first post got into why we needed Circles. This second post will hit on why Circles doesn’t go far enough. Remember, the point is to mirror real life, so that the product naturally extends and enhances what we already do.

Yes Circles allows grouping. However what about when the church leader is also your brother-in-law? What about when you hang out with one of your work associates? With Circles, a person can only go in one group. That is a completely artificial, limiting distinction, that I believe will limit Google+ usefulness, perhaps even dooming it to a fate worse than Buzz.

It’s a mystery to me how all these companies can keep getting this wrong. Sure there’s a sneaky reason why they don’t want us to have good grouping. But it’s shortsighted to make something we don’t want and can’t use. The first company to get this right wins.

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