Google have a poor track record when it comes to social media. Just look at Buzz and how that didn’t give Twitter any competition whatsoever. This from the one of the first, and probably still biggest internet companies.

Google+ is another typical Google product from what I can tell. It looks good, has the best of intentions but will most likely end up being too geeky and not mainstream enough for the general public to get behind. Not only this, but Facebook is so deeply engrained in world culture by this point that I don’t see how anyone can compete with them, even someone as big and as powerful as Google. Even if Plus ends up being better than Facebook, which is unlikely to start with, they will struggle hugely to make a dent in Facebook’s humongous user base.

I’m also a bit concerned that the ‘+’ is going to become Google’s favourite thing and be overused throughout all of their products, in a similar way to Microsoft and ‘Live’ and Apple’s ‘i’.

Speaking of Google’s new found love of the plus, I should also mention the +1 sharing feature which is now visible on many websites. I like it so much more than the buttons to share things on Twitter and Facebook. This is simply useful and understated. If you like an article for example, simply +1 it and if and when that search result pops up in Google for your friends, they’ll see that you recommend it. The best part is that it doesn’t clog your friends news feed or twitter homepage. They’ll only see it at a time when it could actually be of use to them.