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Ideas for the Future of Google+ and Its Integration With the Web
New Features, Defining Its Purpose & Enabling a New Era of Human Engagement
Note: Short on time? Scroll down to "Discussions" for the Google+ feature idea, or jump to the final paragraph for a summarized idea on Google+/Web integration. Thanks!
While the last few of weeks have been stellar for Google, things have been decidedly more tumultuous on Google+. It began with claims of a 60% drop in traffic (offset to some degree by the announcement of 40 million registered users), followed by the now famous Google Engineer authored ‘pathetic after-thought article’ and of course my mostly ignored call for ‘managed public circles.’ I kid about the last “event” (a big thank you to +Kol Tregaskes and +Kevin L. for re-sharing the idea), but the first two issues are deserving of real attention. To Google’s credit they chose to confront the events by immediately going on the offensive starting with +Bradley Horowitz’s interview in ‘All Things Digital’ where he stated that Google+ is “absolutely in a feature race, and I think we will run that race.” This was soon followed by +Vic Gundotra's announcement of real-time search, hashtag support and more recently What’s Hot and Ripple. Google+ does appear to be in a hurry to implement new features, but with whom is it racing? Facebook? Twitter? The web is quickly changing and with it the concept of social networking. Google has a unique opportunity to guide this evolution and should clearly state its vision for how Google+ will enable this change. Frankly, an “arms race” is likely unnecessary. The social networking “battle” will not be fought in the trenches, feature by feature, but rather on philosophical grounds. Interface design and application will be defined by desired human activity and behavior, not by the features of competitor networks. Currently, at any given time the web is filled with hundreds of millions of people, however unless a decision is made to step into a designated “social area,” it often feels like a solitary journey. This is not reflective of how we experience the world, and as is the case with any human creation, the web will continue to evolve to more closely mirror us. All ecosystems are inevitably shaped by their inhabitants and increasingly the web is populated by individuals using devices designed for communication, rather than a species tied to its dwelling. The web is ready to come alive and how we think about it will soon be very different. Instead of jumping from link-to-link we may just as easily find ourselves jumping from conversation-to-conversation. Partly in response to an increasingly omnipresent web, Facebook outlined their vision at F8 for capturing more “offline” experiences and bringing them online. While I don’t believe we are looking at a “winner-takes-all” scenario, Google does have an opportunity to demonstrate how their vision for the web’s transformation differs. It’s up to us as a society to decide how we wish to organize, identify with one another, and ultimately, begin the transition to a new level of engagement.
In many ways Google is the Internet. It is the most visited site and directs much of the world to the information it seeks. This is Google’s foundation, its base of strength from which to build, and thus the place from which its social networking strategy should be derived. Google should seek to enhance the information its search engine leads people to with Google+. How does one do that? How do you give static information life? The simple solution is to introduce the human element, and with all of its disparate communication applications Google is uniquely positioned to do this. While Google’s search engine enables us to discover information on the web, it’s through conversation that we discover the world, and in doing so ourselves. Discussion is society’s killer app, and in my opinion nobody has designed a better interface for real-time discussion than Google+.
Discussions
So how do all the pieces fit together? Well for starters I believe there is a critical piece missing and I will begin by laying out reasons for its inclusion. Google+ should offer the ability to converge isolated posts (conversations) into loosely organized discussions that exist outside of any particular user profile. In fact, I will go so far as to say there should be a “Discussions” button and landing page complete with “Trending Discussions” and discussions tailored to the user based upon past activity (+1’d posts and shared topics). When an individual posts something there should be an option to share with their designated circles and to a “discussion.” If the post contains an item (link/video/picture/hashtag) that has previously been shared with a discussion, a “suggested discussion” should be offered. If not, then the user can assign a title to the discussion or search for one.
If a post has been shared with a discussion, the “Discussions” button should be visible beside the “+1 – Comment – Share” footer, allowing anyone viewing it in their stream to immediately jump into the discussion by clicking it. It’s critically important for a discussion to exist as its own entity. Google doesn’t want to implicitly endorse a particular viewpoint nor does it necessarily wish to regularly endorse the view of any one individual. By allowing users to collaboratively piece together information on a topic, it will not only avoid such traps, but also build a more compelling resource. While there is plenty conversation on Google+, ‘Discussions’ addresses one of the issues facing the network: helping users find it.
There is currently a dislocation of interests between Google+ and the manner in which users have adopted it. The company has created a suite of tools so compelling (sharing circles) that in a way it is effectively backfiring against them. As +Bradley Horowitz pointed out in his interview, a plethora of the activity on Google+ is dark matter activity, or occurring outside the view of many. This may not seem like a problem for users with tight-knit circles, but for many, Google+ can at times feel like a cold, purposeless place. Aligning the interests of Google+ and its users is the key to allowing the network blossom. This isn’t to say there is anything wrong with limited circles, but creating an incentive for a more balanced conversation within the network is critical for its accelerated adoption and ultimately its longevity. One of the most visible benefits of a “Discussions” page is the exciting display of activity. It’s an invitation to jump in and join the conversation. In addition to getting a feel for the topics du jour, the user can easily see active discussions on topics that matter most to them. When the user selects a discussion all of the shared posts falling under the topic will be visible. In addition to directing users towards interesting conversations it should also reduce the number of duplicate posts and thus increase engagement on existing posts. If a user wishes to monitor a particular discussion, subscribing to it should feed all new posts into their stream for the duration they remain subscribed. Subscriptions should be selectable in a “Discussions” drop-down menu appearing in the “Stream” sidebar. On the “Discussions” landing page beside each topic name users receiving the most +1s in a discussion should have their profile icon appear next to the topic name, further incentivizing conversation. If a hangout is initiated and shared with the “discussion,” the hangout icon should also appear beside the topic name. To be clear, a discussion shouldn’t be comprised of a couple links, a picture, a video and a hashtag or two. Rather a discussion should aim to pull in all posts that relate to a subject so one can consider a topic from as many angles as possible. Constructing discussions in this fashion comes with the added benefit of limiting the one-off, artificially pumped, hashtags (not to mention animated gifs) that distort many trending lists. ‘What’s Hot’ will remain important for capturing popular isolated posts that may not be part of any one discussion.
So how do discussions fit in with the rest of Google? In addition to being of great benefit to Google+, a discussion offers halo benefits for all of Google’s properties. In fact, “Discussions” are even more important for the rest of Google’s products because it offers a means of integrating with Google+ in an “unbiased” manner. Google doesn’t want to appear to be “directing” (choosing one user’s identical post/link over another) a conversation, only enabling connection to it. Nor is simply adding a Google+ wrapper stating a circle member +1’d a link sufficient. If a user conducts a Google search and the results contain links previously shared to a discussion, a button should appear beside the link enabling the user to jump into that discussion. In doing so Google is not only returning static information, but also enhancing it by offering the ability to connect with a human conversation on the searched topic. If a person chooses to jump into a conversation they will immediately know which users (or experts/authorities) to keep an eye out for based upon who has received the most +1s in the discussion. Perhaps there will even be a hangout and the person searching for information will be able to have a face-to-face conversation with “top” users. A similar integration can easily be implemented with the links one finds in their Google Reader stream. Another hypothetical scenario involves Google Finance. Let’s say a user is looking at the ticker GOOG because they are curious how the stock is performing after-hours following announced quarterly earnings. It’s likely there is plenty of talk occurring on Google+ and if a discussion is available a button on the Google Finance page should jump the user to said discussion. Maybe the likes of +Jim Cramer, +Maria Bartiromo, or +Herb Greenberg have chimed in! One more example involves YouTube. More and more music videos are ‘debuting’ on YouTube and yet conversations on the site are difficult at best. Perhaps the video debuted along with the release of a new album. If that’s the case then surely videos and links reviewing the new album have been shared on Google+. With instant back-and-forth and comments tied to real profiles, there is a strong possibility that a discussion will develop eclipsing what’s possible on YouTube. Perhaps the users will even be able to watch the video together and comment on it in real-time (maybe a band member will be present similar to the Jane’s Addiction hangouts). Not only will the benefits of Google+ be immediately evident to individuals that have “jumped” into a discussion, but the benefits will spill over into Google+ as well. Not only will new users possibly sign-up based upon this experience, but individuals searching for a topic are likely to bring with them questions or background on a subject, both key components for a thoughtful conversation. Imagine a student researching astronomy being able to jump into a discussion with +Philip Plait or +Ron Garan. As Google+ grows hopefully it will reach the point where an individual will be able to easily find and connect to a live discussion on virtually any topic from both within Google+ or from another Google service.
At some point all discussions must end. When this inevitably occurs the “Discussion” feature makes for an interesting time capsule, especially with the newly introduced ‘Google+ Ripple’ feature. Certainly from a historical perspective some discussions will be more valuable than others, but capturing the thoughts, feelings and anecdotes of people as events unfold does indeed have value. As an event occurs there is often a chaotic period of discourse when thoughts and opinions are shared. Only after some time elapses does a public consensus of sorts form. When books and Wikipedia files are written usually it’s this consensus that is cited, however, how it is reached or the evolution of the conversation is just as important. The “Discussions” feature will capture this process in real-time.
Which brings us back to the philosophical battleground. At F8, Facebook took a big step towards “seamless self-expression” or “lifestreaming” with their enhanced news ticker. Their new timeline feature allows the user to better tell their life story; again the focus is on self. Twitter meanwhile remains a tool for fast, simple communication. It isn’t necessary for Google to build a platform or a walled garden in the same fashion as a Twitter or Facebook. The web is Google’s platform, and they are uniquely positioned to once again redefine how we interact with it. They now have the ability conjure life from something that has historically been a static, one-way conversation. Having organized the web’s information and made it useful, Google is now able to turn its focus to the greatest resource of information available: People. Spontaneously connecting and organizing individuals so they may best share their knowledge where it’s most useful requires widespread reach and the ability to make the experience seamless. Fortunately, in many ways Google is synonymous with the web. Their products are easily understood and have very nearly become public utilities. What has been lacking until now is a way of effectively bringing together information seekers with information providers sans a priori so that they may undertake a constructive conversation on the fly. Google+’s intuitive interface encourages people to self-organize around topics in real-time and thus opens the door to this possibility. The focus on discovery and collaboration diverges significantly from Facebook’s emphasis on self-expression. While both strategies are organized around fundamental human activities (which are not mutually exclusive from one another), the medium needed to facilitate these behaviors is indeed quite different. That’s why a features race isn’t necessarily warranted. Although people may be drawn to flashy features, they follow ideas, and they follow vision. It’s time Google+ let these things be known so together we can work on best implementing them.
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