A few months on from the great G+ scramble – does anyone actually use it?
I jumped in just to see what the fuss was but haven’t done much with it and doubt I will even though I actually like it.
I really hate Facebook and would love a viable alternative but G+ has never reached the required ‘critical mass’ for me.
How have the rest of you faired?

Chicken & egg. I would use it if everyone else did.

‘s pretty much where I am with it too, TBH.

Facebook, for all its failings, is well established. To usurp it, G+ needs to offer something that FB doesn’t. It’s a nice idea fairly well implemented, but without a USP there’s little incentive for people to jump ship.

Re: “a viable alternative to facebook”

I don’t really see the difference between Google+ and Facebook

(apart from the spectacular lack of users on Google + )

Am I missing something specific about Facebook that’s not to like ?

(I don’t like it because it gives people who I lost touch with, for a reason, the chance to het back in touch, for no reason)

I’m on there, as are a few of my friends, and while we all like it, it just doesn’t offer anything that facebooks doesn’t. This means that most of my non-geeky friends aren’t bothered about signing up, so I still use FB instead.

momo – Member
I’m on there, as are a few of my friends, and while we all like it, it just doesn’t offer anything that facebooks doesn’t. This means that most of my non-geeky friends aren’t bothered about signing up, so I still use FB instead.

This. I’m on it but don’t really use it. Also it has made it more difficult to take pictures from Picasa to post on here.

I use it more like twitter – I have about 450 people who are into bikes in a “cycling” circle (none of whom I know, although one does work on the same site as me), and there’s generally an interesting stream of content that’s relevant to me – about 20-30 posts per day, mainly links to articles/blogs or pictures. I’m in about 250 peoples circles.

I’ve also used the video hangouts to VC with my sister in the USA.

I find it far more interesting than the banal crap most of my friends post on FB.

Created a G+ account but never been back to it since! It just doesn’t seem to offer anything. Use FB all the time though.

I use it. A bit. I can’t be asked to continue with FB cos it’s so crap so deleted my account a while ago. I normally chat with friends over twitter now.

I don’t really know why I’d change, I have it but don’t use it and doubt it will ever catch on.

Only reason I have an account on FB is for cross-circle events. Eg, organising a meal with friends. It’s a low common denominator.

Most of my social media-ing is Twitter (@ukcougar) and Mono (www.mono.org) these days. Mono’s probably the primary reason I haven’t invested in FB, that and it’s over-complex these days. Stupid bloody ‘apps’ sending me virtual fish for a virtual aquarium and suchlike. I’m not 12 FFS.

Cougar – Member
Stupid bloody ‘apps’ sending me virtual fish for a virtual aquarium and suchlike. I’m not 12 FFS.

And there’s the problem. All the 12-year olds I know have worked out how to switch that stuff off.

All the 12-year olds I know have worked out how to switch that stuff off.

Touché. Git. (-:

I hate FB because of the whole mobile app and displaying phone numbers thing; it just seems to be a slow erosion of privacy. The opt out rather than in attitude also grates but I still stay because that’s where friends are.
I’m kind of glad to hear it’s not just me that feels a bit deflated by G+ but I’m also gutted as I really want to see something other than FB work.
Those that do use G+ any advice/tips for using it?

I use it and love it. If you think it’s supposed to replace FB then you’re missing the point – FB has so many people and so many people linked together (friends, family etc) that it’s just silly to think a mass transition would ever happen. To be fair, I’m not sure what Google was intending G+ to be when it came out but it’s evolving all the time.

What G+ has evolved into is a social network for sharing interests and finding other people with the same interests. It’s more like a cross between Twitter and blogging, and I’ve read a lot of professional bloggers are ditching traditional blogs for G+ as they can still do what they do but get the interaction from ‘followers’ like on Twitter.

I mainly talk bike stuff on my G+, like new bits of kit, rides, ask for opinions on bike stuff – in some ways it’s like a more friendly STW forum 😉

You get out of it what you put in tbh. If you don’t circle people and don’t post then people won’t circle you and it will seem like nothing is going on, but if you just search for, for example mtbers, and circle loads, then your incoming stream is more interesting and ‘busy. I follow a couple hundred people and most follow me back, and it’s really interesting to see how mountain biking is around the world for other people. For example, I follow mtbers from the US, Scandanavia and India as well as the rest of Europe and the UK, and it’s great to see the photos and stories that get posted.

I’m trying to use it, still mess with fb don’t rate twitter it’s full of tw.ats so it would be nice if G+ got going they were too slow rolling it out, all that keeping it exclusive just established an environment with tumbleweed rolling through it.

I use G+ more than Facebook. Someone posted something about Facebook being somewhere you have friends you know, and Google+ being a place to find people who like the things you like. That is pretty much how it works for me. Very few people I actually know on there but lots of MTB activity and NASA and Ron Garan are great to follow for space stuff.

@orena45 – did you just post a link to the ST On-One Fat Bike story?

If so, I think we’re mutually circled, so to speak.

beej – yep i did 😀

I signed up to G+ and never went back. pinterest.com looks promising. FB can be adjusted to keep it private. I keep forgetting to use twitter @ffflow. I’m going outside now to play with toys.

I’ve got a circle with about 500ish mtb / cycling people in, so there’s usually something interesting to look at or read. It is interesting getting to see peoples photos and descriptions of rides in other countries and what the riding scenes are like. Perhaps we should have an STW circle?

Can’t stand facebook, I have an account that I check once a day but I don’t like the way people are e-socializing these days. I’m quite a private guy and facebook just blows this out of the water for me.

I also thought G+ was just a FB competitor so I never looked into it but it sounds rather interesting now, I think I might sign up and check out these ‘circles’.