Like so many other geeks, technos, and socialphiles – I jumped on the Google+ bandwagon as soon as it came out. I must confess, I did the same on Linkedin so may years ago. Remember Plaxo?
In any case, I was not very impressed Google+ on first glance. I doubt anyone was. My first complaint was that the same people I connect with on Twitter and Facebook were on Google+. Why bother?
As a result, I would not even think to look at Google+.
Today, am beginning to see the +1 button show up on all of the blogs and websites that I read. If the author is a friend of mine, or if the content is good, I like to support their efforts and encourage their writing by socializing it.. (speaking of which – please rate this article and hit the twitter, facebook, and Google+ buttons if you think it is worth sharing).
So, I have slowly started using Google+. My experience with Google+ hit an inflection point recently. My attitude changed. As I was socializing a great blog post from my friend Harper Thorpe of CoreLogic (Best Broker Blog in the Industry), I realized that Google+ is surprisingly un-cluttered. Unlike Twitter and Facebook – only the more advanced socializers and bloggers are using Google+. In a way, the lack of popularity of Google+ by the masses makes it, well…..more popular by the intelligentsia.
I do not use Google+ to connect with people. Google+ does not play a role in marketing for real estate. Google+ is about connecting to great content on the Internet. It is about allowing people you know and trust to point out the best parts of the web. With billions of pages of content being added to the web every second – crowdsourcing the best stuff is hard. But in some small way, Google+ is doing what Google’s search algorithms could never do. It allows me to find the stuff on the web that I am likely to be interested in. I get by with a little help from my friends.
Knowing this, I am going to change up my Google+ strategy. I am going to remove a bunch of people from my circles and only circle up with people that read and promote great content. In truth, I really don’t care about your new listing at 1 Park Place – so don’t +1 that. Google +1 is about sharing the stuff that is important, the stuff on the web that helps us all learn more about ourselves, about each other, about our careers and our industry. Google+ is not about marketing, and not about connecting with your next sale.
Take another look at Google+ through this lens. You might be surprised.
Thanks to my geeky online friends Jeff Turner, Jeff Laskey, Shaun McLane, Chase Thompson, Matt Cutts, Derek Overbey, and Reggie Nicolay. Without knowing it, you make my Google+ a better place.
