Is Google+ social just for the sake of social, or can it be a forum for organisations? Photograph: Ho/REUTERS
Another day, another social network to get excited about. This week it isn't a new site as such, but a new function. Google+ recently released branded pages, allowing organisations to engage with users on the site.
A lot of people have jumped in head first with Google+, myself included. Some social-media gurus have even decreed that Facebook is dead and Google+ is social-media Utopia; "The King is dead, long live the King" comes to mind.
But
Google+ shouldn't take up too much of our (limited) time, because our
audience simply isn't there yet, especially in the UK. This may sound
short sighted because Google+, while still relatively young, is
allegedly breaking records for social network growth. However, given
Gmail's large user base, this initial quick growth is unsurprising.
As
someone who manages social media and online communities at a UK
charity, I know that my time is limited. That means we need to be
effective in how we choose to engage and give the best service we can to
our supporters.
At the moment that means focusing on the British Heart Foundation Facebook page, Twitter and our online community,
as well as targeted and tight blogger outreach. Google+ just hasn't got
our audience yet, and evidence suggests that users aren't engaging like
they were – it's one to watch out for, no doubt, but this feels very
similar to the stampede we saw to join Quora (or Google Buzz and Wave).
On
a more practical note, Google+ doesn't give "admins" data into who
their fans are, and only one person can own and post to a Google+ page.
All in all, it's a much poorer experience, especially when most Facebook
admins I know want more community management controls and insights, not
less.
That's not to say that we shouldn't experiment and try new
things - we've experimented a lot in social spaces with character
takeovers, competitions and lots more. But they have all had a clear
objective that we were aiming for, while Google+ seems to be social for
the sake of social.
I have made sure we've signed up for Google+,
but only so that we can save our page from falling into the wrong hands.
We'll continue to keep an eye on Google+'s progress and how our
audiences use the site as well as how Google+ integrates with Adwords.
Until then, we'll be concentrating on Facebook, Twitter and our other
channels, as well as experimenting as much as we can in between.
