The wait seems to be finally over and anyone can now sign up to Google+. I am sure everyone with a Gmail account will give it a try (in fact, you may soon have no choice but to join). As to whether, they will actually use it is another matter. I signed up and to tell you the truth, I’m stuck. Friends, what friends? I mean, seriously (because Google wants us to be serious with our identity, etc.), how many “friends” do you really have? Acquaintances, maybe. Colleagues, sure. Coworkers, business contacts, people you know, but real, actual, friends?
To make it easy to start out with circles, Google has already created the following circles: Friends, Family, Acquaintances and Following.
With the Internet being what it is, privacy takes on an added and urgent dimension. Anything and everything you type (whether public or private) is available to Google for its use and for said friends to copy and paste for the whole world to read and see. In other words, there ain’t no privacy on the Net and anyone who takes his or her circles too seriously will be disappointed. So, as you venture forth into Google+, be careful who you invite and what private info you share. Don’t put anything online that you are not ready and willing for the whole world to read.
I think I am going to avoid the mistakes I made with Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter: too many people I don’t really know tagged as friends. I’m going to let my circles build up organically, one person at a time. I think.