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10件Google+要做的事情

业界现在充斥着有关Google的新社交网络Google+的发布的消息和它可能产生的影响。值得注意的是，这不仅仅是一场Google和 Facebook 之间的战争，而是一场卷入了许多行业许多公司的混战。事实上，Google这次面临的是许多科技巨头的围攻。他们要争夺在各自行业里最有价值的一块“领 地”的控制权。Google正在承受从各个方面发动的攻击，包括在社交、移动互联网、浏览器、LBS、企业市场甚至是搜索等各个领域。

互联网企业家Semil Shah日前为TechCrunch撰写了一篇专栏文章，谈到Google+的发布，意味着Google将面临六大战争，分别是：浏览器、移动互联网、搜索、LBS、社交、企业市场。


Google+ 有一个核心网页(central Web page)来展示朋友和联系人分享的评论、照片和链接等信息流。顶部工具栏囊括大部分谷歌服务：搜索、Gmail、地图，用户可以通过工具栏访问私人数 据，并将信息分享到数据流中。Google+还将提供一个特殊的视频聊天功能，最多支持10人的电话会议；并能自动将用户用手机拍摄的照片保存到服务器 中，用户可以通过任何电脑访问这些照片并分享。

Google+有一个良好的开始：清晰的界面、有趣有用的特征、Android应用、充满期待的早期试用者。但Google+需要超越自我和超越时代。现在看起来感觉是Google Buzz+1和FAcebook-1.这东西有意思，这东西有点意思。

如果Google做了下面的10件事情，他们在社会空间的名声或许会因此改变，成为真正的主导者。
 

1. 不要过多关注技术；
2. 与FaceBook竞争；
3. Google Ads；
4. 尽快改变；
5. 尽可能快进行集成；
6. 展示Android中能做的；
7. 更多有用的应用；
8. 不要忘记品牌；
9. 关注主流；
10. 与人为善。

以下是部分原文。

10 Things Google+ Can Do to Wow Itself and the World

Google+ is off to a good start: A clean interface that works, interesting and useful  features, a great Android app,and a curious community of early adopters.


Google needs to go above and beyond itself to make this worth our time and theirs. Right now Google+ (or Google Plus) feels like Google Buzz +1 but also like Facebook -1. It’s exciting, but not that exciting.

Below are 10 things that Google can do to change their reputation in the “social” space and become a dominant player instead of an awkward one.

1) Don’t Focus on the Technology

Google Wave was the future… and then it died. Google Buzz might as well be. Google must truly learn from those mistakes and focus on use cases that make sense to people outside the Googleplex. Why do people go online (beyond search and YouTube) and why/how/when do people interact with each other?

2) Compete with Facebook

Google needs to stop saying that this is not about Facebook. It is. It’s time to compete and compete well. Twitter might not be trying to create a Facebook but its definitely competing by enhancing its own network and doing things that are either very much in line with what Facebook is doing, or completely different. A competition is a competition regardless of whether you can coexist or not.

3) Google Ads

A Google social network without ads? Really? For how long? Google must be brave and put some ads up there. If it doesn’t, I simply cannot take this seriously. It’s not that I love ads, but without ads Google is pretending to be something it is not.

4) Make Changes and Soon

Google Buzz looks the same today as it did a year ago. That’s embarrasing and quite useless in a web that evolves on an on-going basis. There must be a long-term strategy and that must involve changes, updates, and major enhancements and announcements. It also includes making mistakes and doing a thing or two that people don’t like. Just do something beyond launching and don’t wait too long to do it. If there are no changes in the next month or two, I’m not staying around.

5) Integrate ASAP

Google called it “Plus” because its supposed to “enhance Google,” right? Well, then, I hope the name is not a letdown. I want to see the best analytics on a social network ever. I want to see Google Docs integration. I want to see the best of Wave and Buzz and Latitude/Places/Loopt.

6) Show What Android Can Do

The Google+ Android app should make people want to buy an Android phone just to see what an Android app can really do. If Android is the future of how people will be able to interact, use that app to make it evident.

7) More Useful Applications: Threads, Curation, Live Streaming?

Circles, Hangouts, Sparks. We need more of that. Google can give us some of the things Facebook offers (Chat, Groups, Questions) as well as things that Facebook hasn’t done (or hasn’t done well yet). From threaded messages to collaboration, live streaming, and curation (ie. Storify, Curated.by), there are many ways to provide solutions to the many issues of today’s social media sites.

8) Don’t forget about Brands

Brands are now used to having a Facebook Page and a Twitter account. What is Google’s alternative? There better be one and it better be worthwhile. People gather around the things they care about and brands/products/services are definitely part of that. There should be a special place for brands in Google+ and it should allow them to add value and engage in a way that makes Facebook and Twitter nervous.

9) Focus on the Masses, not the Early Adopters

The same people on Google+ today were on Google Buzz for 3 weeks. Influencers, bloggers, and reporters do not matter that much in this battle so be careful not to pay too much attention to them. Instead, focus on giving the mainstream audiences something they want to use. This will not be easy because the average Facebook user has little desire to try something like Google+ at this point. If Google can start to get the attention of my wife and my mom, it might just have a chance. Until then, it’s only a niche product for early adopters to talk about nothing but Google+ itself.

10) Play Well With Others

While Google definitely does not want to become an aggregator (Google Buzz is now known as dead sea of tweets no one reads), it better be strategic about who it can partner and get creative with. From opening up to third party developers, to partnering with software, hardware, and content providers, Google might not be able to pull this off on its own.

Conclusion

I guess to sum it up: Google needs to discover itself, be itself, and leverage itself. People say “social” is not in their DNA so this might be the last opportunity for Google to find out whether that is true or not.

Differentiation won’t be a way to position Google+, it will be the only way for it to survive and thrive. Google can’t be Facebook and it can’t be Twitter, but there’s no need to say “oh, we’re just here for a good time.” People don’t have time for a swell time. People have time for things that make their life better, not just their Google better.

There are many of us who want Google to succeed in this space (even if that’s a bit scary in a way) because we know the kind of value that Google has provided with search, email, video, etc.

It’s time to wow the average Facebook user while wowing the average Facebook engineer.

It’s time for Google to wow itself.