Has The Google+ Buzz Worn Off? Is It Too Male?

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That was the title of a lively conversation on, well, Facebook. Adriel Hampton, started the thread because she “was extremely turned off by the mass suspensions. Who wants to have fun exploring a network where your friends from Facebook and Twitter are getting digitally offed left and right? Put a huge chill in my network there.”

What she’s referring to is Google’s practice of eliminating accounts with fake names, an action I personally applaud. We just don’t need any more of people hiding behind an alias, then being rude and mean to others online, or spamming them. Forget it.

My issue with Google+ is what I wrote on Facebook:

My issue with Google+ is too many “want to prove that I’m tech” people gum up the stream with stuff

That got 4 “likes” – more than any other comment. Thus, there’s the problem: Google+ is too much some kind of tech talk site, rather than a true social media exchange. Moreover, the sharing is too overwhelmingly tech male. Just once, I’d like to see someone share their favorite restaurant or place to watch a movie, rather than a lot of pseudo high-minded stuff. If I want to do that, I’ll just write economics equations.

At least we get Google Engineer Matt Cutts and his cat! That’s soothing.

I’m going to spin a theory: there’s something about the very design of Google+ that lends itself to this almost sterile, “male” behavior. It the same for Quora, which I got turned off of a while ago. I think it’s a byproduct of growing up in the Bay Area, but I’m a bit tired of this “I need to prove to you that I’m thinking and know stuff – more than you” behavior that has come to define some social circles – maybe my own.

Whatever the reason, I find a photo of a friends family hanging out much more on Facebook, than on Google+ Maybe that’s why Facebook will survive Google+. That’s not to say I am not rooting for Google +, I am, just not with the same intensity as before.

Stay tuned.

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