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FTA: You’re taking your chips from Facebook and investing them in Google+. This might be a satisfactory solution in the short term, but do you have any rational

FTA: You’re taking your chips from Facebook and investing them in Google+. This might be a satisfactory solution in the short term, but do you have any rational reason to believe that it’s better in the long term? The author seems to be under the mistaken impression that people are moving to G+ because they trust Google more than Facebook. I can't speak for everyone, but the primary reason I'm switching is that Facebook is poorly thought out and lacks any real tools for managing my social network. It's just a big multi-threaded comment system with photo- and video-sharing thrown in. Circles is such an obvious improvement that it boggles my mind that Facebook hasn't managed to deploy something like it. Too busy watching movies about themselves, I guess.

timr 15y ago
"Circles is such an obvious improvement that it boggles my mind that Facebook hasn't managed to deploy something like it." They have. All of the same functionality exists within "lists" and "groups". The only difference is that Facebook hasn't wrapped those features into a unified UI. If circles catches on, I expect Facebook to copy it in about half a heartbeat.
- vannevar 15y ago
  Groups are a different feature entirely. And I don't see an option to limit my posts to a list, which is the chief benefit of creating a circle. Presumably Facebook could implement this functionality, but they have not. Which is my point.
  - keane 15y ago
    In Facebook, to limit a post to a list, near the new post field you click the lock and downward arrow icon which displays a drop-down of choices such as "Everyone", "Friends", or "Custom". Click "Edit" next to "Custom". This brings up a modal box. In the "Make this Visible to" section, under "These People:", from the dropdown select "Specific People...". This makes a textfield appear. Type the name of the friend list (hopefully you have the names of all of your lists committed to memory, or at least the letter they start with) and a typeahead will display suggestions. From the typeahead suggestions, choose a list by clicking it. Click "Save Setting" to exit the modal box and return to the post editor. Hover over the lock and downward arrow icon again to display a tooltip of what lists the pending post will be shared with to confirm you have done everything correctly. Create the post and click "Share". So Facebook does have the option but it is hidden away below 'mystery meat navigation' [1] and is generally not at all intuitive for the average user. Google+ is receiving (deserving) credit for the concept because the implementation is present and forward in the UI. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_meat_navigation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_meat_navigation
    - vannevar 15y ago
      So it sounds like FB can ramp up to this pretty quickly; they just need to ditch their post-centric UI for a friends-centric UI. Or at least make a friends-centric UI easily available.
      - timr 15y ago
        Yes, exactly. As I said, between "lists" and "groups", they have all of the same functionality. They just need to improve the UI. (The parent post also missed that you can pre-create friend lists, and restrict posts based on those lists. So it isn't as bad as it sounds -- but it isn't easy, either.)

timr 15y ago

"Circles is such an obvious improvement that it boggles my mind that Facebook hasn't managed to deploy something like it." They have. All of the same functionality exists within "lists" and "groups". The only difference is that Facebook hasn't wrapped those features into a unified UI. If circles catches on, I expect Facebook to copy it in about half a heartbeat.

vannevar 15y ago
Groups are a different feature entirely. And I don't see an option to limit my posts to a list, which is the chief benefit of creating a circle. Presumably Facebook could implement this functionality, but they have not. Which is my point.
- keane 15y ago
  In Facebook, to limit a post to a list, near the new post field you click the lock and downward arrow icon which displays a drop-down of choices such as "Everyone", "Friends", or "Custom". Click "Edit" next to "Custom". This brings up a modal box. In the "Make this Visible to" section, under "These People:", from the dropdown select "Specific People...". This makes a textfield appear. Type the name of the friend list (hopefully you have the names of all of your lists committed to memory, or at least the letter they start with) and a typeahead will display suggestions. From the typeahead suggestions, choose a list by clicking it. Click "Save Setting" to exit the modal box and return to the post editor. Hover over the lock and downward arrow icon again to display a tooltip of what lists the pending post will be shared with to confirm you have done everything correctly. Create the post and click "Share". So Facebook does have the option but it is hidden away below 'mystery meat navigation' [1] and is generally not at all intuitive for the average user. Google+ is receiving (deserving) credit for the concept because the implementation is present and forward in the UI. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_meat_navigation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_meat_navigation
  - vannevar 15y ago
    So it sounds like FB can ramp up to this pretty quickly; they just need to ditch their post-centric UI for a friends-centric UI. Or at least make a friends-centric UI easily available.
    - timr 15y ago
      Yes, exactly. As I said, between "lists" and "groups", they have all of the same functionality. They just need to improve the UI. (The parent post also missed that you can pre-create friend lists, and restrict posts based on those lists. So it isn't as bad as it sounds -- but it isn't easy, either.)