4 ms·

Google+ was wildly successful in certain circles. Tabletop RPG design still hasn’t entirely recovered from its loss. Google+ was successful from any real metri

Google+ was wildly successful in certain circles. Tabletop RPG design still hasn’t entirely recovered from its loss. Google+ was successful from any real metric but it didn’t replace Facebook so it was axed.

starkparker 2y ago
The TTRPG community demonstrated how G+ circles solved how people segment different parts of their social lives by limiting the scope to a specific community and cause. Most people in that space were heavily invested in that community but also didn't want it being their primary public identity. But the community is so minuscule that I'm not sure Google even knew it existed. If it had taken off to the same degree among something closer to critical mass, like today's parasocial celebrity communities or mainstream sports, it might've survived. IMO most of that TTRPG community migrated to Discord, but the invite requirements make discovery horrible, search is terrible, real-time chat is miserable for discussion, and its "forum" features are just threaded chats. The vibe is way worse, it breeds and feeds drama, and the audience that survives it can correspondingly be either less appealing or require more moderation. Bluesky doesn't solve the same problems as G+ circles, but between feeds and follow/moderation lists, it has a similar vibe of being able to focus the lens on a topic better than Twitter or Threads, and without the overhead and UX gaps of Fediverse.
hughesjj 2y ago
I definitely preferred it to Facebook, even before the feed became 100% inflammatory political stuff or ads and 0% my friends
plufz 2y ago
By which metrics was Google+ successful? I don’t doubt you, I just never heard that before.
- blntechie 2y ago
  I can't say user metrics but Google Photos came out of Google+ and it is a massively successful product. Hangouts (now Meet?) was also a product out of Google+ but considering GChat (the xmpp version) existed before, it was kind of a step backwards. I think Google Local Guide also has some parts of Google+, not sure.
  - Fluorescence 2y ago
    IMHO Google Photos was also just brand/infra-churn because it replaced Picasa Web Albums.

starkparker 2y ago

The TTRPG community demonstrated how G+ circles solved how people segment different parts of their social lives by limiting the scope to a specific community and cause. Most people in that space were heavily invested in that community but also didn't want it being their primary public identity. But the community is so minuscule that I'm not sure Google even knew it existed. If it had taken off to the same degree among something closer to critical mass, like today's parasocial celebrity communities or mainstream sports, it might've survived. IMO most of that TTRPG community migrated to Discord, but the invite requirements make discovery horrible, search is terrible, real-time chat is miserable for discussion, and its "forum" features are just threaded chats. The vibe is way worse, it breeds and feeds drama, and the audience that survives it can correspondingly be either less appealing or require more moderation. Bluesky doesn't solve the same problems as G+ circles, but between feeds and follow/moderation lists, it has a similar vibe of being able to focus the lens on a topic better than Twitter or Threads, and without the overhead and UX gaps of Fediverse.

hughesjj 2y ago

I definitely preferred it to Facebook, even before the feed became 100% inflammatory political stuff or ads and 0% my friends

plufz 2y ago

By which metrics was Google+ successful? I don’t doubt you, I just never heard that before.

blntechie 2y ago
I can't say user metrics but Google Photos came out of Google+ and it is a massively successful product. Hangouts (now Meet?) was also a product out of Google+ but considering GChat (the xmpp version) existed before, it was kind of a step backwards. I think Google Local Guide also has some parts of Google+, not sure.
- Fluorescence 2y ago
  IMHO Google Photos was also just brand/infra-churn because it replaced Picasa Web Albums.