Talk:Google+/Archive 1

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"Facebook allows users to download their data, but not in a simple format easy to import"

Source? That strikes me as not NPOV. IIRC data is downloaded as a zip archive of text files, HTML, and images. That format seems as simple as it gets. In fact, a google of "facebook download data format" turns up the article Facebook finally makes your exported data useful which states: "By adding microformats to the HTML included in the zip file, Facebook is helping users and applications parse the data in a meaningful way. "

FWIW, I believe the download doesn't include email addresses of your friends. It might be worth discussing that limitation instead. --98.207.77.170 (talk) 19:39, 30 August 2012 (UTC)

Unofficial Google Plus Wiki

Hi, I nominate the Unofficial Google Plus Wiki to be in the External links section: http://wikigpl.us/

This is a site which compiles the latest tips and know hows of google plus. Obviously the length and detail would not be suitable here, additionally it is for limited audience at the moment. However who are already in the system or just joined raise the same questions and the information is beneficial for both new users or for the ones who just very curious about the details. The site is neutral and has references to google insiders who originally posted majority of this information. There is no official wiki of google plus just yet.

"Sites that contain neutral and accurate material that is relevant to an encyclopedic understanding of the subject and cannot be integrated into the Wikipedia article due to ..." "... amount of detail .." ".. or other reasons." — Preceding unsigned comment added by Feczo (talkcontribs) 15:35, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

I suggest you read WP:Reliable sources and WP:ELNO. OhNoitsJamie Talk 16:04, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

I've looked at it. Please look at the page, it is reliable and has references eg. <source: David Yonge-Mallo> https://plus.google.com/117851035855826465807/posts/4Engwqgr4nZ who actually works for google https://plus.google.com/117851035855826465807/about — Preceding unsigned comment added by Feczo (talkcontribs) 22:14, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

additionally From: Trey Harris (https://plus.google.com/u/0/116222833568410151476/about) "+Szabolcs Feczak Thanks—I've looked at this and it seems quite nice! As a regular Google engineer, I hope you understand I can't endorse any outside work, but I'll try to link to it in a post soon. ..." — Preceding unsigned comment added by Feczo (talkcontribs) 00:30, 8 July 2011 (UTC)

My Stream Screenshot

I've just added a screenshot of my Stream, so that people who don't have access to Google+ can see what it looks like. I don't expect the image to survive once this article is expanded and Google+ is opened up to all, but for now I think it's useful. Jaruzel (talk) 15:46, 30 June 2011 (UTC)

One screenshot for a website is typically acceptable. (Just realized that there's already one in the infobox.) I think your screenshot is fine and helps illustrate the site. Gary King (talk · scripts) 02:41, 1 July 2011 (UTC)

"invite was ended" is not entirely true

There's a workaround and people still invite. --84.130.182.171 (talk) 18:34, 1 July 2011 (UTC)

Got a reliable source for this workaround? Gary King (talk · scripts) 17:28, 2 July 2011 (UTC)
And is the workaround sanctioned by Google? If not, then the phrase "invite was ended" is accurate. Pianotech Talk to me!/Contribs 17:29, 2 July 2011 (UTC)
And this "workaround" worked for less than a day before Google fixed it (if ever ... I tried it and it didn't work for me, but I don't exclude the possibility that it worked at some point). --B (talk) 16:43, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
On the other hand, someone sent me a Google+ invite today (July 5), and it worked. Pianotech Talk to me!/Contribs 00:45, 6 July 2011 (UTC)
I also was sent an invite yesterday and got in today. --Nextil - (talk) 22:01, 6 July 2011 (UTC)
Invites are Google sanctioned, (though the amount of invites may be limited). I received an invite, got in, and sent invites today. There is a section on the home screen where you can send invites. At one point there was a section at the bottom that said something like "Send 9 invites" and had a list of suggestions, but that section has since disappeared, so I am uncertain as to the number of invites that are allowed at this time. --Katiewoz (talk) 18:18, 11 July 2011 (UTC)

I would wager it is closed again. This has been on the front page for at least a week now: "Already invited? We've temporarily exceeded our capacity. Please try again soon." -- abfackeln (talk) 08:26, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

Closed beta and pictures, NDA in effect?

We should probably be a little bit careful with posting pictures from Google +, it's a closed beta after all. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tommie (talkcontribs) 13:03, 3 July 2011 (UTC)

Negative, there is no NDA. It was an open beta before it was closed. --Pmsyyz (talk) 17:09, 3 July 2011 (UTC)

Statememt about Andy Herzfeld is wrong

He designed the circles interface but did not have anything to do with the Google-wide redesign. This according to a post he made on Google+ to clear up misconceptions in the press ... not sure how to find a suitable reference for this. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.73.233.250 (talk) 06:17, 5 July 2011 (UTC)

Here's the direct link: https://plus.google.com/117840649766034848455/posts/FddaP6jeCqp LGFN (talk) 15:46, 5 July 2011 (UTC)

Blocking of certain links

On facebook, it won't let you post links to torrents or porn on your wall. Does Google plus restrict linking to certain sites, and if so, what types? --LeedsKing (talk) 22:59, 8 July 2011 (UTC)

The logo in the infobox shows distorted. I've changed the pixel count to half of the original image to keep the original proportions, but it has been reverted and shows distorted again. Why is this technical problem happening? Diego (talk) 13:57, 10 July 2011 (UTC)

So, what's up with the distorted logo? Am I the only one who sees it badly now? Diego (talk) 14:34, 10 July 2011 (UTC)
What in the image are you seeing distorted? It appears fine to me - the proportions are correct and there's no abnormal pixelation that I can see. Which browser and version are you using? I can try with that to see if I can replicate a problem. --- Barek (talkcontribs) - 15:08, 10 July 2011 (UTC)
It shows vertically compressed in Firefox 4, Chromium (one year ago) and the native Android browser (I think that's WebKit based, too), so at least two different engines. The original size and my half-size reduced version show fine in both. Diego (talk) 15:22, 10 July 2011 (UTC)
Same problem here. --Stryn (talk) 16:07, 10 July 2011 (UTC)
Odd, I'm not seeing that here (using Firefox 5, IE9, and Android browser) - but clearly at least one other person is seeing the same issue. Just ruling out the basic stuff, have you cleared your local cache to make sure it's not a saved version of the image on your local machine? --- Barek (talkcontribs) - 22:21, 10 July 2011 (UTC)

No, it's not cache-related. I've logged out of my account to also make sure that it's not related to the skin I'm using. This is the HTML generated by MediaWiki for that image:

<td colspan="2" class="" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="/wiki/File:Google%2B_logo.png" class="image">
<img alt="Google+ logo.png" 
src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/95/Google%2B_logo.png/180px-Google%2B_logo.png" 
width="180" height="55"></a><br>
<span style="">Google+ logo</span></td>

If you can see this version correctly, I propose using it as it's guaranteed to keep the right proportions. Diego (talk) 06:02, 11 July 2011 (UTC)

Have you brought this issue up at the village pump? I'm suspecting that it may be related to T30613, but it may be beneficial for some of the developers and/or users involved with supporting the technical areas to take a look to confirm. If it is related to that bug, then reloading the newest version of the image with a new name may resolve the issue (we could ask the person who uploaded it originally to try this). --- Barek (talkcontribs) - 14:29, 11 July 2011 (UTC)

I see that this logo which appears to me is not a transparent version, although the latest version of the logo is transparent[1]. I have the same problem in some other wikis too (eg. fi-wiki, es-wiki). And it's not related to browser. --Stryn (talk) 06:30, 11 July 2011 (UTC)

Gender issues

The title in the Gender issues section has been changed to Privacy issues. But it does not describe general privacy issues (only gender-related ones) and it does contain a reference that is only about gender disproportion, with no privacy issues at all. I think the original section name should be kept, and I don't understand why user Barek undid my revert if there was no consensus for either name. Diego (talk) 13:59, 10 July 2011 (UTC)

Read the sources. The original one is clearly describing privacy issues. The new one you had added argued against the three categories "Male" "Female" "other", while Facebook had only "Male" and "Female". So, in theory, there's criticism of the "other" category, but not of being narrow buckets as is being claimed by your addition. --- Barek (talkcontribs) - 14:09, 10 July 2011 (UTC)
I've read the reference, in fact I posted it in the article before user Everyone Dies In the End changed the title. The source describes how "other" is an offensive term to describe minorities, and that Google should have no business in forcing users to self-identify into a weird category they didn't create. How is my sentence not an accurate description?Diego (talk) 14:12, 10 July 2011 (UTC)
(edit conflict): I was rewording my reply when you posted to this, which is better worded for clarity:
Read the sources. One is clearly describing privacy issues. The other had argued two points; a) against the three categories "Male" "Female" "other", while Facebook had only "Male" and "Female". So, in theory, there's criticism of the "other" category, but not of being narrow buckets as is being claimed by your addition ... and b) that instead of "I am", alternate descriptors such as "I feel", "I was", etc would be more interesting - but that's not a criticism of what's available, but an idea to expand new descriptor fields. --- Barek (talkcontribs) - 14:09, 10 July 2011 (UTC)
I think you missed the sarcasm in "most people I know who do not fit into social norms prefer “Other” as an identifying term". You don't think that whole paragraph includes criticism? Diego (talk) 14:19, 10 July 2011 (UTC)
After re-reading the source I realized something: the criticism is also not directed at Google+, as is implied by your wording ... it's a criticism of all social media sites. Even if the phrase is added back, which I argue is not appropriate, it should be clarified that the source of that claimed criticism is only using Google+ as the launch point of the discussion as being the newest player in the field, but concludes with a mention that the change for additional descriptor fields should be to Facebook, Google+ and all social media sites. --- Barek (talkcontribs) - 14:22, 10 July 2011 (UTC)
Ok, I'll rewrite the sentence along those lines. Next time, I beg you to read the sources before reverting content and placing commentary on them.
I still don't think the section title "Privacy issues" is valid for the content. Sentences like "Why are Facebook and Google getting involved in gender? Why are they asking people to identify their own gender for the purpose of social networking?" and "Do Facebook and Google think this is an important, primary way we should be identifying ourselves?" are definitely not about privacy. I'll change the title to something. If in the interim you have further new ideas about what the title should be, please edit them or discuss them here but don't repeat the change to "privacy" without consensus. Diego (talk) 14:28, 10 July 2011 (UTC)
Umm, what? Commentary? I did not add commentary - and I did read the sources before and again after making my reverts. The first two questions listed above are clearly privacy related, claims that they are "definitely not about privacy" is nonsense. The third question listed is gender related, I will grant you that one - but that one is the criticism that is not being Google+ specific. --- Barek (talkcontribs) - 14:36, 10 July 2011 (UTC)
That aside, I do agree with the revised wording that more neutrally presents the criticism and targets it at the appropriate places. --- Barek (talkcontribs) - 14:39, 10 July 2011 (UTC)
So, can you live with the current title? Diego (talk) 14:45, 10 July 2011 (UTC)

Comment I miss the stuff after the paragraph about the privacy issues. IE the issue about the majority of the beta being males and I don't think that should be lumped together with being forced to show your gender and called gender issues. As gender issues usually refers to sexism and not privacy issues. Anyway I didn't see the other part and would have separated the two into one being under Privacy issues and the other being gender issues.--Everyone Dies In the End (talk) 12:56, 11 July 2011 (UTC)

Gender gap article

I have removed the bit about the gender gap. I actually read the article and it is based on one guy's survey of his friends. And even for what it purports to be - unscientific anecdotal evidence - it's very bad at math. "Shout out to Internet researcher danah boyd, with a roughly 75:25 male/female ratio – you were the only one above 10% (I had six women out of 50 people, about the average on my check ...)". Umm, the last time I checked, 6/50 is > 10% and if 6/50 is about the average, then there was probably more than one over 10%. So he then takes his new math and guesses at the reason for the gender gap. Don't get me wrong - I'm sure there is a gender gap, but this is not anything resembling a meaningful source (much less a reliable source) for it. --B (talk) 14:17, 10 July 2011 (UTC)

Official / Alternate Names?

Should we mention that the name of the service is "Google Plus", and is sometimes stylized as "Google+"? I feel that we should somehow mention that this service is referred to equally as "Google+" and "Google Plus" in the first sentence. Sp!ke (talk) 16:08, 10 July 2011 (UTC)

Agreed, and done. Gary King (talk · scripts) 02:58, 12 July 2011 (UTC)
It's sometimes even shortened to G+, + or Plus. --84.130.255.117 (talk) 11:12, 12 July 2011 (UTC)
I haven't seen those yet, but those are more like nicknames rather than real alternatives to the actual name. It's like calling Firefox "FF"; it's just shorthand for the real name. Gary King (talk · scripts) 15:55, 12 July 2011 (UTC)

Required information

This section describes an old policy, a controversy surrounding it, and a resolution. The title 'required information' does not accurately describe the contents. I propose that it be retitled to 'controversies' or that the entire section be deleted. What are your thoughts people? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 169.237.39.10 (talk) 18:18, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

Huh? I don't get how Google's reaction would justify deleting verified coverage of the public reception. If anything, it's a reason to expand the section as it has been done, by adding links to Google's answer to the criticism, and maybe clarifying that one of the original disclosures is no longer required. Also note that this is not exactly a resolution; several of the criticisms described have not been addressed at all - gender selection is still required, there are still preconceived gender descriptions, and Google profiles are still going to be "upgraded" to the new system. As for the title, all of the section's content is about required information and it's under the Reception chapter; but maybe "controversies about required information" would be more descriptive, if a bit too long. Diego (talk) 21:49, 14 July 2011 (UTC)
I have implemented your suggestion. I feel that despite the somewhat long title, it is still better than leaving this issue unaddressed. While the subsection in question is within the broader 'reception' section, its placement and title would imply to many readers that it is purely an entry on required information rather than a summary of a controversy.--24.10.24.215 (talk) 03:23, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

Plusgate

Well, there is another issue that might be worth mentioning in the article: It seems Google+ have started suspending users with pseudonyms, particularly those with names they use on Second Life and the like, where they know lots of people under that name, and none of those know them under their real name. Some articles and blog posts on that, in no particular order, are here and here and here and here, and more interesting here, and most thought-provokingly over here. --Nomad Of Norad (talk) 04:01, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

What does this mean?

Hi, just wanted to ask about this sentence in the features section

Additionally, Google+ presents the different icons in a graphical or pictorial manner instead of the more commonplace text written icon names.

The key question I have about this line is, what do you mean by The different icons? What different icons? The second thing is the wording, its a bit odd, it says that google+ presents its icons in a graphical way, well of-course it does that's what makes them icons, if google+ used text then they would be links and not icons. Also it's hard to understand why this is even here, its a design choose not a feature as-such.

I don't have an alternation because I don't really understand what the sentence is trying to say, and I also do not have access to google+.

But I think it needs looking at. --Inputdata (talk) 14:54, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

Resolved, then parked this sentence, as it nonsense as written,

Parking this here. It's removed from the article:

  • Google+ presents its icons in a graphical or pictorial manner instead of the more commonplace text written icon names.

Icons are by definition, graphical and pictorial. So, as noted above, the sentence, is nonsense as written, and confusing to the reader. Please make it make sense, before adding ti back. Adding a <ref></ref> would have helped me make it make sense, and is still the wikipeidan thing to do. Or was this original research?

Note I tighten the language to remove the different issue in the first part of this section. Lentower (talk) 10:59, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

One user likes this.

👍 One user likes this. Rainbow Dash !xmcuvg2MH 16:02, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

Social Gaming

I think this article should go more in depth on the social gaming aspect that was added to Google Plus. It takes a completely different approach then Facebook,so I think more info should be mentioned. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Nyswimmer (talkcontribs) 13:39, 13 August 2011 (UTC)

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Requested move

The following discussion is an archived discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

No consensus to move. I will note that this discussion was about MOS:TM. It appears that there seems to be support for this move if there is evidence supporting Google Plus as the common name. That will need to be another nomination. Vegaswikian (talk) 18:18, 9 September 2011 (UTC)

Google+Google PlusMOS:TM is pretty clear: avoid using special characters that simply substitute for English words (e.g., ♥ used for "love"). Note related previous discussion in section Official / Alternate Names? above. ENeville (talk) 22:52, 2 September 2011 (UTC)

Survey

Feel free to state your position on the renaming proposal by beginning a new line in this section with *'''Support''' or *'''Oppose''', then sign your comment with ~~~~. Since polling is not a substitute for discussion, please explain your reasons, taking into account Wikipedia's policy on article titles.
  • Oppose. I'm not sure '+' really counts as a "special character" the way the heart symbol does. It seems to me that "Google+" is the actual name of the service, with "Google Plus" merely the way the name is pronounced. Cf Yahoo!. Powers T 14:45, 3 September 2011 (UTC)
  • Oppose. There is a bit of inconsistency around Wikipedia about this. There are articles like Joomla. It seems more like personal taste or something. But there is a diference between a heart (and any other of those cute special characters) and plus symbol. The latter is on every keyboard I have seen. --Locos epraix ~ Beastepraix 14:57, 3 September 2011 (UTC)
  • Support "Google+" gets more hits overall. But in a headline, it's always "Google Plus." See Time, Forbes, and PC Magazine, or Washington Post. Kauffner (talk) 06:24, 4 September 2011 (UTC)
  • Oppose - Keyword: avoid. If it were the common name it would be a different story. The media seems to prefer Google Plus because + signs ddon't matter in search results. Marcus Qwertyus 06:33, 4 September 2011 (UTC)
These sound like reasons to support the proposal. Kauffner (talk) 12:51, 4 September 2011 (UTC)
I havn't committed to saying Plus is the primary topic (common name). I am opposing the nom who said this violates WP:TM. It will have to be demonstrated that Plus is the primary topic. Marcus Qwertyus 18:27, 4 September 2011 (UTC)
What possible other candidates for primary topic are there? Powers T 21:38, 4 September 2011 (UTC)
  • Oppose Google calls its self Google+ not Google Plus and there is noting wrong with using the + symbol as said above it's on the keybord — Preceding unsigned comment added by Inputdata (talkcontribs) 13:48, 4 September 2011 (UTC)
  • Oppose Using '+' in the title is not like renaming the article love to '♥'. The '+' is an integral part of the name seeing as that it is used in the name by Google itself. 08OceanBeachS.D. 03:21, 5 September 2011 (UTC)

Discussion

Any additional comments:

+ is not a normal character in text. One would not write for a WP article "Her debating experience was a + for her candidacy". Nor would one write "The donkey ate the ^" or "Friday the 13th is a /er film" let alone "Lincoln voted 4 the bill", even though all those are normal symbols, and appear on keyboards. The two salient points are to make Wikipedia easy to read so that it's accessible to a general (uninitiated) audience, and in the realm of commercial topics to prevent peculiar and tortured language that functions to draw undue attention.

Note that the case of Yahoo! was very contested. ENeville (talk) 04:29, 4 September 2011 (UTC)

What about C++? Powers T 15:20, 4 September 2011 (UTC)
What User:LtPowers said. Especially in technical/computer areas, non-roman script characters are common. See also B+ tree (and nearly all articles in the Template:CS_trees template), Romeo + Juliet, today's Did You Know article Olds, Wortman & King, etc. --moof (talk) 21:41, 5 September 2011 (UTC)
We are supposed to follow the sources, or perhaps the titles for similar things. The titles used for computer languages and movies have no relevance here. There's almost 4 million titles on Wikipedia. Are they all fair game? Kauffner (talk) 01:46, 7 September 2011 (UTC)
I would like to point out that saying that The donkey ate the ^ is not valid, is pointless, we are talking about something that has been named with a + we are not talking about shorting words to symbolism for the sake of it. I don't think the Yahoo! applys here, in yahoo's case the ! is not said however + is said we say plus. And as is said above in the case of C++ the article is called C++ because no one would search for C plus plus or for that matter See Plus Plus --Inputdata (talk) 19:06, 7 September 2011 (UTC)

The arguments for "Google+" seem to be generally relying upon the configuration having been that advanced by the trademark holder, and the symbol commonly appearing on a keyboard. But the former would be an unbounded negation of MOS:TM, and the latter would indeed allow for endless shorting of words to symbols for the sake of it. The important thing to remember is that this is not just about this single case, but what would happen if these arguments were extended to all cases. We then would have REALTOR®, TIME, Macy*s, skate, Se7en, and a host of others. We then would have the likes of a bakery named "^cake", a clinic named "The Happy :", something named "2x+!" (double plus?...).

While to those acquainted with the topic, "Google+" may be recognized as "Google Plus", imagine a multitude (an encyclopedia even) of other topics all with their own unnecessarily cryptic titles. If one's first encounter with this topic is "Google+" in print (as mine was, for what it's worth), it's not even clear if the + is pronounced, or pronounced as "Google Positive", "Google and More", or what. Should there be a space between a word and the + symbol with such a naming convention? Why get into all this mess when we can just have the clear – and as pronounceable as the rest of English – "Google Plus"? The topic is a social network, a realm of wide media coverage. The visual of "Google+" is ambiguous to a general audience. This is good for marketing, bad for informing. Informing is what Wikipedia is for, and what we as editors should be pursuing. ENeville (talk) 15:38, 9 September 2011 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Google+ defined as identity service with social networking aspects??

This general definition of g+ as an identity service seems to be quite off in my opinion. While for Google and advertisers its primary function is indeed as an identity service (as acknowledged by Google's CEO), for its users, which are by far in the majority, it is a social network which happens to require your real name.

Also most of the service G+ offers is related to social networking, not the identification of human beings. Combining all the different perspectives and functions of G+, its function as an identity service comprises only a very small part of G+ and caters relatively to a very small amount of people.

Furthermore, the stated purpose of a tool by its creator for profit-generation is not necessarily a more legitimate purpose than its purpose defined by its use for the majority of the people. For example, it seems weird to define facebook as an advertisement service with social networking aspects. Or commercial broadcasting as an advertisement service with broadcasting aspects.

I also can't distance myself from the feeling that defining G+ this way seems to be a stab at Google for it requiring real names on G+. People following internet news know that there has been a lot of fuss about this policy and its strict enforcement, and it now seems like the Nymwars are also being fought on Wikipedia itself. I dont think Wikipedia is the place for such battles, and also that Wikipedia really should offer the most concise and neutral definition of any object. So for me this definition not only seems awkward, but also not NPOV.

I therefore propose to define it as a "social network" or if people really insist "a social network and an identity service" but not "an identity service with social networking aspects". That just seems way off. 145.97.224.124 (talk) 16:09, 6 September 2011 (UTC)

I also want to add that "with social networking aspects" implies that it is not a full social network, that it only partially resembles a social network, when in fact compared with the features and functionality of facebook it really is a full social network. I think we can agree on that. 145.97.224.96 (talk) 16:35, 6 September 2011 (UTC)

I also think it is very odd to call G+ an identity service. In fact the article manages to conterdrict its self less then a pargraf later. It says ...is a social networking and identity service and then says ...declared it Google's biggest attempt to rival the social network Facebook the key there is that it is been compared to Facebook a social network its not compared to an identity serves. Also I do find my self thinking "all social networks have some degree of identity serves in them" after all an identity serves is basically an online directory. Just like a social network.

Could we at least make the social network part of it more focused? The artile lists it second to an Identity Services.

Since their was no opposition, I decided to go for "social networking and identity service" because the CEO of google did state that its primary purpose was as an identity service, we can't ignore that.
We also have to consider that facebook and other social networks might have a policy requiring real names, however they don't seem to be very adamant on the enforcement of that policy. So I myself really think (after some consideration) that the current definition reflects the different purposes of G+ pretty well, and that it therefore is complete and the most neutral. 145.97.224.124 (talk) 21:06, 8 September 2011 (UTC)

I have updated this information so it is more clearly explained. Google+ is indeed two services. 1 Your google account that touches all things google and 2 a Social networking and sharing platform. Geek4gurl (talk) 00:57, 11 November 2013 (UTC)

Google + Edits

As a group project, several Cornell University undergraduate students and I will be editing and adding material to the Google Plus page over the next several weeks. We will be adding more current and relevant information to the "Growth" section as well as the "Features" section. We will also be adding a section about its relevance / competition with other social networking sites! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Amandahill23 (talkcontribs) 17:58, 22 September 2011 (UTC)

From your friendly neighborhood observer: I'm not sure how much you guys have added, but so far the "Features" section looks pretty good - maybe add some more information about the +1 button, comparing and contrasting it to Facebook's "like button" rather than simply saying that it is similar. The growth section has sufficient sources, but it is a bit sparse in terms of description, so some more there would be useful. BreakfastPancakes. (talk) 01:32, 29 September 2011 (UTC)
I think with this ever-evolving project, there is a lot of potential. Specifically in the "Games" section, there will be consistent updates for this. I know in specific there have been announcements over new popular games that are available for Facebook that are now on Google+. Also, it might be worth noting the tension between Facebook and Google+. I would also consider the publicity and marketing that have come from the launch of this social network (e.g. what celebrities are endorsing it, what are the marketing plans around this). Stay objective though in all commentary about the success/failures of Google+'s features. I think this is such an interesting Wikipedia article to be looking at :) MikelG2012. (talk) 23:49, 29 September 2011 (UTC)
Hey so as everyone has been saying this page is already really thorough so I think you might be able to make a "significant" edit if you start a new heading a flesh it out pretty nicely. Something I found of interest when researching future speculation about Google+ is its potential role for businesses. As of now, Google has actually discouraged businesses from starting profiles of their own (though some have) and plans to expand the site to add LinkedIn-esque features in the near future. I'm not sure if this research is out there, but maybe look into seeing backlash from larger companies hoping to expand their social media campaigns but being "neglected" from using Google+ in it. Also maybe discuss Google's plans for future features and how they plan to differentiate themselves from LinkedIn, the gold standard. Some preliminary information on the topic here and here. Also, exploring demographic trends with regards to adoption of Google+ may be of interest as well.Jasonmarder (talk) 04:14, 29 September 2011 (UTC)
Like everyone else has said, the page looks really good so far! It looks like the features section has been fleshed out a lot more than it was at the beginning of the project. Since you mentioned that you wanted to talk about competition with other social networking sites, I think one place to go that you guys might have already thought of, but haven't implemented yet, would be the parallels between Google+ and Facebook, especially with the introduction of similar features like Facebook's ability to let you only show a status update to a select group of people vs. Google+'s idea of posting to a Circle. There have definitely been a lot of direct comparisons between the two features, especially since Facebook released a new string of updates almost directly after Google+ was released to the public. Here's a comparison of the two sites' features from the Boston Herald: here. - Circumloquent (talk) 04:31, 29 September 2011 (UTC)
Here are some articles that may help. http://www.phillyburbs.com/blogs/reality/does-google-plus-have-what-it-takes-to-dethrone-facebook/article_361394d0-3bf2-5cf1-a96b-56fab33de2c1.html. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/221411/20110928/google-plus-closes-in-on-linkedin-myspace-facebook.htmBrianb0511 (talk) 16:47, 29 September 2011 (UTC)
Hey Guys! Great work so far. After reading the page, I think that the features section could be improved, I am sure that their are a lot more that could be written on. It might be helpful to note the features that are most popular with Google + users. Also, the section with " Nymwars" seems like it would be very interesting to expand upon. What is the legal action being undertaken by Google +? Also, I personally do not know Google + and do not use the site. It might be helpful to describe the interface on your page. What does it look like and how do users navigate through it? The site looks great so far! Good Luck! DanielleSHammer (talk) 15:21, 29 September 2011 (UTC)
Great work! I really like the "Growth" section, particularly the stats concerning the user demographics. Have you guys thought about doing a comparison of the Google + apps? I noticed that you have a bit of information on the Android app, but what about the iPhone app? The iPhone app only allows users to post pictures from the device's camera - if you have an album on your phone, you cannot upload pictures from that album unless they were taken on the phone. Maybe discuss that a bit? Other than that, your contributions look great! Akk53 (talk) 15:59, 3 October 2011 (UTC)
Hey Guys! Just a follow up from the original poster / editor. We have since added content to the growth and features section as well as provided citations for all of our work as well as some other work that was missing / needed citations. We have also added additional information and follow-up content to previously outdated material. Thanks for all your help and suggestions! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Amandahill23 (talkcontribs) 16:54, 4 October 2011 (UTC)
Hi Everyone, I have been working with Amandahill23 to make a few updates and edits to the Google+ page. I have added a few citations where they were lacking and updated information on Google+ mobile features as well as statistics involving the +1 button. There are still a few instances where citations are missing. I would like to fix these, but cannot always find the source of the information. If anyone has information regarding the sources of missing citations please share as I would love to complete them. Hbw26 (talk) 17:14, 4 October 2011 (UTC)

Article needs a more accurate user count

This article needs a more accurate user count. I believe it is around 50 million as of now. Shrimpboyho (talk) 00:31, 27 September 2011 (UTC)

Does anybody knows how many pages or domains are PageRank 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0?

Here is pages that gives numbers for PageRank 10 and 9, I would like to know the others at least how many pages are 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 and unranked?

  • 12 sites (see the website above) are PageRank 10
  • 148 sites (see the website above) are PageRank 9
  • 1820 sites guessing are PageRank 8
  • 22391 sites guessing are PageRank 7
  • 275408 sites guessing are PageRank 6
  • 3387522 sites guessing are PageRank 5
  • 41666524 sites guessing are PageRank 4
  • 512498247 sites guessing are PageRank 3
  • 6303728435 sites guessing are PageRank 2
  • 77535859754 sites guessing are PageRank 1
  • 953691074972 sites guessing are PageRank 0
  • 1000000000000 or 1 trillion sites guessing are PageRank unranked

From PageRank 8 to none I have guessed but if anybody knows exact numbers let me know. Asdgdsgdgad (talk) 02:20, 5 October 2011 (UTC)


Controversy about the Google employee accidentally publication of rant about its company: Steve Yegge

What do you think about this? It has ben "slashsotted" and published all over blogs and shared over Google Plus itself. I think it deserves a mention in the controversy section, I think. 87.217.10.57 (talk) 17:27, 14 October 2011 (UTC)

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Hangout

The assertion that the first publically broadcast hangout was will.i.am is flatly wrong. It was not even the first using the broadcast system (which I think is now defunct or not often used). People had been broadcasting hangouts from about week 3. If I had a link to this, I'd edit the article, but I don't since this is all so new. But I wanted to record this here.

Also, you can now hangout on iOS. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.83.178.94 (talk) 21:47, 1 November 2011 (UTC)

Wrong logo? --88.111.116.197 (talk) 17:18, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

No. --Stryn (talk) 21:42, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
Yes, the proper G+ logo is a white g+ on red/orange background Google+ Brand Guidelines 205.209.67.74 (talk) 22:07, 19 June 2012 (UTC)
And what do you see at the top of that page? The same logo seen in this article. Reach Out to the Truth 17:15, 20 June 2012 (UTC)

Censorship

I know this doesn't adhere to WP:OR but I'm currently in China and Google+ can be accessed with absolutely no problem via google.com.au. I don't think this can be classified as full censorship of the website. YuMaNuMa Talk Contributions 04:47, 8 December 2011 (UTC)


Minimum Age?

Apparently the minimum age has been changed to 13. Can anyone back this up, or is it still 18?

I don't think so. I have an under 18 Google account, and it still doesn't let me join G+. The YTCreators tweet that declared this "news" seems to have disappeared (or it didn't exist at all) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.247.66.25 (talk) 19:09, 12 January 2012 (UTC)
I registered succesfully and I am 17. 75.73.193.118 (talk) 22:33, 26 January 2012 (UTC)

File:Googleplus Hangout logo.png Nominated for speedy Deletion

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Have ripples been removed?

I do not see the option to view ripples anywhere, and googling the subject only brings up rather old articles. Searching the google+ help for "ripple" or "ripples" returns nothing, either. It seems like the feature has been removed again? Miturian (talk) 22:47, 7 February 2012 (UTC)

The Huge Embarrassing Arrow of "Google+"'s Premiere Day

I thought of adding an information about the way Google tried to advertise and make people notice Google+ (in their rivalry with Facebook), the huge embarrassing arrow they added to the homepage. There are videos of it on YouTube, that can be converted to GIF animations. Anyone volunteers?

Link for an article about it: [2]

Galzigler (talk) 15:53, 2 June 2012 (UTC)

Meh. I don't see how that would improve the article. —Al E.(talk) 22:39, 2 June 2012 (UTC)

CNN Tech: "Why Google Plus isn't dead -- well, yet"

CNN Tech just wrote a highly critical article about the (lack of) popularity of Google+ (link here). Here are some quotes from it:

  • "As a social network competing with Facebook it's a flop, but its video-chat tool Hangouts is a winner,"
  • "People are 'on' Google Plus, but they are not really ON Google Plus. The infrastructure is there. The street signs are there. People own plots of land. But there's nobody actually visiting town."
  • "Forbes wrote a eulogy for the network in 2011."

It's not entirely one-sided, as the article goes on to mention that there are opposing voices, and also mentions that the strategy of Google might have changed and that they see Google+ as the "social glue" that binds their services together, rather than a Facebook competitor.

In any case, I was wondering if we should incorporate some of the claims. Currently, the only comparable section in the article compares the user numbers of Facebook and Google+, and that Facebook users spend more time on Facebook than Google+ users spend on Google+. That's a much weaker position than the "eulogy"-like claims that several newspapers have made about Google+ by now. I think the WP article should reflect (or at least mention) the rather pessimistic analysis by the media, and the article in its current form hardly does that. Any thoughts?

-- Minvogt (talk) 11:45, 10 July 2012 (UTC)

Like most followed people on Google+

There would be good a real-time Like button counter. (without refresh the page you see the changes) If somebody click on the like button that appears automatically the photo wallpaper's like counter. --Nofgt (talk) 04:35, 14 July 2012 (UTC)

Number of Users

The Engadget mini-article which provides the 250 million figure seems to be contradicting itself. It shows a picture with 100 million users for June and what looks like an estimation in the future, with 250 million in October. Would anyone have a reliable source? 5.12.159.78 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 21:31, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

Can't change general account language without a Google+ account anymore

So.. should this be mentioned here? You can't change the general account language (and thus, the language of your google mainpage) anymore unless you've got a google+ account. Pisses me off to no end. There's simply to "Language" tab in the google account settings, which in turn makes it impossible to set your account language and the language used on the actual google search page.
Two example screenshots (from a guy I know (and who uses G+) and my own (in German, as I can't effin set it back to English)) here: http://pixelbanane.de/yafu/250858370/settings.jpg http://pixelbanane.de/yafu/2856255381/googleverarsche.jpg

As you can see, the only 4 tabs I've got without a G+ account are "Konto, Sicherheit, Produkte, Datensicherung" (Account, Security, Products and Data liberation, respectively). No Language ("Sprache") tab, and a direct link to "google.com/settings/language" just redirects me to "google.com/settings/account", showing what's in the second screenshot above. Is google really turning totally pathetic, forcing everyone to join the google+ BS to change even the most god damn basic settings?!? This is just ridiculous. And not mentioned anywhere except random forum posts of people who ran into the very same problem. Seems to have happened some time in July this year. --84.62.154.101 (talk) 17:23, 31 August 2012 (UTC)

Occupy Google invalid edit request

Note the following line from the Occupy Google + section. (// = start and end of quoted section)

//The "occupation" of Obama's G+ page is largely considered[by whom?] a temporary mistake in Chinese censorship by observers outside of China,[citation needed]//

Someone has but "by whom?" without reading the rest of the sentence, which states "by whom." It would be clearer, of course, if the original claimant had said "Observers outside China, such as Person X [source], consider[ed] the...page as a [? a quote would be helpful] in Chinese censorship.[source for the quote, i.e. citation needed, which was noted] — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kip Swego (talkcontribs) 15:26, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

Proposed changes (College class assignment)

A group of us are working on a project with Wikipedia for a Learning Management Systems class. Below are some proposed changes that we are thinking about adding to the site for Google+. What are your thoughts?

  1. Add pictures (i.e hangouts, profile pages)
  2. Rewrite “Promotional Content” to “neutral Point of View
  3. Put a basic ‘How to create an account’
  4. Research and edit the “Occupy” section
  5. Figure out the minimum age for a Google+ account
  6. Explain the censorship section
  7. Explain that Google+ is free
  8. Make the information easier to read
  9. Give link/embed Google+ tutorial videos
  10. Place facts and not putting it on someone else’s responsibility

Thanks, Chris, Zach, Ivan — Preceding unsigned comment added by Cbar0623 (talkcontribs) 17:41, 28 November 2012 (UTC)

Wow, courses are making students edit Wikipedia as an assignment? Anyway, some of your proposed changes would not be necessary for Wikipedia use becasue Wikipedia is not an Internet guide. So, some of your proposed topics such as (ex. 'How to create an account', "link/embed Google+ tutorial videos") would not be suited for this article. Be more specific on your topics too on areas that need improvement. Point out the 'promotional content,' what information did you find important to add under 'Censorship' and can you back-up you claims (use reliable sources), what explanations need to be rewritten and can you keep neutrality for the article about a social website? There is a lot of thought put into it if you want certain changes on the article and many here are willing to read what you say and discuss about your proposed changes. Thank you. --Esanchez(Talk 2 me or Sign here) 20:07, 28 November 2012 (UTC)

Reception — (Public Reception of Google Plus)

I wanted to read about public reception but there is no information under "6. Reception" which covers, rather, technology. There should be a section "6.6 Public reception". Was this previously covered? Here in TALK, paragraph 11 (Required Information) seems to indicate there was. Charles Edwin Shipp (talk) 15:16, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

facebook Like - +1's - Google+timeline wikipedia

facebook Like - +1's - Google+timeline wikipedia — Preceding unsigned comment added by 46.121.14.80 (talk) 09:47, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

Clean Up

I feel this article is a bit all over the place and could use a bit of formatting and clean up. I'm pretty new around here and wanted to see if someone else wanted to work on it with me who was a bit more senior. If not i'll give it a go. It's mostly organization and layout. Also the article at this point seems pretty negative and not 'neutral'. Geek4gurl (talk) 15:27, 16 April 2013 (UTC)

  • Done some clean up already basically just moving things around and removing only two statements that had no value and were not sourced. I still think this article is very outdated and will come back when I have some more time to it. Geek4gurl (talk) 17:07, 16 April 2013 (UTC)

The information on gender

The article reads that gender is required (though can be kept private). About ten minutes ago, I joined Google+, and I did not have to give sex/gender. 211.225.33.104 (talk) 11:53, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

Incorrect, I went to the sign up page for G+ and I had to select a gender, either male, female, or other.Frmorrison (talk) 22:00, 30 August 2013 (UTC)

Deletion of Youtube main channel and comments at Google+ desist option

Several of my aquaintances have recently ranted to me about how they lost their Youtube channel, account avatar, history and all their comments (although not their "likes"). They noticed that their account was suddenly linked to an unwanted corresponding Google+ account, and used the "delete all Google+ content" option which was presented when attempting to desist from the unwanted Google+ service, which rendered their Youtube account basically useless. One of them requested my assistence and we attempted to recover those comments, but we unfortunately could only recreate a new channel.

Interestingly, initially most actions would open a "Create/setup new channel" popup, which initially didn't work at all. After discovering that the feedback feature also didn't work (it in a popup asked for a login despite the fused youtube/google account already being logged in, and after re-signing-in the popup would just close again without action), and after consulting various outdated information in the help center and trying the various options they presented, we stumbled on a link about "deactivated channels", which could apparently be reactivated but with a mention that all comments would indeed be lost. This however did not have anything to do with the Google+ desistation action (more to do with channels deleted at staff discretion for non-conformance), but cleared up that comments are linked to channels, but in this case the channel was actually deleted automatically by the manual Google+ desist option.

A week or so later, when I could meet him and try again, the channel creation magically finally succeeded (I assume a bug or two were fixed since), but the avatar picture upload still seemed broken, and all comments remained permanently lost (although comment counters on videos appear to not have been affected by such deleted comments, and replies to those comments' "show original post" link complains about the post no longer being available). He was mad at this, having originally created the account years ago to be able to post comments to biology-related videos (he's a molecular biologist). According to what he told me he might not bother to comment anymore in the future and might just leave his account to expire. So I looked out of curiosity if this kind of event was frequent and known enough to have a mention in this article, but not yet, it seems.

This is only an anecdote, but this must have affected a number of other users and might be notable enough for source-hunting and mention. To these people, Google+ is an unwanted feature which recently became invasive, and that demographic might eventually deserve due representation... 76.10.128.192 (talk) 06:59, 29 May 2013 (UTC)

Bias and incomplete

This article appears to make no mention of the facts some "active users" do not actually use Google+. And that a lot of users only have account because of messages on other Google services (such as YouTube) Which have been made difficult to bypass and worded in such a way as to make it so it's not clear you are creating a Google+ account. could someone please add this information to this page? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mainline421 (talkcontribs) 19:29, 19 July 2013 (UTC)

Google Wave

I noticed early in the article the following sentence:

Google+ is considered the company's fourth foray into social networking, following Google Buzz (launched 2010, retired in 2011), Google Friend Connect (launched 2008, retired by March 1, 2012) and Orkut (launched in 2004, as of 2013 operated entirely by subsidiary Google Brazil).

What about Google Wave? —Kmsiever (talk) 12:20, 7 August 2013 (UTC)

Number of users - Oct. 29, 2013

I'm really not trying to be difficult, but the source cited for the data in the lead section just isn't specific enough to include in the article. This source [3] states that there are:

  • "540 million people active across Google each month"
  • "300 million people active in just the stream"

It doesn't say "active users" or "registered users" or even "Google+ users"...it just says "active across Google". Until a new source is available that specifically states the number of Google+ users, then the data in [4] should continue to be used. Richard Apple (talk) 23:57, 29 October 2013 (UTC)

Check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al0k1Dia6E0&feature=share&t=15m25s at 15:25. 178.42.194.154 (talk) 22:54, 30 October 2013 (UTC)

Added additional source that clarify the difference. These stats are coming directly from Google+ itself about its user base at a press media conference and are highlighted on their blog Geek4gurl (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 01:14, 11 November 2013 (UTC)

Heavy On negative Controversy Information

This article is rather outdated and focuses heavy on controversy and 'bad' information. Compare to Facebook http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook#Criticisms_and_controversies this information has been split off into a separate page, and I recommend the Same thing happen here.

I'm going to work on cleaning up much of this information so it mirrors that of Facebook wiki style. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Geek4gurl (talkcontribs) 23:17, 10 November 2013 (UTC)

Still cleaning this up, mostly by moving information around that is already there, adding new sections where applicable and removing uncited information. Geek4gurl (talk) 20:53, 11 November 2013 (UTC)

You Tube Comment Merger

A lot of negative biased edits being added here. Let us remember that You Tube has 1 Billion unique visitors every month http://www.youtube.com/yt/press/statistics.html 80k of signatures is certainly not "most" or the "majority of users". Geek4gurl (talk)

I want to stress this is a Google+ article and heavy negative edits towards a small section about comments on youtube need to be monitored. This merger is a hot controversial topic right now and needs to remain unbiased. Youtube co-founder has zero to do with G+, as he sold the website over 7 years ago. Google manages Youtube. His opinion although noted should not be a major edit or section of this page and edits in this area are causing more vandalism than benefit to the article. Geek4gurl (talk) 18:14, 18 November 2013 (UTC)

Agree. Richard Apple (talk) 20:00, 18 November 2013 (UTC)

YouTuber mob (without pitchforks and torches)

By now, it appears over 90,000 people are opposed to the new YouTube comment system. Though admittedly that pales in comparison to the 1 billion+ visitors YouTube gets per month (as Geek4gurl pointed out), that's still A LOT of angry YouTubers; even YouTube's own CO-FOUNDER is unhappy with the changes. True, 90k isn't "most" of those on YouTube, but it's not just "some", either. I think the word "many" describes it better. STH235SilverLover (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 19:25, 11 November 2013 (UTC)

Many still implies very large numbers. The fact remains even 90k is about .009% or less than 1% of the Youtube monthly user base. It is mentioned and referenced but perhaps this whole sentence and section needs to be adjusted to remove bias of a vocal angry group. Facts should speak for themselves not wording one way or another is the point of Wikipedia. Geek4gurl (talk) 19:43, 11 November 2013 (UTC)
LOL, who's counting? Anyhow, personally I'm against the comment system changes, but maybe I can still defeat Google in a way—by retaining a positive attitude. Whaddya think of that? STH235SilverLover (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 20:28, 11 November 2013 (UTC)
I re-wrote most of the YouTube controversy section on Nov. 8th in an effort to remove some contentious wording, such as "forces YouTube accounts to make a Google+ account" and "much to the anger of YouTube users." I changed the wording to "several YouTube users were opposed to this, and an online petition..." Then another editor changed it to something else. Let's try to reach consensus. Do we even need to quantify in words how many people are angry (or happy) with the change? How about getting rid of "some", "many", "several"... and just state the fact that 90,000 signed the petition in 4 days? Richard Apple (talk) 20:33, 11 November 2013 (UTC)
Eh, sounds like a good plan to me. STH235SilverLover (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 21:41, 11 November 2013 (UTC)
Many users are editing this section which has very little to do with G+ and is heavily negative in tone and context. If this keeps up I suggest apply for a temp protection until feelings calm down about it. This page is not heavily edited in the first place. There is zero need for the current edit from Philpill691as it only adds negative information. The same comment was put on both Youtube and G+ pages by this user. As already mentioned here, the commenting system has "negative support" of less than 1% of the users of YouTube and negative tone needs to be keep clear from information (the previous version of this edit). Geek4gurl (talk) 01:06, 12 November 2013 (UTC)
It is not our job to make information sound positive or less negative. We as editors should present the pertinent facts relating to the subject of the article as they are, without altering the facts to make them sound better. Whether or not the factual and neutrally stated information is positive or negative is up to the readers to decide. We should not change, or censor the facts to make the subject sound either better or worse than it is. The percentage of YouTube users who like or dislike the recent changes is irrelevant to whether or not the statement from Jawed Karim should be included. Nothing about the subsection in question is "heavily negative in tone and context"; it is all completely factual and neutrally stated facts, which I would argue are relevant enough for a couple sentences in this article. Whether or not the information cumulatively gives the reader a good or bad impression of Google+ is not something we should try to manipulate. We should not try to sugarcoat information. --Philpill691 (talk) 01:53, 12 November 2013 (UTC)
It is not less negative.. Wikipedia is Neutral. WP:YESPOV ... A neutral point of view neither sympathizes with nor disparages its subject (or what reliable sources say about the subject), although this must sometimes be balanced against clarity. Present opinions and conflicting findings in a disinterested tone. Do not editorialize. and WP:QUOTE... "Where a quotation presents rhetorical language in place of more neutral, dispassionate tone preferred for encyclopedias, it can be a backdoor method of inserting a non-neutral treatment of a controversial subject into Wikipedia's narrative on the subject, and should be avoided." which is exactly what this is here. This line should be removed on both Youtube and G+ page and returned to the previous neutral tone of a controversial subject. "YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim voiced his disapproval of the change in his first comment in eight years on the YouTube website" contains all the same information. Geek4gurl (talk) 20:57, 12 November 2013 (UTC)
Can you provide a number of reliable sources that document the majority of YouTube users approve of the new commenting system and having to join a social network to access features that previously did not require this? I don't think you can, while conversely there are a number of reliable sources and growing documenting the number of disgruntled users. Batvette (talk) 17:49, 21 November 2013 (UTC)
There's already mention of an online petition, as well as the opinion of Jawed Karim. I'm not sure how quantifying the exact number of people upset about this change is going to enhance this article about Google+, or allow it to appear neutral. Richard Apple (talk) 18:00, 21 November 2013 (UTC)
How do you make criticism neutral when there are virtually no reliable sources reporting positive feedback on this? The pursuit of neutral is a funny thing, if you were editing the article on the Edsel, do you pursue presenting it a sound decision by Ford, against the vast consensus it was just plain a bad idea? The fact of the matter here is there are a lot of YouTube users who are angry that they have been forced into becoming Google+ users. Does it make sense that we try to balance this by portraying being forced to use something you didn't want as a good thing?Batvette (talk) 03:03, 23 November 2013 (UTC)
You can make criticism less neutral by giving it disproportionate attention. There are no indications that the number of people who disapprove of this change makes up a significant portion of people who use YouTube or Google+. And no, lack of enthusiastic response everywhere is not indicative of unanimous disapproval. A large percentage of people probably do not use YouTube comments at all, and there are bound to be some people who don't care either way, and therefore do not get in heated online debates on the subject. Introducing coverage of the issue that gives the impression that the change is universally despised, or that it is universally considered a bad move would not be neutral. That is, unless we source evidence for such a claim, other than an online petition with a large but insignificant number of signatures or individual editorials.  — daranzt ] 15:06, 23 November 2013 (UTC)
Simply Google "Google+ Youtube comments" and click on the section "news". I rest my case. Batvette (talk) 04:14, 24 November 2013 (UTC)
I've got a better reference that reinforces the point better, I'm going to condense this later and replace the newsday quote with a brief version of this.
"while this is being presented like a goodhearted attempt by Google at cleaning up YouTube, it does come off as kind of a cheap way to get even more people to sign up for Google Plus when they wouldn't have voluntarily done so otherwise. I'm sure they'll go on to spout numbers about the dramatic growth of Google Plus over the last few years but there will be no mention of how many of those users signed up knowingly or willingly." http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2013/11/09/google-plus-creates-uproar-over-forced-youtube-integration/ and again I can find many more like it- CNN, Time, very credible links. It addresses an issue not mentioned in the passage at all. Batvette (talk) 00:34, 26 November 2013 (UTC)

Correction of the typo docial to social

There is a typo 'docial' instead of 'social' in the sentence ,"Two main strengths of Google+'s docial Site are photography and its "Hangout" feature." Kindly correct it. Ranadheer07 (talk) 21:57, 20 November 2013 (UTC)

Done with thanks, NiciVampireHeart 22:05, 20 November 2013 (UTC)

Google+ accused of stealing address books and sending spam, pretending to be you.

I strongly request that wikipedia include in the controversy section about Google+, the business practices that I feel should be illegal and are clearly immoral, that Google+ is using. Any honest appraisal of the situation will be just fine with me. You don't need to use my contribution.

I have received many requests from friends that ask me to join them on Google+. So far, none of these friends belong to Google+, wanted to belong to Google+, or had any real idea what it was. They were not aware that they had invited me.

I believe that I was being spammed by Google+ robots. I have since also learned from friends, that when you sign up for Google+ that they steal your contact list, or address book, and spam all your friends. They also send advertisements to your friends, saying that you have endorsed this particular product. All of this is without your knowledge, and I thought those kinds of things were illegal.

I looked around at your opinion about Google+, but I have not found any mention of this on your site. Does that mean that you endorse these business practices? It would explain why you block editing of this page.

Until yesterday I just deleted these requests that I join Google+.

Yesterday morning, I wanted to sign into my Gmail account from a computer that I don't normally use for that purpose. I thought that a screen came up, as often is the case, saying that, “I don't recognize this computer. Is that really you? Please confirm this information.”

However, when I confirmed that the information was correct and clicked continue, I got welcome to Google+ screen. I had just been tricked into joining Google+ against my will. I guarantee you, that I will happily testify in court that I was not asked any questions about my permission to use my contact list or address book. I was not asked asked any questions about using my name without my knowledge to endorse products. I was not asked any questions about is it okay to spam all my friends.

My already extremely low opinion of Google+ cratered. I wish I had an accurate screenshot of the screen that I innocently and mistakenly clicked on that they will used to prove that I really wanted to join Google+. I certainly saw nothing that indicated that that was its purpose. I was just trying to sign into my Gmail account.

It then took me several hours to figure out how to un enroll, and only time will tell if I really figured out the correct method. I believe that their so-called help menu, deliberately hides the information that one needs in order to quit. Of course all of my contact and address information is now public domain.

Until yesterday morning, moments before I was tricked, I really liked Google and almost everything that it does. I use Google hundreds or thousands of times a day. I have used Gmail, heavily since 2005 and I have hundreds of friends that know me by my Gmail address. However, I resent what I perceive to be extremely obnoxious, and hopefully illegal, business practices and I am very seriously considering closing my Gmail account and getting as far away from anything related to Google as I can. Even though that will be a major nightmare for me and all of my friends, as I get everyone pointed in a different direction, regarding my email.

I hope you will use your powerful and usually excellent forum to publicize accurate and truthful information about Google+. But, if you are not actually one of the good guys. It will quickly become obvious. Either way I will learn something useful to me. David-Alegria (talk) 08:06, 22 November 2013 (UTC)

Are you able to provide a source that can substantiate your claims? Including such information without providing a legitimate source can potentially lead to legal action from Google. From the looks of it, it appears that you've conducted your own original research, and as such without an independent source, your claims cannot be included in the article. YuMaNuMa Contrib 09:34, 22 November 2013 (UTC)
Not done: in addition to what YuMaNuMa correctly says above, please note that edit requests are not intended to enable you to call upon editors to do research and to handle generalized complaints like this, but for specific requests made in a "please change X to Y" format. --Stfg (talk) 10:48, 22 November 2013 (UTC)

G+ hatnote

Hello. Recently, I closed an Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/G+ as redirect to Google+. Previously, the page G+ only served to disambiguate 2 topics: Google+ and Plus (TV channel). The editors at the discussion were in agreement for redirecting the page, and all of them agreed to hatnote this page. Accordingly, I redirected the page, and I placed a disambiguating hatnote on the top of this page. The nominator of the AfD noted that the term "G+" was formerly associated with the now defunct British channel. However, it is pretty obvious now that "Google+" is currently the primary topic over the TV channel. Later, User:Richard apple reverted my change, with an edit summary directing me to discuss the change first. The hat note is not useless, because the term "G+" is ambiguous. The primary topic for G+ is Google+, but before Google+ even existed, the primary topic was Plus (TV channel). In my eyes, this is a perfect time for using a hatnote. See WP:TWODABS. Personally, I don't find the hatnote distracting. Most regular Wikipedia readers and editors will be used to seeing these disambiguating italic messages and mentally push them aside. Very respectfully, Michaelzeng7 (talk) 15:40, 24 November 2013 (UTC)

Probably because hatnotes are such a distraction, Wikipedia:Hatnote states: "the hatnote should not overload the user with extraneous information", and should follow the principle "less is more". So, do we add a hatnote for "Plus (TV channel)", an article that gets 350 visits per month, to the top of an article that gets 67,000? Do we add "not to be confused with 'Googie Architecture'"? Again, I feel the place for discussion about adding a hatnote to this article should be on this article. Thanks. Richard Apple (talk) 16:46, 24 November 2013 (UTC)
Agree. Not sure if this is the correct place for this as the channel is now defunct. I'm not super familiar with hatnotes and wiki policies, but immediately noticed 'this has nothing to do with G+' and i've never heard it mentioned in any Google+ discussion (ie Google Plus not to be confused with the former British Channel)... If the article has enough reference for a wikipedia page, then i agree to pushing it back to its own page. This is for Google+, G+ is only briefly mentioned and the redirect is definitely a distraction. Geek4gurl (talk) 23:54, 24 November 2013 (UTC)
Thanks for the responses. I guess for now, the article should be left as it is. This isn't a "we-must-have-a-hatnote" situation, after all, and if other editors feel that it is unnecessary, I won't push it. Michaelzeng7 (talk) 03:02, 25 November 2013 (UTC)
Update: It appears that JHunterJ (talk · contribs) has re-added the hatnote. The thing is, back when Plus the channel was still in operation, it was the primary topic for "G+". Nowadays, not so much, but people still may be looking for the channel, and hatnotes are there for disambiguation when a disambiguation page is unnecessary. While the hatnote should not overload the user with extraneous information, a disambiguation page would serve to alleviate that overload of information. Here, a disambiguation page was deemed unnecessary, so a hatnote is the alternative. It all comes down to whether or not we should use a disambiguation page with the term or a hatnote. Michaelzeng7 (talk) 03:11, 25 November 2013 (UTC)
Exactly. Per the move discussion, the hatnote is needed. If the hatnote is too much of a distraction here (and it's not, since it provides no extraneous information), then in order to provide navigational aid to the readers, the page G+ will need to be a disambiguation page again instead of redirecting here. -- JHunterJ (talk) 11:27, 25 November 2013 (UTC)

Infobox on this article

I have recently replaced the infobox ({{infobox dot-com company}}) on this article with {{infobox website}}, and got rid of some extraneous information in it. I did this because the {{infobox dot-com company}} documentation recommends its use only if the article is both about a company and its website, as is the case with, eg. Facebook. Google+ is owned by Google, and we do have a separate article on Google the company. As such, the infobox for this article should be {{infobox website}}, with the Google article providing information about the company in its infobox.

This change has been reverted, so I figured I'd throw this in here and see what people think.  — daranzt ] 16:57, 4 December 2013 (UTC)

This page is an advertisement

132.206.186.174 (talk) 21:21, 10 December 2013 (UTC)

Become an editor and help improve the article. Consider this a good start. — Charles Edwin Shipp (talk) 19:43, 27 December 2013 (UTC)
I'll do the same; are you signed into Google Plus? -- Charles Edwin Shipp (talk) 22:38, 7 January 2014 (UTC)

I agree — Preceding unsigned comment added by 5.102.220.223 (talk) 17:37, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

I have to agree. There's little or no mention of all the criticism that Google+ has faced: The YouTube comment spam fiasco, the massive privacy concerns, the fact that when Google+ head Vic Gundotra left the company and reports said 1000 Google+ staff were being cut then everyone was saying they hoped this meant the end of Google+. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Allthenamesarealreadytaken (talkcontribs) 07:00, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

It certainly reads that way. Everything in this article should be read with skepticism even if it has references to back it up. Zedshort (talk) 17:28, 29 May 2014 (UTC)

Horowitz and the "Stream product"

In looking over the coverage of Bradley Horowitz, it's only clear that the story is unclear. In his blog post, he never mentions Google+. He does say he is taking over Photos and Stream. He does not say what Stream is, and, as Reuters points out, the reference to a Stream product is vague. I couldn't figure out what Stream is either--not online nor from the entry here. Barte (talk) 06:48, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

Agreed. Although media is covering this heavy. Nothing offical has been reported. Bad reporting. Geek4gurl (talk) 17:39, 9 March 2015 (UTC)
I think Bradley Horowitz is now doing new things (Area 120), but I've seen no recent announcements as to who has taken over Google Plus and/or Streams. ManosFate (talk) 22:01, 6 December 2016 (UTC)

Many edited sections for no reason - removing numbers, dates and information

I heavily edited this article in 2014 and spent a large amount of time providing information that mirrored facebooks page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook Including the top section and adding table of active users and growth, history etc. Many of these items have been removed. Facebook page is not perfect, but provides a good starting place for how a social network's page should be created in wiki. I have re-added them back because they are factual and add value and history. If someone wants to remove these items please use this section to discuss. Geek4gurl (talk) 15:30, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

I made many of these changes--some of them for the better, perhaps some for the worse. My edits reflected two primary concerns:
  • Google+'s basic description ("what is it") is confusing, perhaps reflecting Google's own struggles to describe it. Is Google+ a social network? A social layer? An identity service? Is there a difference between the last two? Those definitions not only get intermingled, but they confuse the idea of what constitutes Google+'s growth.
  • Seems to me, the coverage of Google+'s growth, after the initial euphoria, was much more measured, and at times skeptical, than the raw stats we present here. User engagement was an issue early on--those numbers shouldn't be buried. And Google addressed some of these concerns, such as The New York Time's characterizing the service as "a ghost town", by redefining Google+ as a social layer. (I say redefining, because the initial blog post announcement described the service strictly as a social network.) Moreover, the growth stats we present don't explain the subsequent management turnover. Or the recent Forbes interview with Sundar Pichai that says that Google+ will disassembled into parts: stream (I assume the social network, but am not sure), communications (Hangouts), and photos. If Google+ were the success story the growth stats imply, what's going on?
I have no problem with the article being modeled after the Facebook entry. My concern is more that the narrative be clearer and better reflect the often skeptical coverage from notable secondary sources. Barte (talk) 16:07, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
I've edited according to the above, consolidating, rather than deleting, material where possible. Large deletions were of duplicate paragraphs. See what you think. Barte (talk) 03:30, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

WSJ: Hangouts no longer part of Google+

According to this 3/4/15 Wall Street Journal report, "Hangouts was previously moved out of Google+. It now reports to Nick Fox, who is rethinking Google’s messaging strategy as was first reported by tech blog The Information." Anyone have any evidence to the contrary? If this is the case, Hangouts remains a part of Google+ history, but not current functionality, and the sections describing it as such should be deleted. Barte (talk) 17:56, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

Collections?

I don't see collections anywhere on here? Is there anyone that would like to help me add a section on this new addition to G+? --Airplane Maniac (talk) 03:43, 8 May 2015 (UTC)

is features section needed

It practically brags all the features on the site. Features that no longer exists are also listed. Even tiny and irrelevant featured are written. I think only major features should be listen and everything else should be removed — Preceding unsigned comment added by 106.216.202.55 (talk) 18:34, 21 June 2015 (UTC)

Agreed. Barte (talk) 15:49, 10 July 2015 (UTC)

Blacklisted Links Found on Google+

Cyberbot II has detected links on Google+ which have been added to the blacklist, either globally or locally. Links tend to be blacklisted because they have a history of being spammed or are highly inappropriate for Wikipedia. The addition will be logged at one of these locations: local or global If you believe the specific link should be exempt from the blacklist, you may request that it is white-listed. Alternatively, you may request that the link is removed from or altered on the blacklist locally or globally. When requesting whitelisting, be sure to supply the link to be whitelisted and wrap the link in nowiki tags. Please do not remove the tag until the issue is resolved. You may set the invisible parameter to "true" whilst requests to white-list are being processed. Should you require any help with this process, please ask at the help desk.

Below is a list of links that were found on the main page:

  • https://www.change.org/petitions/google-change-the-youtube-comment-section-back-to-its-original-form#
    Triggered by \bchange\.org\b on the local blacklist

If you would like me to provide more information on the talk page, contact User:Cyberpower678 and ask him to program me with more info.

From your friendly hard working bot.—cyberbot IITalk to my owner:Online 17:21, 11 August 2015 (UTC)

The offending link and accompanying article text both removed, along with the tag. Barte (talk) 05:37, 14 August 2015 (UTC)

Alexa rank

An Alexa rank is pretty pointless for subdomains of google.com. All the traffic could going to finance.google.com instead of plus.google.com, but the Alexa rank won't differentiate and therefore tells us nothing about Google plus.76.105.131.18 (talk) 03:14, 6 October 2015 (UTC)

That appears to be the case: I deleted it. Barte (talk) 05:11, 6 October 2015 (UTC)

11/2015 Redesign

I know it's early but I don't see reference to the 2015 Redesign. I'm not sure where to add it structure-wise though. Advice? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Cosmicdreams (talkcontribs) 15:34, 18 November 2015 (UTC)

I added a note on the redesign to the intro and body. The is still pretty vague--more on emphasis than specifics. We can expand when the redesign fully rolls out and secondary source publications write about them. Long-term, the redesign might require some paring of our lengthy description, as it's apparent not all G+ functions will live on. Barte (talk) 17:27, 18 November 2015 (UTC)

Youtube Integration

Hello, as per the last sentence in the article, it says you cannot unlink the G+ account yet without it deleting your youtube account. But for the past couple of months or so, it's been safe to delete the google+ account and the youtube page will remain intact, any comments you made that were crossposted to g+ will remain on youtube too. They made unlinking and deleting of the g+ account nice and easy, but i have no citations heh.77.100.129.163 (talk) 04:28, 2 February 2016 (UTC)

Given that the sentence said that was coming (back in 7/15), I removed it. Truth is--the Features and Functions section as a whole is out of date. Barte (talk) 05:14, 2 February 2016 (UTC)

AFAIK, the last time I checked on my YouTube account (which I never linked to Google+), I am not allowed to comment on a video unless I create a Google+ page and link it to my account. 63.155.168.158 (talk) 07:46, 29 August 2016 (UTC)

Google + Monetization

How does Google + make money? I know Google doesn't need Google + to make money but how do they do it? Any credible sources? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.182.24.138 (talk) 00:05, 13 October 2016 (UTC)

I believe several of Google's services are not making money, but rather help Google in building its portfolio. I don't have any sources, so these are not facts, but I think Google prioritizes having a foot in all kinds of services rather than making a huge profit on all of them. I think Google+, Calendar, Keep, and a few more are not themselves profitable, but by having them and making valuable updates ("Goals" in Calender, just for example) gets users further into the Google eccosystem and gives Google more data about the person, which in turn enables profitability through ads in search. Again, personal thoughts and not sourced facts. Just wanted you to at least get an answer in case nobody else replies. LocalNet (talk) 03:04, 13 October 2016 (UTC)
I think so too. Google is one of a few companies that offer many overlapping services, the others being MS, Facebook and Apple. Google just wants to offer most of the services that these competitors offer. It's not about a single service but about the ecosystem of services. PizzaMan (♨♨) 06:26, 10 June 2017 (UTC)

External links modified

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“Google Plus”

The social media is called Google+, not Google Plus. Why does the article say that it’s called Google Plus?
PapíDimmi (talk | contribs) 04:43, 11 May 2017 (UTC)

I think the plus is a logo, and the writer explained it as a plus instead of +...  Retrorick wikipedia  talk  19:50, 18 January 2018 (UTC)

Current status?

Shouldn't the current status in the infobox read, "Scheduled for shutdown for consumers, August 2019"? The current status reads a bit crystal-bally. 88.142.165.213 (talk) 13:18, 10 October 2018 (UTC)

Agreed. Barte (talk) 21:30, 10 October 2018 (UTC)
Agree and done. – BrandonXLF (t@lk) 22:11, 10 October 2018 (UTC)

Requested move 14 October 2018

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: not moved (page mover nac) Flooded with them hundreds 15:16, 22 October 2018 (UTC)


Google+Google Plus – That is the name of the service, Google+ is just a stylisation. Ollieinc (talk) 08:24, 14 October 2018 (UTC)

  • Oppose move. Reliable sources have consistently used Google+. See Talk:ESPN+#Requested move 29 May 2018 for a similar recent RM. ONR (talk) 05:47, 15 October 2018 (UTC)
  • Oppose move. consumers who have been the primary users of the service do not refer to it as Google Plus. 85.119.46.8 (talk) 16:14, 15 October 2018 (UTC)
  • Support. I agree the title should use actual words rather than stylized symbols that represent those words. Rreagan007 (talk) 18:21, 15 October 2018 (UTC)
  • Oppose move. Per WP:COMMONNAME, the commonly recognized name is the preferable title, even if that name is not official. Barte (talk) 23:55, 15 October 2018 (UTC)
  • Oppose move. per WP:COMMONNAME 202.1.196.74 (talk) 15:49, 16 October 2018 (UTC)
  • Oppose move Google+ is the official name of Google's social media website. OfficerAPC (talk) 19:41, 18 October 2018 (UTC)
  • Oppose, the stylisation has become the common name. --B dash (talk) 07:58, 21 October 2018 (UTC)
  • Google Plus is overwhelmingly preferred by reliable sources, but that seems to have more do with a search engine optimization. Mark Schierbecker (talk) 08:00, 22 October 2018 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.