Google+

So far, it does seem better than Facebook, though I’m still a rookie and don’t know how to do even some basic things.

It’s better in design terms, and also much better with its “circles” allowing you to target posts to various groups.

Example: following that high school reunion, the overwhelming majority of my Facebook friends list (which I’m barely rebuilding after my rejoin) are people from my hometown. None of these people are going to care too much when my new book comes out from Edinburgh. Likewise, not too many of you would care to hear inside jokes about our old high school teachers, or whatever it is we banter about.

Another example: people I know only from exchanging a couple of professional emails with them ask to be Facebook friends. I’ve never met these people and have no idea what they’re really like, even if they seem nice enough on email. Do I really want to add them to my friends list on the same level as my closest friends, brothers, valued colleagues, etc.? Not yet. But then there’s the risk of offending people if you don’t add them. On Google+ you can just drop them in the “acquaintances” circle, and they;ll never even know how they’re classified. But they won’t be getting any highly treasured personal information there, which is exactly the restriction you probably want for someone you’ve never met before.

I also don’t like too many family members on my Facebook friends list, because frankly they don’t need to know everything I’m doing or chatting about with people. But on Google+ this problem will be easily manageable.

If you’re getting engaged, for instance, maybe you don’t want all 434 Facebook friends to know about it simultaneously, but perhaps you wouldn’t mind telling 16 family members through that medium.

Time will tell. It’s funny that after a few whiffs, Google might be headed for success simply by mimicking Facebook but fixing a few of Facebook’s worst features.

But I’m a bit surprised that Zuckerberg didn’t just incorporate something like “circles” from the start. It’s such an obvious thing that people need– the ability to compartmentalize their lives just a bit.