Staying Connected

 

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Human beings are by and large social beings. Many people feel an implicit need to stay connected with people around them, expand their networks and also share what they know and what they are thinking about. Therefore, it comes as no surpise that social networks have always been and will always be a very important part of people’s lives.

Furthermore, it is commonly known that no man is an island. People depend on each other for both tangible and intangible help and benefits all the time. Most of the time, people may obtain opportunities not just based on what they know, but also who they know. Though social networking has existed since the medieval times, bringing social network online definitely has its benefits over social networking in real life.

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Perhaps the most apparent difference between social networking in reality and social networking online is whether each person’s network is visible. In real life, it is difficult to find out how your contacts can offer you opportunities. However, when it comes to social networking online, people are able to view the extended network of each of their contacts in order to turn their network into a useful route to get to your next destination, whether it is getting a new job, finding a new partner or place to live.

Besides, social networking sites online have greatly expanded people’s reach. They made it easier than ever for people to find old friends and make new ones. These days it is commonplace for people to form networks even in places they have never been to. People are able to stay connected with friends from halfway around the world. With such new networks come new opportunities.

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Social networking sites are redesigning their approaches to networking in very intelligent ways. Social networking operates on many different levels, with family members, close friends, acquaintances and work colleagues. Such separate social circles consist of different people that may know different aspects of the person. People always have lots to share, but they would not want to share everything with everyone. Therefore I find it very smart of Google+ to come up with the feature of segregating friends into different circles. This makes it really easy to share information with one group, while keeping it from others. It also allows the user to cut out the noise by choosing whose updates to read.

Another feature, which really caught my attention, is Hangout on Google+. It really brings back the beauty of being able to hang around your friends and chat with each other, without having to follow a strict schedule. With Hangout, other members of the same group can also drop in at any time, just like bumping into friends at a local cafe. This solves the problem of busy schedules, complicated planning and removes any kind of barriers, which keep friends from staying close to one another.

These features make things a lot more convenient in terms of categorizing content to be shared by users and they mimic real life interaction in the most natural way. So far, no other social networking site, including the most popular Facebook, is able to provide users with a similar experience. At the moment, Google+ is still lagging far behind in terms of usership. However, this lack of popularity could be due to a lack of awareness and people’s apprehension in shifting away from the largely popular Facebook. However, with the right exposure, I believe that with Google+’s potential in terms of operation, it may soon surpass Facebook.