Google is further breaking Google+ into "just another product," announcing that it will separate a person's Google account from the need to have a Google+ profile, and severing the Google+ commenting from YouTube.
I've been deeply immersed enough into G+ that neither of the above reforms strike me as particularly necessary or all that beneficial. The YouTube piece made a huge difference in the quality of YouTube comments, and having a public profile (even if it was left bare bones) for Google accounts added some useful identity at times.
The promise in the post is that Google+ will remain as a discussion / community forum, and recent feature adds for collections and the like indicate there's still interest in it as a product. But the less it serves as the "glue" for other products, and the more it's just a product on its lonesome, the greater the level of concern I have.
On the other hand, concern is one thing, posting Gloom and Doom posts or running triumphal repeats of how Google+ Is A Huge Failure posts (of the sort that have been running since the product debuted) is quite another. For that sort of stuff, I'll believe it (and plan around it) when I see it, since regardless of the peripheral bits, it remains a product I use a lot, and the community of folk I communicate with remains robust.
I'm going to try and not see doom and gloom here but it's interesting that Plus went from becoming connected to almost everything to now being separated. Didn't people on YouTube (or maybe it was here) get upset about the merging of comments? All that fuss just to go back to the way it was? Not sure Plus will actually go away but I wonder if Google might be thinking of turning it into something different.
I'm really pissed Plus hasn't become a bigger contender in social media. Facebook is filled to the brim with ads and Candy Crush/Farmville/Current hot game requests and I can't stand it. Only mess with because of a few friends and family who won't come over here because they "don't want to learn another social media thing". Augh!
I actually didn't like how it connected with YouTube. I just wish you had an option to either have a stand alone YouTube account or connect it to your G+. I haven't actually used YouTube in a while other than watching.
+Marty Shaw A lot of YouTubers were vocally upset that making a comment required a G+ account, and that posts or comments got mirrored in their stream (however they had it set up). But that, coupled with the (at that time) Real Name requirements, made a quick and huge positive impact on the quality of comments on YouTube (which had been something of a cess pit and will likely return to being same).
+Sandy L. I'd be happy with optionally retaining the integration. Apparently, though, no, if you have a comment about a YouTube video you'll have to make it both on YouTube and in a Plus post. Which feels like a step backward.
+Marty Shaw I'm disappointed, too. FB seems to have won the battle of numbers (as long as that phenomenon lasts); my hope is that the underlying numbers for G+ are sufficient to keep Google interested in the product.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/+LaurenWeinstein/posts/DHeCnG94513 has some good observations on the pitfalls of unified identity. I've tended toward trying to keep a single identity myself, but I can see where others might find that more problematic.
One of the biggest problems, at least from a woman's standpoint, is there is no way to get away from harassment if it happens. True, someone could probably just do some detective work to find you, but some of the people I know have gone to great lengths to keep it hidden who they really are. If everything is connected in one place, then you will end up closing and opening multiple accounts. This is also why I don't believe you should be forced to use your real name. For my part, I just have different ideals than my family and this means I will have to have multiple Google accounts so I can have one for family and one for everyone else. That can be a pain (which is why most of my family will never have my Google info). Again, I feel it should be an OPTION, not take it or leave it.
+Sandy L. I agree, it should be kept separate.
+Marty Shaw I think the difference in G+ and FB specifically is that FB does have some good features. I can view FB on my phone but I have an issue with looking at a websites in general (some just don't do well on my older android) so I can save that link for later viewing on my PC. I think a lot of the issue with G+ (from what I can see with my own family and friends) is that you have to have a Google account to have a G+ account. You don't have that with FB. A lot of older family members use FB, I don't know if they would want to open up a new Gmail account just to have G+ when everyone is already on FB.
+Dave Hill I think a lot of people like to have the all in one approach. This is why I think it should be an option. I deal with it and just opted to NOT have a YouTube page anymore. That said, I do wish more people would come to G+…I hate FBs algorithms and end up missing most of the stuff I want to see…but it seems that FB is like Reality TV. People like the crap they see there and just keep going. lol
Facebook sucks, period.
+THOMAS P I find FB's persistent and obvious re-selling of identity to be annoying, and the general feel to be way too … surface, for me to enjoy very much. It's a fine place for people who I wouldn't stay in touch with otherwise to be, but it's not my playground of choice.
That said, should G+ go under, I would probably, reluctantly, end up over there.