This was originally published on Inside PR 2.78.
We recorded Inside PR 2.76 on the day Google+ opened its pages to businesses and watched as companies developed their G+ presence in real time.
Now it’s a couple of weeks later, and we thought we’d take a closer look. Gini kicks it off by referencing her blog post on the topic. She calls out Google’s transparency in admitting they helped several companies build their brand pages in advance of the launch. However, she’s noticed some of those organizations haven’t grown their followings or done much posting.
She goes on to say while the social media bubble may have wanted G+ to be a Facebook slayer, that’s not likely Google’s intent. She believes it’s to give us a social reason for using Google and that will provide them with more data.
Martin likes the interface, that you can share directly from Google Reader and that Google docs, calendar and Gmail are all there. He wonders if there’s more of a business application to the platform because G+ is so open and when you’re with friends you want to be in a less public environment – a private room with the doors closed, like FB.
Joe calls out the ability to organize circles by interest. And in his circles for journalists, marketers, web design and PR, people continue to publish interesting discussions. Joe uses the platform to follow posts on an industry by industry basis.
Martin suggests it could be a mini-blogging platform without the constraint of 140 characters; a place for companies to start a larger discussion.
Some recent updates: G+ can be managed by third-party apps like Hootsuite. Right now, there’s only one administrator allowed for business pages – that’s going to change in the new year, but currently it’s a drawback.
And finally, we want to wish all our American friends and listeners a Happy Thanksgiving!
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