Plaidophile

I'm just not able to keep any interest in Google+, for the same reasons that I can't keep any interest in Facebook. Having longer posts doesn't necessarily make things better; instead it makes it seem like I really must read everything, which turns it into an overwhelming burden, and inline comments make it feel like even more of a firehose of information. I like how Twitter is a place where I can just share quick simple notions and links to fuller bits of content. I like how the fuller bits of content are hosted on my own site where I and others can find it easily, rather than quickly being buried in piles and piles of comment replies to Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton. I like how Twitter is just a bunch of messages that people pass along and there's no expectation that everything is seen.

I feel like Google+ is in an uncomfortable middle ground between mass-messaging and blogging, with the disadvantages of both but the advantages of neither. I felt the same way about Facebook. Also, the fact that Google has their hands in ALL of my data, with potentially disastrous consequences, makes their overbearing "real name" policy even more upsetting.

Basically, I still miss blogs and don't feel like G+ or Facebook do anything to help communication - they just do what Twitter does, but longer, and with more overwhelming crap to sift through, and an expectation that you do sift through it all.

That said, Hangouts are pretty neat. It would be nice if it were a completely separate product that were based on Jabber or the like, though.