Google+: Please share your first impressions of Google's social media site.

I like the Google Circles feature. That is something I have always struggled with about Facebook.

I've been on Google+ for a few days now, and I find the ability to manage users and groups very intuitive as compared to other social media platforms. I'm also playing around with the circles feature quite a bit.

Managing conversations is pretty straightforward as well.

What I really want to see is how their API will develop, for integration with other networks such as Twitter and LinkedIn, and the broader tools like HelloTxt and Ping.fm, etc.

So far, it is easy enough to get into. The Android app integration is also pretty smooth. I'll be able to say more in about a week, but my first impressions are very positive.

So far it is interesting, but I'm not blown away. The lack of integration from Tweetdeck or Hootsuite is a short term problem (I think), but it means I have more work to do if I have things to share.

Just like any other social platform, it is only really useful once a lot of people are on it. I'll reserve judgement for six months, then look at the API, tool integration and adoption. That will be a much better indication of what the future will hold, I think.

I agree with Dwane - I would like my twitter posts integrated, and it would be great if I could attach the posts to a specific circle. I would NOT like to receive email for each twitter post of my friends', though.

Since I have been accessing most of my social networking tools through Seesmic, having to deal with a new Web-based interface seems like a burden more than an advancement. There's some interesting ways to compartmentalize information, some of which I was able to do with groups in Facebook already, but made easier. Overall, I believe the true value will be the API and the applications that are able to build on top of G+ and I am waiting to see what happens there.

Google+ is too good. I love to play with it.
All features are interesting, specially I like Huddle.
Huddle creates a way for texting conversations within a Circle to be read as one dialogue.

Good Luck to Google:)

Unlike Google's previous ventures in to social, the +1 concept will work, because it encapsulates the whole of Google and from what I've seen so far with clues popping up everywhere on the web hinting at more to come) I think it's pretty mind blowing. This service is not design to be a completely new service, it design to be a social layer that incorporate all of Google services,that why they went for brand extensions. And that is why it will not be closed down like Wave no matter what happens. Through a lot of sub features, Spark, Hangout, Circles, have their own logos and branding.

Google + also look more like an attempt from Google to completely rebuild there services around social and sharing. And move away from brand extensions, Google Talk could be replace by Hangout for example. I even expect the + will be cut from the name once the service is out of beta testing, probably in about 5 year time given Google record.

I do also think the need for it to work for Google is overstated, Google will be around longer than Facebook but it will work, particularly is search is still at its heart and this social layer has Google's strengths at its heart. Google has the brain horse power to do this. Compare what google does to facebook. Google is a huge data centre along with algorithms to search that data. Facebook is a server holding peoples pictures and chats.

Google Caffeine is also an exciting development and should make generating news stories and creating real content instead of link building central to gaining authority on the web. Integration with Android is vital in Google+ being successful.There is such a wide range of online tools and platforms offered by google that if they do this the right way success wont be too difficult to attain.Obviously, with 750 million people on facebook it is going to be quite a challenge to rival them but from seeing how my facebook friends utilize the site they don’t use it for much more than posting pictures, and speaking to their friends from real life. More than that like sharing online content and contacting people from outside their social circle can only done by very few people.

However,despite all that,i still feel the next big thing in social media is likely to come from a niche player such as LinkedIn rather than generalist such as Google. Like all maturing markets, social media will segment into focused market categories. Just as it is announced how many 50+ members have joined Facebook, watch all the teenagers,youths and new stuff addicts desert in their droves.Google can capitalise with the right marketing and strategy.

In my critical point of view,I think Google+ is awkward and embarrassing.This is because it is a blatant attempt to copy Facebook and Twitter albeit too late. Google's strategy has degraded, from innovation a decade ago, to a chronic pattern of imitation and acquisition today but with Larry Page at the helm let me hope am wrong.We all remember Google Wave.That was meant to take on Twitter. It's already abundantly clear that Google+, confusingly named like the recently launched Google +1, will be another GFail if lessons from previous failure are not taken into account.What makes this most laughable is that this is a lesson in social, preached at us by people who presumably don't have many friends-Google geeks!

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I absolutely love Google+. I've been on it for a few days now and I have ment some incredible and relevant contacts. Even though it's in beta and some things are a bit rough, the end result is going to be quite positive for everyone in the long run.

Will be very interesting how they implement the business play. We signed up beta testing, we'll see if we get picked and what it involves.

I've also been on it for a couple of weeks, and found the hang-out works well. I'd like better integration with Google's chat, and also wonder why Buzz posts only get listed in individual profiles (IMO it belongs in the public stream, with an option to limit the audience to circles).

The main question on my mind is, as its adoption spreads beyond cutting-edge tech adopters, what will the dominant demographic of G+ be: Twitter-centric people, or Facebookers?