I just finished reading an article over at Forbes which, while actually a bit muddled, makes the claim that Google+ is more than a social networking site, but a whole new way of using the internet. The author of the blog is claiming that Google+," sets out to achieve this not by trying to become a Facebook-like social network, but by connecting Google's many other services, including search, into one broad social experience - an experience that I imagine we are still in the early stages of, and that will grow and evolve over time." While this might be an interesting statement, the reality of the situation is quite the reverse. Google+ is not going anywhere, and therefore it certainly can't transform the internet.
I hate articles like these. Nowadays, in order to cut through the din and get published, you need to make big, splashy, exciting statements that will make people stand up and notice, the "yellow journalism" school that spawned us the likes of William Randolph Hearst. In other words, making big things out of nothing in order to sell papers (or, get clicks, in this case).
Do you honestly think Google+, which could fairly be considered an utter failure, really transformed the internet? I wouldn't bet on it (actually, do: it'll earn me some quick cash). Yes, Google+ can start doing fun, exciting things with search, but only if people actually start using it. Until that day comes, it's just going to remain what it is now: an also-ran, circling the drain, waiting the land on the trash heap of web history.
Michael Gillen is a project manager for fishbat, an online marketing firm located in Bohemia, NY.