You've probably heard by now Google has released it's own social network to compete with Facebook called Google+. To this point only those who have been invited can join Google+. This is a strategy Google is using to create the perception of exclusivity and heighten the buzz around the release of Google+ and help spread it's adoption. I've had my Google+ account now for going on three weeks and I thought I'd share some of the positives and negatives of my experience. Let me start off with the positives.

1. The Hangouts feature is cool and useful.

Inside your Google+ account you'll find a feature called "Hangouts". Hangouts is group video chat for up to 10 of your friends. When you're involved in a "hangout" your friends can see this in your feed an even join the conversation. We've already found Hangouts to be a great way to have a meeting when one or more people are out of the office. The only thing I don't like about Hangouts is that you have to be in Google+ to use it. I think Hangouts is a cool enough and useful enough feature to be a stand alone product.

2. Instant upload and photo sharing.

The photo sharing experience with Google+ is excellent. However I must mention it's a bit enhanced for myself because I use an EVO 4G running Google's Android software. Because I'm using Android I was able to download the Google+ app from the marketplace and access features like "Instant Upload". Instant upload allows you to take a photo and easily upload it to your Google+ account from your phone without interfering with other thing you might be doing on your device. Furthermore I've synced my Google+ account and my mobile phone so all the photos I take from my phone are backed up to my Google+ account (Only photos you choose to post will be publicly viewable).

In addition to a user friendly and streamlined photo uploading experience Google+ provides a ton of information about your photos like geo location, time, date, and even photo details like color and exposure. All of the photos are presented in a clean, easy to use, beautifully displayed gallery.

3. A super sleek and clean interface.

Google+ sports a very minimalist user interface that is shows off some of the latest javascript techniques and is easy to look at. There is plenty of white space so your eyes don't get too tired scanning the the data. Google+ is fast, responsive, and I simply love that you never have to refresh. All feeds, posts, etc. update right before your eyes as they happen.

4. The nearby feature is super cool (and super creepy).

When you download the Google+ app to your phone you can choose an option to see posts from people who are nearby. This feature is super cool in the way you can see posts people are making right in your area. As I was flying across the country I was able to see conversations people were having all around the nation by accessing the WIFI on the plane. What's not cool is the fact it's not immediately obvious if what I'm posting is public or private. I wouldn't want to post something confidential on my feed and have someone nearby use that information against me.

So that about wraps up the things I like about Google+. Now for the dislikes.

1. Google cannot get their act together with Google IDs.

I use a Google hosted Gmail account and for that reason for most of my Google accounts it's my primary ID. I would like it to be the only Google ID I need but many Google products don't work with hosted Gmail IDs. For that reason I have a few other Google IDs. Long story short if I'm logged into my hosted Gmail on my phone or in a browser session I will have to login to a separate account to use Google+. This results in getting booted out either my Google+ or my hosted Gmail inadvertently many times throughout the day. In addition I use separate Google IDs for our company Youtube account and I have to use my non hosted Gmail Google ID on my phone to get the mobile app to work. All in all this is extremely frustrating and confusing and undermines my ability to efficiently use Google+. In fact, I have to say I don't forsee every adopting Google+ until this issue is fixed.

2. There's no easy way to invite my Facebook friends.

It seems to me if Google+ is a Facebook competitor the number one priority would be making an easy way for people to move their Facebook friends to their Google+ account. Under the account settings you can link your Google+ account with Facebook and it will suggest friends whom to invite but with Google+ being a closed beta and invite only I'm unable to get those people into my Circles. Likewise with people who are already in my address book. I can try to add them to my circles but since it's a closed beat by invite only for the most part my friends haven't been able to get in. Furthermore I don't have access to my most relevant contacts because I'm forced to use my Gmail ID instead of my hosted Gmail ID to login.

3. There's no compelling reason to check yet another communication platform.

All my friends are on Facebook. Even if I was able to invite all my Facebook friends to come join me on Google+ without being stifled by the invitation only rollout. Why would I want to invite them? After all Facebook is good at what it does and I'm already having to check my Email, Facebook, Twitter, Voicemail, and Youtube account everyday for messages. If Google wants me to use Google+ they better provide a clear and simply way I can consolidate all these platforms. For example_ If I was able to check all of those from Google+ without any complicated setup processes, that would be appealing.

4. The feed is too noisy.

Even though you can mute conversations in Google+ it still doesn't significantly reduce the noise from the feed. When someone makes a post, does a hangout, or just about any other action on Google+ I get an email, a notification in my browser, a notification from the app on my phone, a notification I have a new email on my phone and because I forward my Gmail to my hosted Gmail email address (because I can't use my hosted Gmail ID with Google+) I receive yet another notification of an email received. Now I can go through and spend the time shutting off these notifications and configuring them to my liking but why would I want to when I have a Facebook account already setup which doesn't annoy me.

5. I don't "Like" the +1 button.

Does Facebook have a monopoly on the word "Like"? Why couldn't have Google used the word like or love instead of +1? In real life I like things. So sharing with someone that I like something online seems very natural to me. Prior to Google+ I have never +1'd something. To me the +1 button doesn't seem personal or human. Instead it seems like a constant reminder that I'm telling Google a little bit more about what I'm into so they can use it for marketing purposes or to improve their search algorithm.

6. The programming techniques are so advanced they're not intuitive.

One of the first people I sent an invite to Google+ was my 13 year old son. I sat and watched as he tried to sign up for the account and begin to build his social network. One thing he did which I noticed others doing was trying to add people to his circles by dragging and dropping different friends into each circle. As he did this a small dialog popped up over the top of each circle listing the name of each of his circles with a checkbox next to each one. At that point he as well as others I witnessed became unsure as what to do. As he was telling Google+ who he wanted in what circle it was asking him if he wanted to add them to other circles but the end result was unexpected user behavior and a confusing experience.

In summary I would recommend for people to stick with Facebook. Your friends are already there and they have a mature platform. Google+ seems like another internet time waster which outside of Hangouts doesn't offer anything truly unique.

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