fixing the google+ engagement problem
DESCRIPTION
Google has a real problem with Google+ engagement - especially with new users. If unchecked, Facebook will use its deeper, more distributed engagement to better understand people’s interests and threaten Google’s core business. Here are some ideas on how to address the situation.TRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem
![Page 2: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
Many of us have found wonderful community on Google+.
![Page 3: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
“3 minutes”
We can’t understand why others aren’t having a similar experience.
(average time spent per month on Google+, according to ComScore)
![Page 4: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
But the truth is that there is a barrier on Google+.
![Page 5: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
5
Google+ is different than Facebook.
=/While Facebook connects us with existing friends, Google+ connects us to new friends via shared interests.
![Page 6: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
It’s easy to find existing friends on Facebook, and begin engaging with them right away... After all, we already
know these people.
![Page 7: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
But Google+ is more like a party where you don’t know everyone, and need to reach out via shared interests.
That’s a nice hat.
![Page 8: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
The problem is, it’s still too hard for new users to find people who share their interests on Google+.
![Page 9: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
Helping us connect to a bunch of famous people isn’t the solution...
...They don’t engage back.
![Page 10: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
10
Humans have a problem with paying too much attention to famous people as it is. We don’t need any more help there.
We’re already wired that way.
![Page 11: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
11
On social networks, people with lots of links tend to get even more links. When it’s easy to get “famousfor being famous,” and when the “rich just get richer,” it actually weakens a social network...
The Famous.
You and Me.
![Page 12: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
star
power!
Conversations become broadcasts and less actual information gets exchanged on the network.
![Page 13: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
This isn’t TV.It’s not about sitting back and watching famous people broadcast to us.
That’s old-school.
![Page 14: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
This is about getting into it... you know, engaging with other people.
![Page 15: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
15
Think of it this way...
Broadcasters do share interesting content.
But way more interesting content is exchanged
over a phone network.
![Page 16: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
16
Google now needs lots of social content sharing to improve its search results.
But right now, new users just aren’t engaging enough on Google+ to generate a really broad base of “social signals.”
![Page 17: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
17
Facebook users have 234 friends on average. That’s a lot of dense, decentralized connecting - seven hours per person, per month, in fact.
Facebook gets lots of social signals by connecting existing friends.
![Page 18: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
18
Facebook already has the network for existing friends, and most people don’t really want another one. To build a new network with lots of engagement, Google needs a different approach.
![Page 19: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
And that approach is helping people build new ties via shared interests.
![Page 20: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
20
Here’s the thing about meeting new people: sometimes we need a little help.
Think of it as helping us break the ice.
![Page 21: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
...and Google already knows a lot about our interests...
Knowing people’s interests can help with breaking the ice...
![Page 22: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
What if...
Google made better use of what it knows about our interests to help us better connect with others?
Here are a few rough ideas...
![Page 23: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
Explore your interests. These are some topics and people we think you might like, based on your search history and Google+ engagement.
☐ Travel to exotic places. Tips and ideas from people like you.
☑ Social enterprise mixes business and mission. Insights from people in the field.
☑ Clean energy is our future. Stay up with the latest trends and breakthroughs from people who know.
How about an Explore page for tuning what Google knows about our shared interests?
![Page 24: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/24.jpg)
Google is starting to play with Search as a kind of interest-sharing icebreaker...
(See how the Explore page is now highlighting search topics?)
![Page 25: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/25.jpg)
But what if our “saved searches” became a much more important way to consume content and connect with people?
![Page 26: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/26.jpg)
How about more structured, standardized ways to tell others about our interests on our Google+ profiles?
![Page 27: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/27.jpg)
Topic clean energy
And what if we could use that info to more easily find people, based on what they tell us they care about?
![Page 28: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/28.jpg)
What if we could tag our posts with these same categories...
![Page 29: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/29.jpg)
...and then filter people based on how heavily they engage with our posts in those categories?
![Page 30: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/30.jpg)
Shared circles are great for getting people to circle you.
But they can also perpetuate the “rich get richer” problem...
![Page 31: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/31.jpg)
We need better tools for following people back - like improvements to circle notifications to make it easier to discover shared interests.
![Page 32: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/32.jpg)
And how about integrating a little of Google Groups, to help groups of us better engage around shared interests?
Marvel Fan Club
Fan Club
![Page 33: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/33.jpg)
These are just rough ideas, but make no mistake:
“Icebreaker technology” is absolutely critical to Google right now.
33
![Page 34: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/34.jpg)
34
It will help Google build the “interest graph” - which improves search and ad targeting.
And that means more revenues.
![Page 35: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/35.jpg)
35
More importantly though....
Google has a real problem with Google+ engagement, especially relative to Facebook.
7 hours = 3 minutes /
![Page 36: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/36.jpg)
36
Facebook will use its deeper, more distributed engagement to better understand people’s interests... and threaten Google’s core business.
![Page 37: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/37.jpg)
37
The world doesn’t need another network to engage existing friends, or another network to hear more from famous people.
What it does need is a better network to share interests with those who share our interests.
![Page 38: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/38.jpg)
38
At the simplest level, that means Google needs to invest like crazy in helping us build new relationships
around shared interests.
And that, in the end, comes down to giving us better tools to
break the ice.
![Page 39: Fixing the Google+ Engagement Problem](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022042715/559451be1a28abd94f8b4627/html5/thumbnails/39.jpg)
• Sea Ice: http://www.flickr.com/photos/windsordi/5446835336/ •Wall: http://www.flickr.com/photos/79286287@N00/215951891/• Party talk: http://www.flickr.com/photos/def6nyc/6312502880/• Alone: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jb-london/3594171841/• Chimps: http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidbygott/5091918303/• Bieber: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cukuskumir/5689500961/• TV: http://www.flickr.com/photos/roadsidepictures/276395210/• Talking: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ameotoko/4334357860/• Radio: http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnmcnab/5169133473/• Operators: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ironrodart/4154904299/• Couch: http://www.flickr.com/photos/flamsmark/282514569/• Handshake: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/5907692738/• Limbo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdhancock/3605011903//• Twister: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdhancock/3842546304/• Badges: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbaltimore/5431709358/• Ice: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paul_cullen/405112678/
All images use Creative Commons licensing: