The New G+ Photo Site; 4 New Adventures in Image Sharing

By James Martell on 1 August 2011 @ 11:42 AM.

Tags: google plus, google+, image sharing, photo sharing, social media, social networking.

You saw it coming, didn't you?

You knew, and I knew, that eventually Google would develop a viable alternative to Facebook. I'm pretty sure Facebook knew about it, too. The recently launched Google Plus has incorporated some features from the less successful Google Buzz, but it also has a few advantages all its own.

Charlie Sorrel works in Wired.com's Gadget Lab and has framed the issue nicely; "It has been said that the biggest feature of Google Plus is that it's not Facebook. However, there's another feature that may be of interest to all you Gadget Lab photo nerds out there: photo integration. It turns out that G+ is a pretty sweet way to manage and view your shared photos."

As Charlie pointed out, Google Plus's most obvious strength is the new Google photo sharing feature, and that makes perfect sense. Since photo sharing is one of the more popular features on Facebook, that should be the first area of attack by anyone trying to seriously compete with that super-site.

Before we get started on the advantages of Google + , we need to discuss some obvious but temporary shortcomings. First, the site is now available by invitation only. That means that, unless you know someone, you'll have to take my word for all of this. Second, while you can access the site on Google's Android phones, the Blackberry and iPhone apps are "in the works".

Now, for those of you who know the right people and own the right phones, let me tell you what you can look forward to on the new Google photo site;

Your Photos Will Upload Faster

Simplifying a process by one or two keystrokes won't impress a lot of people, but it impressed me. By not having to toggle or configure photos when posting them, I can load one or two photos in no time at all. More importantly, I can load a whole lot of photos in a lot less time onto Google Plus.

Your Photos Will Look Better

Google really takes your photos seriously; perhaps more seriously than you do. By accommodating higher resolution pictures, offering oversize thumbnails, and providing us with a professional-looking lightbox view, this site will make nearly any picture look good. Whether you specialize in sock puppet portraits or digital infrared photography, you'll be able to display your photos on a well-polished site.

You Can Upload Instantly to the G+ Photo Site from Your Phone

My son Justin is an Android user, and he is very happy that Google's new site is accessible from his smartphone. I also have a friend in Brooklyn named Vinny who is similarly privileged. I am currently an iPhone user, but between Justin, Vinny and Google, I am pretty much convinced that my next phone will be an Android.

Vinny recently attended the 4th of July fireworks show over the Hudson River, and was able to upload the pictures from his phone directly to the Google Plus site. On top of that, Vinny didn't have to immediately sort and set up his photos into circles; he was able to load them into a private album and shuffle them later on.

Google Runs Circles Around Your Friends

About those circles; Google has probably solved Facebook's most vexing problem by re-thinking what a social network really looks like. In the real world, we don't just have "friends" and "not friends", right? We have close friends, friendly associates, and friends we haven't seen since college. Do all of these people need access to the same amount of information in our personal life? Probably not.

By allowing you to form your friends into circles, Google allows you to decide whether the folks at work really need to know your bowling score, or if your in-laws ought to see you in your Halloween costume.

Is The G+ Photo Site a Facebook Killer?

It is hard, at this point, to predict whether Google Plus will "kill" Facebook. I can confidently say that Google Plus will get Facebook's attention, though. Dave Seaman from BusinessInsider.com seems to be of the same opinion. He stated, "It (Google +) will be a huge success, and Facebook is in trouble - although by no means obsolete."

If Google Plus actually draws people away from Facebook, it's likely that the photo sharers will go first. Whether you're using an Android for vacation pictures or cameras with infrared capabilities to capture midnight paintball battles, you'll appreciate the function and form of Google's new photo site.

I'm not sure if Google will win this new battle or if Facebook will manage to defend its title, but I know one thing for sure; this will be fun to watch.

About the Author

James Martell is well known as an affiliate marketing specialist in outsourcing and SEO. He is a sought after speaker, affiliate marketing trainer and podcaster. James is host of the longest running affiliate marketing podcast on WebmasterRadio.FM (since 2003), and creator of the Affiliate Marketers "SUPER BootCamp", where he teaches others how to make money with affiliate programs. James lives in White Rock BC, a seaside suburb of Vancouver on west coast of Canada with his wife, Arlene and their 4 kids.

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