First Thoughts on Google+ For SCUBA Professionals

 

I made it in to Google+ before they shut down invites yesterday and have been playing with it ever since. If you’ve been busy teaching SCUBA, working at your dive center or taking divers out on tours, here’s my preferred write up of what it’s all about.

So is this a “Facebook killer”? Can you avoid Twitter now? Will Justin Timberlake bring sexy MySpace back?

Quick answer: it’s really too early to tell.

As an individual professional (SCUBA instructors), I think it will be beneficial. It’s like Facebook, but without the junk. If you built up friend lists because you thought numbers actually meant something, this is a chance to start fresh or simply organize a little better.

As a SCUBA business, there doesn’t appear to be anything equivalent to Pages. It’s all Profiles in Google+ land. I’ve seen a couple of “Profiles” that actually represent businesses, but it really just looks spammy to me. There isn’t an integrated ad platform that I’ve seen to quickly, cheaply and easily drive traffic to links.

I like the interface, both on mobile and via the web as well as how it has integrated into my other Google services like GMail. I like how it’s not as messy feeling as Twitter and Facebook are, but fully acknowledge that will change as invites are reopened and more people I know show up to the party.

If you made it in during this initial wave, feel free to add me to one of your circles. If you’re not in yet, check out the official information from Google and feel free to submit your email address in the comments below and I’ll invite you as soon as invites open up again.

Are you in? Are you impressed? Do you care?

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