by Hung Lee, 10.12.2012

So Communities is the best thing Google have done since Hangouts. Here’s 4 reasons why

1. Reciprocal interest

Communities provide reciprocal interest for the first time on Google+. All members are there because they want to be there, not because they were tagged, listed or circled by somebody else. Intent is the first Social signal you need to know before any meaningful engagement can take place in the social web and now with Communities we have it on Google+ for the first time.

2. Filtering tools

We know now that open follow is a horrible idea for anybody who isn’t Twitter. Lightning was never going to strike twice on this and Google’s aping of the Twitter’s mechanics meant a miserable experience for anyone who didn’t assiduously categorise each and every one of his friends. And that basically meant everyone who wasn’t a tech blogger. With Communities this is a problem that sort of goes away, with noise control being available in one of two ways – using the ‘Mute’ function to turn off notifications, or going nuclear and simply exiting the Community. Open follow nightmare is still there, but by ignoring Circles in favour of Communities, you might actually have a decent experience on Google+

3. Categories

This is one of those peripheral features you sometimes get in social networks that looks like a throw-away, but turns out to be the most critical thing about it. With Twitter it is the character restriction, with Reddit, the comments, with Google+ Communities, it’s the categories. Categories allow posts to be archived, and transform it from being a simple bucket list with content that decays too fast, into a crowdsourced referencing tool. Think Delicious, but with true social built in. Not many people are using it thus far, probably because it is hidden away under ‘Actions’, but trust me when I say that categories will unlock the value from the Community concept

4. Integration

Smart observers have long said that Google is approaching social from a different starting position from everyone else. Google+ was never the point, only a part of a big picture that sees a Google universe where all applications flow seamlessly into each other, users sign in once with their Google ID and never have to (or are able to) leave. Communities underscores this vision with Hangouts and Events baked into the product. Along with the aforementioned categories, Google+ attack video conferencing, social bookmarking and calendar applications with the Communities product. And the single user ID provides a compelling logic why you would use it.

Final Thoughts
It’s not the complete product, but these things never are. What it is though, is a very impressive first effort in resolving the relevancy and noise problems with Google+ and that alone will amp up the engagement on the network. Chalk this one down as a win for Google.

Hung Lee provides consultancy services on Recruitment, Social Media and Footballsize=3>