Journalists around the world are already flocking to the new network to determine whether this platform will rival Twitter and Facebook as a tool for online journalism.
One journalist who has taken to Google+ quickly is American television journalist, Sarah Hill. Ms Hill uses Google+ video chat “Hangout” to bring people from across the world into the KOMU-TV newsroom and chats to them while they get a behind the scenes look at how the news is presented.
This Google+ feature could be a way for journalists to get a feel for audience reactions to news events in real time or even to conduct interviews.
Journalist Robert Shultz has even been using Google+ as a tool for live blogging - you can see it here.
A technology correspondent for Channel 4 News in the UK has spoken about why he feels Google+ will eventually become the superior networking tool for journalists (more here). According to Benjamin Cohen it is a combination of speed, ease of use and the way it encourages discussions.
Cohen has used Google+ as an extension of his tweets to post breaking news relating to the News International phone-hacking scandal and included links in tweets to direct people to the post.
“If you take the example of the statement Rupert and James Murdoch were refused permission to give at the (UK government) Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, News Corporation released that to the press and I had it up on Google+ within twenty seconds of receiving it. If I had put it on the Channel 4 News website, it would have taken a lot longer – I’d have had to wait for the content management system to load, and perhaps had my article checked by an editor before it was published,” Cohen said.
Another advantage of Google+ over Facebook is that allows you to edit posts as you go, unlike on Facebook where you have delete entire posts, losing all the comments that were attached.
“On Google+ you can edit as you go. If you write something inaccurate on Twitter or Facebook, it’s difficult to deal with, but posts on Google+ can be edited for accuracy as needed,” said Cohen.
Some of the other differences between Google+ and Facebook are illustrated in this info graphic, which I think is pretty cool.
As someone who has signed up to Google+ and had a bit of a poke around, I can say that the potential for this platform is immense – whether or not Google will be able to live up to the hype in which it has surrounded itself, only time will tell.
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