Inside View from Ireland: Google Plus Coffee in Ireland

Bernie Goldbach in Limerick Open Coffee with a spent cup.

WE ASKED FOUR people at Limerick OpenCoffee about whether Google Plus fits into their mix of online tools, then shared the feedback with the For Immediate Release business communications podcast.

I get a lot of value from Google Plus, but that's probably because I've slotted the iOS app and the notifications towards the top of my workflow. I consistently get more per scrolled screen from Google Plus than I do from Twitter but I know my measures of merit (long form reading suggestions, announcements of product enhancements, links to hallway conversations at major events) differ from other long-time social networking advocates.

Both the five-minute FIR segment recorded and produced by Mark Lynch and the 10-minute expanded answer to the question of how G+ works for small companies deserve playback and commenting. I put the expanded version into the Audio Community on Google Plus because that group of people have extracted a lot of value from multimedia elements inside and outside of Google Plus.

Google Plus Coffee in Ireland

Some interesting takeaways in the audio interview:

-- Several people can see what Google is doing to connect functions like Events and Calendars to Google Plus.

-- The G+ iOS app is streets ahead of many other social networking apps.

-- People still find the Limerick Open Coffee community via Facebook, not through the more active G+ Community.

-- Having an app like "Googledeck" would fit the way many people use one window to monitor disparate feeds across several social networks simultaneously.

-- People who have spent time learning Google Plus discover some very powerful synergies that happen across the Google ecosystem.

-- Because vocal mainstream users of Facebook and Twitter are comfortable with the flow of information and conversations on those networks, there is little motivation to move across to yet another social network.

-- Google Hangouts often offer some premium content to those who set aside time to watch and learn. However, many of those Hangouts do not automatically save to YouTube and that means you must watch them live.

Bernie Goldbach uses three private Google Plus Communities to support the creative multimedia degree programme in the Limerick Institute of Technology.

Bonus Link: FIR 694 from March 11, 2013.