How Google Can Leverage Google+ Against Facebook

Much of the tech press is deriding Google for announcing a “lackluster” attempt at social networking. I don’t blame them, considering Google’s past failures with Buzz and Wave. However, Google has an advantage here that Facebook doesn’t: an ecosystem.

I’ve bagged on Android for not being a true mobile ecosystem (which it isn’t), but Google+ is different because it has the possibilities of utilizing Google’s other services in ways Facebook could only dream about.

Here are some examples:

• Proper Gmail integration: I.e. a little red-and-white icon next to a friend’s photo who’s sent you an email to which you haven’t responded (or deleted). Also, storing your Huddle chats the same way your GChats are stored, in Gmail. Contact syncing between Gmail contacts and Google+ friends (including Circle assignments as contact groups) would be ideal.
• Picasa: Photos you upload to Google+ automatically get added to a “Mobile Uploads” gallery in Picasa for you to share with friends.
• Google Docs: Integrate Docs with Hangouts, so you can initiate an “iChat Theater”-esque collaboration session from within Google+. Also, if a friend makes an update to a Doc, a notification can appear in your Google+ stream.
• Google Calendar: Google+ events (when/if they’re ever added) can automatically be added to your GCal when you accept an RSVP.
• Google Reader: Obviously, a share function within Reader itself, but the ability to integrate feeds within your stream would be great, too. I’d even love to see a sidebar option for “Google Reader” that would replace your friend stream with the day’s headlines from your RSS subscriptions so you can scroll through them, then go back to your friend stream.
• Blogger: When you post an update to Blogger, it auto-updates your status with the title and a snippet of the post. (I’d love to see a lot of blogging platforms integrate this feature with Facebook, as well).
• YouTube: Upload videos to YouTube from within Google+ so they can be posted and shared with friends simultaneously.

Most importantly, Google needs to remember the words “opt in”. Facebook’s biggest problem is forgetting that not everyone wants their details made public without their approval and, more importantly, without even knowing it. If Google wants people to either do double social networking duty, or switch completely, it needs to respect its users’ privacy.