DescentBB

I misunderstood what circles were for.

You can't have an Ubuntu circle and hope to get Ubuntu stuff in it.

Why?

Everyone's public posts also go into their circles.

Why does this ruin the whole thing?

So let's say you start building up a circle called "Ubuntu community". People who say they're also into ubuntu add you in their ubuntu or linux circles.

Now imagine all those people making public posts, which aren't ubuntu related. You check your ubuntu circle and you'll be lucky to find 2 ubuntu related posts. The rest are Public, "Look at this cat video!!", random bull★■◆●.

Your Ubuntu, Python, Video games, and other circles will look exactly the same: random junk. Basically if you want to get tons of spam and junk, follow as many people as you want in G+. It really makes no difference who.

If you want to use G+ with friends and family, do what I do, don't follow more than 4 or 5 people that are outside friends and family. Keep the bull to a minumum.

I don't see G+ doing very well until those making public posts can exclude those within their circles. Or +Public, the public circle, does not include +Your Circles.

My prediction: No one really uses G+ unless changes are made.

...I don't really entirely understand what you're saying here, but I feel like that's not how circles actually work, or at least not what they're meant to do. Adding people to various circles is the equivalent of "friending" them on Facebook; it's the people whose updates you want to see. In turn, having people in circles allows you to share specific updates with just that circle of people, so you can do things like share nerd stuff with just your online acquaintances and family stuff with just your siblings. There's no guarantee that the people you add to a circle for one specific reason won't also share general stuff, but the exact same thing happens with Facebook too. You can't exactly force people to talk about only the stuff you want them to.

Top Gun wrote:...I don't really entirely understand what you're saying here

The whole thing or just a section?

You're right. It's much like friending. People are treating it like that.

If circles aren't used to divide relevant information you're just dumping posts with out any concern of its relevancy.

People don't understand circles. They want to just just be circled and followed.

This is how most people think. Is this how you feel Top Gun, if you were in g+?
"The only reason I have circles is because G+ pushed it on me. I don't even know why I have 'em except I've figured out how to keep my stream to a reasonable hum because of circles."
- John Pugh (Canonical, Ltd.)


He also says, "I mean, why would I post to a limited set of users?" He and many others miss the point. They're treating it like twitter and, to some extent, facebook.

Top Gun, you don't have to dump information out on everyone on google plus despite how other social netowrks are modeled. Now that you can actually separate people it's annoying people are trying to behave just as the would with out the ability.

Google Plus is completely built around circles and a great majority are trying to avoid it. "Just follow me! It dosen't matter what I send. It's all interesting, right?"

But yeah...

Topgun you're right. I have to follow the person not the topic... It just means fewer people.


edit:
I'll go build my own social network... that'll show them.

I feel like your comments up there are still kind of missing what Google was doing with circles. They're the core of Google+ because that sort of "dumping" is pretty much the entire point of social networking as a whole, no matter how you or I may feel about that. The reason circles are so much like Facebook friends is that they're designed to be...Google wanted to create a way for people to post specific information to specific groups of people, which was something that until very recently was difficult-to-impossible to accomplish on Facebook. (Facebook's new implementation of the concept greatly resembles Google's, but is significantly less elegant.) To answer your question, no, I don't feel the same way as that person, and I think it's rather silly to do so, since circles are the core of Google+...if you don't like them, you can just stick with Facebook or whatever. As it looks like you figured out, if you don't like what certain people are sharing with you, you can either talk to them about it or just remove them from your circles.

Muahhah! /evil
I found other wackos just as wacky as me! https://www.google.com/moderator/#9/e=9fe9f&g=exclude

Hundred of us, Top Gun, wanting to exclude on share. Exclude in streams. Exclude exclude our varying themes!

Sorry to bump this but I have an update!

I like g+ now.
I have a solution.

My only public post reads:

-----------------------------------------------------read me-------------------------------------------------------
I'd like to circle you!
Tell me which you want to be in, by commenting below.

Some circles are (Classmates) (Linux) (Artists) (Web Programming) (Music) or other, if you're into something else.

If I circle you, please don't spam = Lots of random public comments. -Try to keep the circle you're in on topic.

I had already uncircled everyone except friends and family. Those that are being added back simply request what circle to enter into. Others have circled me but have not asked to be in any circle. (not sure why since I don't make public posts)

I'll follow anyone, just don't not random crap. I'm already random enough.

It almost seems to me that you were expecting Google+ to operate more like a forum, where there are structured areas and threads of conversation, than a general social network. I hope this method works the way you want it to, but if it doesn't, you might just be better off seeking different modes of communication about specific tech topics.

I think it will. People circle me for no reason. They just find me some how and circle. If they want to be circled back they just need to read that and ask for it. Of course that means they agree to not spam their Public messages.