Slashdot Mirror


4chan Founder Chris Poole Will Try To Fix Social At Google (techcrunch.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Google never "got" social. For all the resources thrown at it, Google+ just never quite felt human. But luckily Google just hired the guy behind 4chan -- a site that epitomized the good, the bad and the ugly of humanity on the internet. Chris Poole started 4chan in his bedroom at age 15. In the 12 years since, he built it into a 20 million active user image-sharing community around topics ranging from cosplay and cute animals to anime porn and the notoriously uncensored anonymous channel /b/. While Google probably won't force him into a suit and tie, Poole now has a much more corporate job: He'll be working under Google's Bradley Horowitz, VP of streams, photos and sharing. Poole writes: "When meeting with current and former Googlers, I continually find myself drawn to their intelligence, passion, and enthusiasm -- as well as a universal desire to share it with others. I'm also impressed by Google's commitment to enabling these same talented people to tackle some of the world's most interesting and important problems."

185 comments

  1. Oh, yeah by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 5, Funny

    This'll work.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
    1. Re:Oh, yeah by kelarius · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The creator of the biggest hive of scum and villany on the internet has gone to work for google, and will "fix" social. What could go wrong?

      --
      Personally I'd rather have my idiots at home glued to the TV than out doing idiotic things
    2. Re:Oh, yeah by GolfBoy · · Score: 3, Funny

      I look forward to dickbutt on the search page.

    3. Re:Oh, yeah by rudy_wayne · · Score: 1

      Once again, truth is stranger that fiction.

    4. Re:Oh, yeah by GrumpySteen · · Score: 2

      If you think truth is stranger than fiction, you clearly haven't been reading the self-published dinosaur porn that's been showing up on Amazon.

    5. Re:Oh, yeah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are many definitions of the word "fix" that could apply.

    6. Re:Oh, yeah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      > What could possibly go wrong?

      4goo.gle

    7. Re:Oh, yeah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I didnt know Poole created Reddit

    8. Re: Oh, yeah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just like reusable toilet paper an excellent plan of attack.

    9. Re:Oh, yeah by KGIII · · Score: 3, Funny

      Well, Moot is moot now. I guess he has been since he sold the place. Ah well, it's a Moot point.

      *is not proud of this post*

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    10. Re: Oh, yeah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Honestly? Attract people, and other beings to use it.

    11. Re:Oh, yeah by Darinbob · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Google+ is working just fine for me. I don't know how it compares to Facebook or other social media because I don't use them or care. But 4chan mentality applied to Google+... This is one of those times when "if it ain't broke don't come within ten miles of it" might apply.

      This guy would be a junior programmer anywhere else given his age and amount of experience. I've seen what happens when twenty-somethings who think they know everything get put in charge. That's how we got infected with social media in the first place.

    12. Re:Oh, yeah by korgitser · · Score: 2

      Well google is also one of the biggest hives of scum and villany on the internet, so they might get along just fine.

      --
      FCKGW 09F9 42
    13. Re:Oh, yeah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought Google was committed to increasing diversity in the workplace.

    14. Re:Oh, yeah by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      The creator of the biggest hive of scum and villany on the internet has gone to work for google, and will "fix" social. What could go wrong?

      Lowtax? Man, I dunno how that's gonna work out. I mean even to this day he still has "helldump" a forum dedicated to doxing people.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    15. Re: Oh, yeah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There can't be 4chan mentality on G+, since it's not anonymous...

    16. Re: Oh, yeah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What are you some kind of newfag autist?

    17. Re:Oh, yeah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Let's list the groups now even more unlikely to hop on the next Google network:

      - redditors
      - tumblrites
      - twitter users
      - conservatives
      - progressives
      - feminists
      - gamers
      - copyright-holders
      - family brands
      - swedish people
      - scientologists

      On the other side, the site might become attractive to
      - Anonymous

      So maybe Google is onto a winner afterall.

    18. Re:Oh, yeah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Honestly, I've never really entertained working for Google. Too hipsterish, poor quality products that change constantly for the sake of change. But now it's just a joke. They turn down people with masters' degrees from Carnegie Mellon. But copy some lousy image board software and get edgy teens to fill it with gay porn? You're in!

    19. Re:Oh, yeah by DaTroof · · Score: 1

      Helldump's been gone for years.

    20. Re:Oh, yeah by GNious · · Score: 2

      Considering the target is Facebook, and from what little I've used Facebook it seems to be a repository of shitty, crummy, hateful shitstains, he may in fact be just what Google "needs".

    21. Re:Oh, yeah by GNious · · Score: 1

      Google+ was working just fine for me, then they made a new UI that actively removed community features (e.g., good luck creating or seeing community events), and specifically wastes screen space (1600px wide, ca 800ppx is white borders on the sides of the 2 columns, not seen any way to get 3 columns like the old one), and now I'm wondering they are just trying to make things worse.

    22. Re:Oh, yeah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      and rightly so

    23. Re:Oh, yeah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It would be better if it was called 4gigg.ity

  2. Moot! by jazzmans · · Score: 1

    MooT!

    This should be interesting.

    I gave up on Google+ a couple of years ago, but still frequent 4chan...

    --
    Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans. No-one sees motorcycles
    1. Re:Moot! by sumdumass · · Score: 2

      I gave up on Google+ the moment they started trying to force it into everything connected to Google. It even seemed to carry over into crap not connected to Google.

      I'm betting a lot of people are permanently put of by that too. Of course it could just be me and my disdain for Facebook and ilk. But I know I'm not alone in that. I doubt this move will change anything.

    2. Re:Moot! by Jason+Levine · · Score: 3, Informative

      I liked Google+'s features in theory but disliked the real name policy. It meant that I couldn't use it for my blogging activities (on which I use a pseudonym) without risking getting all my Google services shut off (including things like e-mail which I used as well) just because my pseudonym isn't my actual name.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    3. Re: Moot! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I was very offended that they tried to take my pseudonym away and force me to use my name on everything. They have great service and awesome free capacity, but that one move made me decide to never use anything social they made. I suppose I should make a pseudonym on Facebook just for balance, but with FB, I used my real name going in.

    4. Re:Moot! by Darinbob · · Score: 4, Interesting

      They no longer have a real name policy. But I think Facebook added a real name policy in the meantime. But people looove facebook and haaate google, so it's hard to treat any comments on the matter objectively. Basically people who are herd animals are on facebook not because they love it but because other members of their herd are on facebook, and people who are on google+ are there because they like the communities or to keep track of a small group of friends.

    5. Re:Moot! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or maybe privacy conscious individuals aren't upset about Facebook because they wouldn't use it in the first place.

    6. Re:Moot! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Gee, I wonder which one you use.

    7. Re: Moot! by fbobraga · · Score: 1

      They no longer have a real name policy.

      FYI

    8. Re:Moot! by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

      Basically people who are herd animals are on facebook not because they love it but because other members of their herd are on facebook

      And people use MS cause that's where all the software is, and write software for MS because that's where all the customers are*.

      Google "Network Effects"

      *This is no longer true due to smartphones, but it certainly was in the 90's

      --
      Your ad here. Ask me how!
    9. Re:Moot! by Raenex · · Score: 1

      But I think Facebook added a real name policy in the meantime.

      Facebook has always had a real name policy. That's what Google+ was trying to emulate, like a bunch of idiots, instead of providing an alternative. Google backed away from it, but the damage was done.

    10. Re:Moot! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You still can't reserve your username as a URL. They give you options that include your "real name", but you can't just take your username alone. This by itself makes G+ unusable for me. If I can't have google.com/+MyUsernameOnEveryOtherSite... then G+ can fuck off.

  3. Poole continued by 110010001000 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Poole continued, saying: "But what I mostly appreciate are the millions of dollars that Google is giving me."

    1. Re:Poole continued by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And good luck to Poole, whoever he is. Never heard of 4Chan, well "heard" of it in that it could have been a web camera for all I knew.
      The generation of people who programmed in their bedroom at age 15 are the new aged trend setters apparently so maybe it will be "the bomb"!
      I will probably continue to retreat further and further into my inbox, and hope I don't become any more extinct than I already am.

    2. Re:Poole continued by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't worry, you're not alone. Although I've heard of 4chan, I've never visited it, because I've heard of 4chan.

    3. Re:Poole continued by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 2

      And good luck to Poole, whoever he is. Never heard of 4Chan, well "heard" of it in that it could have been a web camera for all I knew.

      Grandma! What did I tell you about coming to places like Slashdot!

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  4. Google+ is not Facebook by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For some of us, this is a feature, not a bug.

  5. Was Google+ really so bad? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The summary seems to imply there was something fundamentally wrong with Google+, and that's why it didn't take off as Google had hoped. But is that really the case, or was Google+'s main obstacle just that Facebook already existed and was spectacularly successful?

    1. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by penguinoid · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The summary seems to imply there was something fundamentally wrong with Google+,

      The thing that most pissed me off was the aggressive way they pushed it and damn the consequences. For example, deleting functionality from Google search to make way for their Google+ crap. The idiots.

      --
      Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
    2. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yeah, Google+'s UI is fucking horrible compared to Facebook's.

      I never got into social networking before a couple of years ago, when I created accounts on both. FB I got the hang of within a few days. G+ is still a horrid tangled space-inefficient that-doesn't-quite-work-as-you-expect-it-to mess.

      FB is totally driven by what keeps the product around: the FB user. G+ appears to be driven by what G+ authors think SHOULD appeal to its userbase, which means it's popular among the tiny minority of geeks who think like G+ developers.

      Hats off to moot for milking Google, though - Larry+Page do like their trophy wives, but at least they're usually pretty (for particularly geeky definitions of beauty). I expect 4chan will hate him more than girlvinyl when she turned ED into OHI for a few months, though.

    3. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by hey! · · Score: 1

      I didn't find Google Plus hard to use at all, and I find Facebook to be really inflexible and bad on privacy. But obviously a lot of people couldn't figure out Google Plus and don't care enough about privacy to try.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    4. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by phantomfive · · Score: 1, Interesting

      here was something fundamentally wrong with Google+, and that's why it didn't take off as Google had hoped. But is that really the case

      Yeah. Google+ was created with a different goal. It was at a time when Facebook was getting a lot of advertising based on "knowing the user," all their likes, etc; and Google only had search terms.

      In practical terms, advertisers mainly want age and gender (because that's what they're used to working with on TV). So Google introduced G+ and grabbed everyone's real name and birthday, which gives a 'good enough' gender approximation.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    5. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The thing that most pissed me off was the aggressive way they pushed it and damn the consequences. For example, deleting functionality from Google search to make way for their Google+ crap. The idiots.

      I think this needs said a few (million) more times.

      The thing that most pissed me off was the aggressive way they pushed it and damn the consequences. For example, deleting functionality from Google search to make way for their Google+ crap. The idiots.

      Google's fucking nuking of functionality, the underhanded way they would convert people who accidentally click ok to an unrelated question to g+, the way it was impossible to undo it on your YT channel, costing people who never wanted this shit in the first place to lose their following, and the way they fucking insisted on real world names is why it failed. Fuck everything about google+.

      The thing that most pissed me off was the aggressive way they pushed it and damn the consequences. For example, deleting functionality from Google search to make way for their Google+ crap. The idiots.

      We can only hope that he scraps the entire naming system and replace it with tripcodes. That way, we can call anyone trying to maintain a consistent identity "tripfag".

      The thing that most pissed me off was the aggressive way they pushed it and damn the consequences. For example, deleting functionality from Google search to make way for their Google+ crap. The idiots.

      But hey, at least it's not a goddamn fucking SJW, right?

    6. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And this is my point: "It fits the way I think therefore it must be the right way," is G+ all over. You have a tiny proportion of users who quickly get AND prefer its layout, navigation, etc. and a vast majority who don't care to try or who try and get don't think it was worth the effort. G+ is not a command line utility where power users get to dick-wave about how much time they've perfected using this perfectly crafted tool.

      As for privacy, the rule is simple: don't put anything you want kept private on a social network. To suggest that G+ is somehow better than FB is laughable.

    7. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by jafiwam · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The summary seems to imply there was something fundamentally wrong with Google+, and that's why it didn't take off as Google had hoped. But is that really the case, or was Google+'s main obstacle just that Facebook already existed and was spectacularly successful?

      The part that is fundamentally wrong, is the whole real name thing.

      There must have been a whole crowd of people who told them it was a stupid, moronic, and retarded idea and they did it anyway.

      I don't really care if Google knows my real name or not, but I'll be fucking goddamned if they are going to re-broadcast it without my permission or a way to opt out. FUCK THAT. And FUCK THEM.

    8. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by shawn2772 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The part that is fundamentally wrong, is the whole real name thing.

      That makes no sense. If that were the issue, why is Facebook successful? Google+ rolled back the real name policy after a year or so, while Facebook has kept it, and yet Facebook is huge.

    9. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Google+ was ok UNTIL... ... Google said "Use your real name" ... Google said "Your Google+ name is now used GMail" ... Google said "Your Google+ name is now used with Picasa" ... Google said the privacy and anonymity you had prior to Google+ is gone once you start using it.

      Google+'s decline is a result of Google's monetary incentives (i.e. increased value and profits) from joining all of its services to a single person and identifying them.

    10. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by Tehrasha · · Score: 4, Insightful
      FB already existed, but there are many people like myself who -loath- FB and want an alternative. G+ looked like it might be what we were looking for, but then a the stipulations started cropping up making people dump it like a hot rock. First you had to use your real name. Then they force bundled all of the google products to your G+ account, whether you wanted them separate and unique or not. Then there was the periodic addition of some 'feature' that got activated by default, and most recently, forcing changes to the UI, similar to the way youtube does.

      IMHO, it really all comes down to user choice (or lack thereof) as to how the social structure was regulated. They need to pick a layout and refine it instead of radically changing it every few months, or better yet, allow user customize-able themes.

      After all this, I still prefer G+ over FB, entirely due to the signal to noise ratio. I dont want G+ to be another FB, where everyone and their dog (literally) has an account.

    11. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Your facebook name isn't associated with your searches using Google as a search engine.
      Your facebook name isn't known by Google to belong to any specific gmail accounts.
      Your facebook name isn't also used for your GDrive account.
      And so on.

    12. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Actually, given how often Moot alienated (/new/) the user base, this seems like a perfect storm of suck that may rival super gigantic black holes.

      The things that made 4chan popular won't fly at Google, and other social sites already have their niche markets carved out.

      So what does + have to offer besides the ill-will they already enjoined?

      Twitter is already hemorrhaging users with their shenanigans, and Google already burnt that bridge ages ago..

    13. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by hey! · · Score: 1

      I have no opinion about G+ layout. I don't know how you're reading that into what I said.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    14. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Aside from the gigantic lead FB had in membership, G+ failed in this critical way: they did not try to obscure from you the fact that YOU were the product, rather than the customer. FB at least makes you feel like a customer, even though you aren't. G+ forgot to they needed to seduce first so you wouldn't notice when you got fucked over for your data. FB's flirting and the lube they provide in the form of moderately useful features allow must people to fall for the 'just the tip' approach FB uses, whereas Google eschews subtlety and takes the raw, bareback approach. The results to your data privacy are the same, but FB you can call date-rape while G+ is just rape.

    15. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      This was Google's fault. Do not blame Google+. If you were on Youtube and got shoved onto Google+ then it makes no sense to curse at Google+ while praising Youtube, as the mother ship was the one trying to make them one and the same.

      For me, I was on Google+ and liked it, and did not like suddenly having a Youtube account against my will. But did anyone bitch about the new Youtube policy? No, they bitched about Google+ as if it were the only thing wrong with the whole Google family.

      So please bitch at Google the mother ship instead. Everytime another Youtuber makes yet another comment about "Google+ forced me to join them" it just makes that community to look even dumber than it already is.

    16. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Facebook did the same thing though, so why is there ten times more hate over a *discontinued* practice at Google than there is at Facebook which apparently still has the real name policy in effect last I checked?

      I think there's some bias here with people forming up into teams. People hate Google so they automatically hate Google+'s real name policy. People love Facebook so they'll put up with a real name policy there and any other shenanigans that Facebook adds. Cheer for your team, curse the other team.

    17. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      I'm on Google+ because I like it. It is sthe ONLY google product I use other than search, though I can go to youtube now and then w/o logging in. I am not stupid enough to put my email on gmail, or put my important documents on its cloud or use its online document management. As a standalone social media it does things right. Meanwhile Facebook still has an ongoing real name policy whereas Google+ has removed theirs, but people seem to not notice this.

    18. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To be clear: he means specifically he likes a social network which is mostly untainted by the plebes/unwashed masses. I share his sentiments.

    19. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by antdude · · Score: 1

      I hated Facebook for requiring real names too. :( Does G+ still require that?

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    20. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by perryizgr8 · · Score: 1

      >I didn't find Google Plus hard to use at all

      >I have no opinion about G+ layout.

      Are you trolling?

      --
      Wealth is the gift that keeps on giving.
    21. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by Xest · · Score: 2

      Facebook doesn't enforce it's real name policy particularly well though, it's mostly only used to beat spam accounts and so forth over the head. A number of my friends on Facebook have never used anything other than blatantly false aliases (blatant because they couldn't possibly be people's real names, or are obviously the names of well fictional characters).

      In contrast, Google was trying to get people to prove their names by sending in real ID from day one no matter how harmless you were and if there's one thing people aren't going to do, it's send Google even more sensitive personal data like passport and driving license details.

    22. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      After all this, I still prefer G+ over FB, entirely due to the signal to noise ratio. I dont want G+ to be another FB, where everyone and their dog (literally) has an account.

      Don't worry. It won't be. I gather the "man" behind it is Chris Poole, who made it big from his bedroom aged 15. I suspect it's not intended at all to be for the general populace, in true Google technocrat fashion. No doubt he will be reporting to Eric Schmidt at the Pentagon for Alph-oogle.

    23. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by TheReaperD · · Score: 1

      No, it doesn't and they're starting to unlink it from their other services.

      --
      "Be particularly skeptical when presented with evidence confirming what you already believe." -
    24. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Functionally: No

      Commercially: Yes

      No one wants a Facebook v2 when v1 does all they need, and when users have their people networks in place. Google also have a credibility problem that didn't exist a decade ago when FB was taking off for the masses. Not only that, Google has a habit of dumping products when they can't monetise it enough, even when they have millions of users that love it.

      Other than search and adverts, Google (or Alphabet as they seem to want to call themselves these days) will probably never get beyond search+ads without buying an existing service/product that has massive market penetration already.

    25. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

      But is that really the case, or was Google+'s main obstacle just that Facebook already existed and was spectacularly successful?

      I think this. Everyone's already on fb, why they they all move over to g+ when it the same thing except no one is on it. Few people want to double up on all their posts etc so everyone just stays put. If they want to succeed they have to offer something different to compel people to switch. And that apparently isn't unification of all the google services, people didn't seem to like that for one reason or another.

      --
      Wanna buy a shirt?
      https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
    26. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by hey! · · Score: 1

      No, but I don't reduce UI to layout only. I have respect for what graphic designers do, but there's more to it than that.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    27. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Part of the problem is that most of the people who loathe FB also loathe all forms of social media. So Google isn't gaining anything from the FB hater, because they will hate whatever Google comes out with, no matter what.

    28. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by antdude · · Score: 1

      Finally! Thanks. :)

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    29. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by fbobraga · · Score: 1

      using feeds on Youtube is so convenient...

    30. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by fbobraga · · Score: 1

      when she turned ED into OHI

      someone can explain the meanings of "ED" and "OHI" to me?

    31. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by fbobraga · · Score: 1

      who -loath- FB and want an alternative

      alternatives, besides G+, do exists

    32. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by fbobraga · · Score: 1

      Facebook real name policy was not a problem for the majority of their current userbase (at the time it was imposed)

    33. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      when she turned ED into OHI

      someone can explain the meanings of "ED" and "OHI" to me?

      Encyclopedia Dramatica and Oh, Internet respectively.

    34. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by painandgreed · · Score: 1

      Facebook doesn't enforce it's real name policy particularly well though, it's mostly only used to beat spam accounts and so forth over the head. A number of my friends on Facebook have never used anything other than blatantly false aliases (blatant because they couldn't possibly be people's real names, or are obviously the names of well fictional characters).

      In contrast, Google was trying to get people to prove their names by sending in real ID from day one no matter how harmless you were and if there's one thing people aren't going to do, it's send Google even more sensitive personal data like passport and driving license details.

      IME, you have things exactly reversed. Facebook has all sorts of hate for pseudonyms on their establishment. Canceling accounts and making them email in pictures of real ID to get them reactivated. Friends of mine that had fake names, nicknames, or professional names would all get canceled and eventually gave up or showed real ID to associate. There was a particular hatred of drag queens, following protest, FB backdown, but then not really. Part of that was wanting people with stage names to not have personal pages but professional pages which operate under different rules and can't be used reliably for anything really without paying FB advertising money. Meanwhile, Google+, has me listed as a nickname that matches my email and I've never had any issues.

    35. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The summary seems to imply there was something fundamentally wrong with Google+, and that's why it didn't take off as Google had hoped. But is that really the case, or was Google+'s main obstacle just that Facebook already existed and was spectacularly successful?

      Probably not. Otherwise Facebook wouldn't have displaced MySpace.

    36. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by Beerdood · · Score: 1

      Aside from many of the privacy issues (already mentioned here by other) was that fact that you needed an invite in order to initially register for an account. When there was some buzz about google + I thought I'd check it out, but couldn't. This was there for at least 3 months and if you somehow got one, you were limited to sending out 15 invites! I don't think I know a single person on Facebook with less than 15 "friends".

      That was the real suicide for G+ in my opinion. Most people generally don't give a crap about their privacy (at least non-tech types); that's why they're on Facebook in the first place; to tell the world what they're up to and see what they're up to. But if the entire point of a social networking site is to get you and your friends using it, then why the hell would you restrict that or limit that? Maybe google thought this would word because Facebook was initially college-exclusive. Or maybe because gmail was initially invite only; they didn't think much of it. But this was the far bigger nail in the coffin in my opinion. They needed to get as many people as possible to jump ship from Facebook (or at least try it out, or have accounts on both) in order to get it to work, but they put in an artificial scarcity on access. Surprise surprise; if you got an invite and did join, you found it was a ghost town after a month and went back to Facebook where all your friends are.

      --
      Global warming and other natural disasters are a direct effect of the shrinking number of pirates - Gospel of the FSM
    37. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Everytime another Youtuber makes yet another comment about "Google+ forced me to join them" it just makes that community to look even dumber than it already is.
      Probably you are dumber than you think?
      Ofc the main problem of google+ is that youtube accounts got converted into google+ accounts and google tried to force real name policy on it. What else should it be?

      I don't use google+ for tow reasons:
      1) they forced me to convert my youtube account (they still want me to "add several accounts" to a "single log in screen" as if they want to point all the time: "we know anyway that you two are the same person".
      2) I have no use for google+ I use facebook only rudimentarily, like for Aikido Events, 99% of all photos there from mere are uploaded by other people ... occasionally I follow a link someone is posting there

      I simply have no idea what I should do on google+ (as I don't "do" anything on facebook either)

      Instead of desperately trying to force people to use their social site, they simply should start figuring what people are actually doing with face book etc. and offer a more secure, more private, faster, better alternative.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    38. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      No, to me my google+ account got merged with a youtube account. Youtube did not force this, Google+ did not force this, *Google* did this. Put the blame on Google and not G+ please.

    39. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by GNious · · Score: 1

      Facebook doesn't enforce it's real name policy particularly well though, it's mostly only used to beat spam accounts and so forth over the head. A number of my friends on Facebook have never used anything other than blatantly false aliases (blatant because they couldn't possibly be people's real names, or are obviously the names of well fictional characters).

      Meanwhile, dragqueens and other groups have systematically been forced to use their birthnames instead of adopted (Everyday) name on Facebook - They ARE enforcing it, quite aggresively, the moment someone flags an account as not following the real-name policy.

    40. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That makes no sense. If that were the issue, why is Facebook successful?

      Because if Google locks your account because they don't like your name you lose access to your email, calendar, photos, blog posts, documents for work and/or school, all the stuff tied to your phone, and god knows what else. If Facebook locks your account you only lose access to Facebook.

      Google+ rolled back the real name policy after a year or so,

      They did? This is the I've heard of that. Do you have a link to back up that claim?

      while Facebook has kept it, and yet Facebook is huge.

      See above for the reasons.

    41. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      G+ and youtube are google.
      Your argument makes no sense.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    42. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      I hear the argument that G+ spoiled Youtube, but if G+ and Youtube are the same company then that makes no sense. I'm just trying to point out that they're the same company so stop blaming one small division and keeping a massive grudge against it instead of focusing on the real problem.

    43. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      No, you claimed youtubers were idiots, and such a thing as forced unification of youtube accounts and google+ accounts would not exist.
      I actually never created a google plus account, for some stupid reason my gmail account is now a google plus account, too.
      When no one is logged on on 'google' for search or what ever.
      The log in scree displayes various peoples name and log in options, as if they whee the same person. Why? What is wrong with having a user and password field? Why do they pretent that all the 'users' are the same person and can click on their name?
      The problem is google. And the disaster we realized it was the youtube changes.
      So: no sane person is going to trust google and following their 'social plans' any time soon.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    44. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      I never created a youtube account and yet somehow I ended up with one forced on me.

      The issue of logins is expanding. Too many sites now have common logins, and "log in with your Facebook account", and things like that. They're trying to remove the inconvenience of logging in, without realizing the disadvantages that come with it.

    45. Re:Was Google+ really so bad? by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      I bottom line don't care much if I can use google/FB to log on somewhere. Bt I would care if I had to. And I would care even more if I could not chose my nick there.

      I'm on stackoverflow, logging in with my google account, but my nick there is Angel O'Sphere and not my google mail real name. (Which is not a point of interest in this case)

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  6. in b4... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...this thread blows up with memes and fail

  7. Google's new Facebook competitor to be named... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Google's new Facebook competitor to be named...

    ...FaceMongler.

    (People who've been on 4chan long enough know what I'm referring to without having to click the link.)

  8. Google doesn't get social by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    4chan is social in the way a mosh pit is technically people interacting in a social environment.

  9. Goggle+ is horendous by future+assassin · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Can you get any more fucked up designs and user experience. Every time I go to my accounts I'm scratching my head as wtf happened since I was here last time. I only used it for my shop and gave up after one day there was a new page for my business which replaced my other one that was linked to when my shop shows on the side search. After a 30 min of wanting to smash someones face I said fuck it its not worth the headache besides social media is useless for selling promoting a business unless you a multi national brand.

    --
    by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
    1. Re:Goggle+ is horendous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah down with Goggle+, Factbook and Misplace!! I hate them all!

    2. Re:Goggle+ is horendous by shawn2772 · · Score: 0

      Another viewpoint: I really like Google+. It's by far my favorite "social" network. I put social in quotes because I think the key thing to understand about Google+ is that it isn't a social network so much as it's an interest network. It is for me now what USENET was 20 years ago, the place I go to talk to like-minded people about the things I'm interested in. It's better than USENET, though, because most of the newsgroups didn't have the moderation features needed to keep the signal to noise ratio high. I find I have a lot of really great conversations on G+.

      I saw a post (on Google+, actually) that captured it pretty well: Twitter is for following celebrities. Facebook is for following your family and friends. Google+ is for following your interests. I also use it a little as a social network, but mostly I'm in a bunch of communities and follow a bunch of people who do and talk about things I find interesting. Relatively few of them are people I've ever met in real life. However, there are a handful of people I met through G+ who have become really good friends. We've met in real life, and even hung out with each others' families and stayed in each others' homes when traveling. That's a strong indicator of the depth of conversations that I have on G+.

      Full disclosure: I'm a Google engineer, so I have a bias in favor of Google products. I also have a deep dislike of Facebook which probably isn't entirely rational any more. I say "any more" because that dislike is based largely on things Facebook did in the past and which I don't think they'll do again. I will probably give Facebook another shot, because it's the way my extended family stays in touch (lots of them are also on G+, but I think that's mainly because I am).

    3. Re: Goggle+ is horendous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      So it didn't matter to you that Google attempted to force it's users to do things they didn't want, because it's your employer. I get it. Do they still have that stupid real name rule?

    4. Re:Goggle+ is horendous by Greyfox · · Score: 2

      I view it as more of an "anti-social" network. If you want some information to die a quick death, post it to Google+. I started skydiving in July 2012 and posted all my skydiving shit on Google+. Never heard a peep from relatives, assumed they were OK with it. Took my sister and her daughter on tandem jumps a year later and kept them company on the ride up. Second they post that shit on facebook, I get a call from Mom, "WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Aah... priceless.

      --

      I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

    5. Re: Goggle+ is horendous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Color me unsurprised that Google's biggest fanboy employee on /. just loves G+.

    6. Re: Goggle+ is horendous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I have deep conversations in my company's email too. That's not hard. Try to imagine for a second that there is a world outside of Mountain View

    7. Re: Goggle+ is horendous by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      No they don't. However Facebook has that stupid rule.

      The only social media I have is Google+. Why should I try anything else? Google+ works and does what I want. No poking or liking.

    8. Re: Goggle+ is horendous by dwillden · · Score: 1

      He doesn't live or work in mountain view. Not all google employees are in Mountain View. I agree with his assessment about G+ though, I also use FB extensively. G+ is not FB it does not work like FB and is not supposed to be another FB.

      And yes I'm related, no I'm not him and I'm not a Google employee. In fact I work for one of the major competitors of Google.

      --
      I'm too lazy to compose a creative sig.
    9. Re: Goggle+ is horendous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lol you two are so fucking weird. Sorry I barged into your house and made a mess.

  10. OP's new set of Google rules by Freshly+Exhumed · · Score: 5, Insightful

    1. Do not talk about /b/
    2. Do NOT talk about /b/!!!
    3. we are anonymous
    4. anonymous is legion
    5. anonymous never forgives
    6. anonymous can be a horrible, uncaring senseless monster
    7. anonymous is still able to deliver
    8. there are no real rules about posting
    9. there are no real rules about moderation either-enjoy your ban
    10. if you enjoy any rival sites, DON'T
    11. all of your carefully picked arguments can be ignored
    12. anything you say can and will be used against you
    13. anything you say can be turned into something else-fix'd
    14. do not argue with trolls - it means they win
    15. the harder you try the harder you will fail
    16. if you fail in epic proportions, it may just turn into a winning failure
    17. every win fails eventually
    18. everything that can be labeled can be hated
    19. the more you hate it the stronger it gets
    20. nothing is to be taken seriously
    21. original content is only original for a few seconds before getting old
    22. copypasta is made to ruin every last bit of originality
    23. copypasta is made to ruin every last bit of originality
    24. every repost is a repost of a repost
    25. relation to the original topic decreases with each post
    26. any topic can easily be turned into something totally unrelated
    27. always question a persons sexual preference without any real reason.
    28. always question a persons gender-just in case its really a man
    29. in the internet all girls are men and all kids are undercover FBI agents
    30. there are no girls on the internet
    31. TITS or GTFO-the choice is yours
    32. you must have pictures to prove your statements
    33. lurk moar. Its never enough
    34. there is pron of it. No exceptions.
    35. if no pron of it is found at the moment it will be made.
    36. there will always be more fugged up crap than what you just saw
    37. you cannot divide by zero (just because the calculator says so)
    38. no real limits of any kind apply here-not even the sky
    39. CAPS LOCK IS CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL
    40. EVEN WITH CRUISE CONTROL YOU STILL HAVE TO STEER
    41. desu isn't funny. Seriously guys, its worse than Chuck Norris jokes
    42. nothing is sacred
    43. the more beautiful and pure something is the more satisfying it is to corrupt it.
    44. even one positive comment about something Japanese can make you a weeabo
    45. when one sees a lion one must get into the car
    46. there is always furry pron of it
    47. the pool is always closed.

    --
    I deny that I have not avoided attaining the opposite of that which I do not want.
    1. Re: OP's new set of Google rules by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      88 /pol/ is always right.

    2. Re:OP's new set of Google rules by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are right, GamerGate are so hateful that they just have to tell the world how terrible $professional_victim is on every opportunity. The mere mention of 4chan is enough to summon the hordes of right-wing e-mysoginists to make snarky remarks about these poor women.

    3. Re:OP's new set of Google rules by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      19. the more you hate it the stronger it gets

      The GamerGaters from 4chan really didn't pay attention to that one, did they?

      Regrettably, neither did the SJWs.

    4. Re:OP's new set of Google rules by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Two sides, one coin.

  11. Look on the bright side by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If they add anonymity to Google+ (anonymity to the public that is, not the back-end for obvious Google reasons) the service might actually have a differentiator.

  12. Ode to a cuck by Iamthecheese · · Score: 3, Funny

    It started as a 2chan clone
    For Mootles friends a little home
    A place to chat and call their own
    and let ideas free to roam.

    When you let ideas free
    There is no way to certainly
    contain their strength and make them be
    again your own, So Moot did see:

    A visitor, or two or ten
    and hundreds more who came to lend
    a thought, a hand, a new-found friend
    But bigger! moar! it would not end.

    By word of mouth there rose a roar
    No longer dozens, came by score
    of thousands, millions! many more
    their thoughts and dreams to there outpour.

    And what had once been just a board
    and just a place to strike a chord
    or crack a joke, well now they warred
    against some random other horde.

    The memes! the battles! lulz and games!
    Boisterous with varied aims
    to close a pool or mock a dame's
    unworthy vapid haughty claims.

    And so our 4chan grew and grew
    it gave us wings to fly, and glue
    and with our posts turned us into
    the family that we never knew

    But all good things will find an end
    The highest fall.. our souls did rend
    Right in the back, a knife did send
    our once beloved leader, friend.

    Cuck! Cuck! the evil fuck
    who sold his family for a buck!
    Who sold his soul and freedom's cry
    for some ugly bitch he saw pass by

    --
    If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
  13. Googles new motto: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like? Moot do.

  14. Traded Mos Eisley for The Imperial Throne Room by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Way to sellout to the most vile, villainous, and scummy company on the face of the earth.

  15. Anyone ... by PPH · · Score: 1

    ... mentioning Candlejack will be summarily ex .....

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  16. I've got a bad feeling about this... by Chas · · Score: 1

    I'm waiting for the punchline here.

    Seriously. I'm waiting!

    --


    Chas - The one, the only.
    THANK GOD!!!
  17. But luckily ???? by frovingslosh · · Score: 3

    Why say it is lucky that Google hired a social media guy? Who wants Google to be in the social media business? I sure don't, and the evidence is that a lot of other people don't want it either.

    --
    I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
    1. Re:But luckily ???? by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I think this announcement qualifies as the sound of the other shoe dropping.

      Remember a few months ago, when Google said they were starting to extricate the Google+ login requirement from all their services? Well, now we know why - because they're about to introduce a different social network we'll be forced to join in order to log into stuff like Gmail and YouTube.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    2. Re:But luckily ???? by Xest · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If that new social network is one that respect anonymity and freedom from censorship like 4chan then is that a bad thing? Those things alone would already make it a better social network than just about every other one out there.

      Part the reason Google+ failed so early on was because Google insisted hard on a real name policy and that got them a bad reputation for their social network from day 1. If they now have someone looking at social who actually understands the real internet than the pretend internet then it may well work out.

    3. Re:But luckily ???? by houghi · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I do not have a need to log in to YouTube as their comenting is terrible. I do not read the comments. In fact I have a bookmark that will point to my website when I am on YouTube (code http://houghi.org/yt.php?code) so I can see only the thing I want to see.

      I also have dropped Gmail for gmx.com. For image search I use Bing, as they do not think they must protect me from female nipples.

      I obviously block their ad domains and I do not use their DNS servers.

      That does not mean they are not getting any data from me, but I try to keep it as little as possible, because I have seen what happens when companies get to big to fail.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    4. Re:But luckily ???? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Funny

      8chan is where it's at now

      If by "it" you mean the stuff that collects under the refrigerator.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    5. Re:But luckily ???? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      I also have dropped Gmail for gmx.com.

      Who is gmx.com and how do they make money?

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    6. Re:But luckily ???? by fbobraga · · Score: 1

      For image search I use Bing

      Oh boy! Use DDG...

    7. Re:But luckily ???? by houghi · · Score: 1

      Who is gmx.com and how do they make money?

      They have an 'about' on their webpage.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    8. Re:But luckily ???? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      They have an 'about' on their webpage.

      Yes, and their about page doesn't say anything about how this multi-billion dollar company makes money from free email. Are they giving it out of the goodness of their hearts?

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
  18. Obvious fix is obvious? by throx · · Score: 2

    ~ > dig plus.google.com

    ;; ANSWER SECTION
    plus.google.com 600 IN CNAME 4chan.org.

    --

    Fear: When you see B8 00 4C CD 21 and know what it means

  19. Woot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Woot?

  20. Another SJW at a major tech company by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    Fuck Chris Poole and his feminist SJW bullshit.

    Actually, wait, I just realized I don't give a shit about Google+, or even Google for that matter anymore. Nevermind.

  21. dunno by samantha · · Score: 1

    I actually like google+, especially its new look, better than FB. And the people generally seem a bit more civil and into exchanging information and opinions with less flaming.

    1. Re:dunno by Jason+Levine · · Score: 1

      Did Google+ ever fully do away with the real name policy? Last I heard, they allowed pseudonyms, but they were displayed as "Joe Smith (Pseudonym)". If you wanted to keep your real name private, there was no way to do this.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    2. Re:dunno by dwillden · · Score: 1

      Yes, you can do either way. The Pseudonyms are used more for sharing a common game alias. For example if you play ingress, the G+ community is very active and having your in game alias as your pseudonym helps keep track of who the other players are in game and out of game without requiring a separate G+ account just for your gamer alias. But we see many non-real name user accounts these days.

      --
      I'm too lazy to compose a creative sig.
  22. Desperate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Google must be quite desperate having hired this guy to solve their 'social' issues.

    Captcha: disgorge

  23. The problem is Google, not social by Dracos · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Google's problem with social isn't social, it's Google. Google knows too much about us already, and people are starting to realize that. And because Google already provides a huge portion of our digital footprint, they thought they could get away with being heavy-handed about tying all their services together into a single, "use your real name or else" profile, and everyone balked. I almost posted a YouTube comment the other day (which I can't remember ever doing before) until I got the dreaded "use your real name" popup.

    1. Re:The problem is Google, not social by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      +1000000000

      And when Google said "use your real name" on Google+, then linked Google+ to GMail and Picasa, unrelated services that did not have your real name suddenly showed your real name.

      Once upon a time I used Google+, GMail and Picasa.

      Then came "single sign on" for all these.

      Now I only use GMail. Google+ got deleted, Picasa is orphaned and forgotten.

      I will never subscribe or use another Google service.

    2. Re:The problem is Google, not social by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      grandma's former isp used to host their own mail and later switched to outsourcing through google. when she switched providers she migrated that provider email to an actual gmail address. this happened awhile ago.

      grandma recently booked a hotel room by going straight to the hotel's web site...

      she then tried to look at her daughter's google calendar to get times of a couple events she was going to go to while on that trip, but got her calendar instead..

      not only was that hotel reservation ON HER FUCKING CALENDAR within minutes of booking.. but so was a shit ton of other stuff, along with birthdays and other things.... and she NEVER ever even used google calendar.... what if that hotel room was a surprise getaway or a present?

      google scans through your contacts, and your contacts' profiles, and your email and pre-populates your calendar with whatever it finds... CREEEEEEPY

      she gets it now.. GOOGLE IS EVIL. GOOGLE KNOWS TOO MUCH. GOOGLE MUST DIE.

    3. Re:The problem is Google, not social by solios · · Score: 1

      The biggest problems I've had with G+ are the fact that it loads on marginal connections whereas facebook just appears, and the fact that it already has access to my gmail contacts without asking. There's a thick wall with razor wire and armed guards on top between work and the rest of my life and I react badly to anything that doesn't perceive or respect that boundary.

      Though G+ is less annoying than LinkedIn...

    4. Re:The problem is Google, not social by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Though G+ is less annoying than LinkedIn...

      That is the very definition of "damning with faint praise"

    5. Re:The problem is Google, not social by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One little problem. Guess she didn't read add this to your calendar. Also when you add it is private unless you say make it public.
      Keep trying.

  24. Party's Over, Kids - by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Eric Schmidt works for the Pentagon, Christopher Poole works for Google - the revolution will be commercialized.

    1. Re:Party's Over, Kids - by CodeHog · · Score: 1

      The revolution will have ads. Lots and lots of ads.

      --
      Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.
    2. Re: Party's Over, Kids - by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Revolting is thirsty work. Wouldn't an ice-cold Pepsi be great right about now?

  25. 'Lowest of the low' by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    4chan's success is mainly due to appealing to the lowest of the low that the Internet has to offer, that and the fact that you're completely anonymous and can say any damn thing you want there with essentially no consequences. It's always been a haven for criminals, pedophiles, and the throw-away undesirables of society. As soon as you implemented a account/login requirement, it would have fallen to pieces and been off the Internet shortly thereafter due to lack of interest. The 'moderator' staff (such as they are) are so overworked policing all the illegal and site-rule-breaking posts that the vast majority get left up indefinitely. Christopher 'Moot' Poole must have really done a top-notch con-job on Google to convince them he can create a legit, mainstream social-media site for them. I give the whole thing maybe 3 months at most before he's out on his ear.

    1. Re:'Lowest of the low' by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      that and the fact that you're completely anonymous and can say any damn thing you want there with essentially no consequences.

      He said, posting as an Anonymous Coward.

      inb4 pots'n'kettles, you said it first.

    2. Re:'Lowest of the low' by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Would YOU really want your name associated with that place? Are you fucking kidding me!?

      Also for the other asshole who commented below: I ain't no SJW you fucking moron, and if you actually beleive that 99% of the denizens of 4chan aren't socially maladjusted males, then you're living in a goddamned fantasy world. Check yourself, fool.

  26. Google can't do UIs, and forced integration by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The UI of Google+ was and still is a disaster, although that should come as no surprise to anyone who has ever used any Google service. The company's devs simply have no concept of what makes a good UI at all.

    Google services with clear, functional UIs are almost non-existent, beyond the single input box of Google search. Gmail is a total joke compared even to primitive email clients of the 1980's, and it gets worse with each "improvement" made to it. (People use Gmail simply because it's free and has good spam filtering). Awesome services like Google Wave died miserably owing to Google's incompetence at UIs and nothing else.

    But that's not really what prevented Google+ from succeeding --- it was their attempt to eradicate user privacy, and their Eric Schmidt. To understand why that killed G+'s chances you need to consider the demographic of Google users up until then. This was essentially the demographic of email accounts, a community in which pseudonyms are not only normal but absolutely essential for a huge number of reasons. When Google tried to force a Facebook-like "real names" policy onto its Gmail-oriented userbase, the pushback was severe. And then Schmidt compounded the problem for Google by making it very clear that he wanted user privacy abolished, the final straw for Gmail users who saw their pseudonymity vanishing to forced integration with G+.

    Although Google has drawn back (slightly) from Schmidt's failure to understand his own userbase, it's not enough to restore trust in a company that makes its billions from connecting advertisers to users, and thus hates privacy at its core. This won't change, regardless of who they bring in to restore confidence.

  27. Except that by Cafe+Alpha · · Score: 1

    his name was never Christopher Poole. And you don't want to know why he uses that name in news papers.

    1. Re:Except that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Poole's closed.

  28. I work at Google by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I work at Google. It's very hard for one person to have an impact at Google these days. Google is a freight train, and changing its direction on anything is very, very hard, unless you have a position right up near the top, where you can dictate what engineers work on. (Even then, half the time the engineers will work on what they want to regardless of your direction, unless you pull rank and force them in a specific direction, like, say, has happened with Material Design, which I think represents some hopelessly bad design decisions, not the least of which is the gratuitousness of most of the animations -- but I don't call those shots.)

  29. He made a forum by JohnStock · · Score: 1

    .. an ugly shit one at that, and he's a God?

    1. Re:He made a forum by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Welcome to new level of retard.
      It's amazing, how low human standards have fallen.

  30. Mod Parent Up by Kunedog · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This, 100 times.

    I almost never heard anyone say good things about the real name policy (except Google themselves of course, when forced to), and can't imagine anyone who would, except marketing drones. If you want me to participate in an online community in a lasting and meaningful way, there's no way in hell I'm using my real name.

    Even worse, Google tried to confuse the issue (i.e. talk out of both sides of its mouth) by drawing a practically meaningless distinction between your "real" name and your "common" name. See, your common name is "the name that you commonly go by in daily life," as opposed to your real name which is . . . fuck if I know. IMO, it was intentional double speak so they could claim "it's not actually a real name policy" whenever convenient.

    Add to that at least one false start of rescinding the policy (is this one for real? Who knows?), and it's no wonder most of the internet judged them no more trustworthy (and of course potentially more dangerous) than Facebook.

    It's also telling that in numerous Google+ post mortem pieces, you never hear the execs and PR people address the real name policy as a root cause, despite the widespread criticism and rejection of it. They wouldn't feign rescinsion of the real name policy if they didn't know everyone hated it, and they wouldn't fail to acknowledge it as a problem if they really intended to fix it.

    1. Re:Mod Parent Up by BradleyUffner · · Score: 2

      I loved the real name policy, and that was the primary reason I choose to use Google+ over other social sites.
      I know I'm in the minority in this, but I thought I should let you know that we DO exist.

    2. Re:Mod Parent Up by perryizgr8 · · Score: 1

      Wow your username definitely backs you up!

      --
      Wealth is the gift that keeps on giving.
    3. Re:Mod Parent Up by TheReaperD · · Score: 1

      I'm one of those few people that having my real name on the internet is far less useful than having my screen name as my real name is so damn common and has multiple famous people/characters associated with it.

      --
      "Be particularly skeptical when presented with evidence confirming what you already believe." -
    4. Re:Mod Parent Up by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      The real name policy worked extremely well. Google+ could easily have descended to YouTube comments level, but like Facebook the lack of anonymity made people behave. Of course many of us subverted it, for example I never used my real name on there, but most people did and it worked.

      G+ is actually a great platform. It's a shame they tried so hard to ram it down people's throats, because it might have been looked on more favourably otherwise. What separates it from Facebook is the much better signal to noise ratio. Less pointless crap about people's boring lives or idiotic reactions to stuff, and more quality content. I follow people who post hobby electronic projects and amateur photographers, and the feeds are mostly spam free gold. Or they were, but now people seem to be migrating away from the platform onto Twitter, which is a shame.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    5. Re:Mod Parent Up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ahh, I see the 4chan trolls have come to visit Slashdot.

  31. Good choice by TiggertheMad · · Score: 2

    He is a solid choice, I mean, who else on the entire Internet knows better about all the ways that social media can go wrong? Lets face it, he has probably seen every fucked think on the net, and probably has a few good ideas on how to steer clear of them.

    The real question isn't 'why moot', the real question is what does Google hope to do that other providers aren't doing better/faster/more already? If their only goal is 'hey facebook, me too!' then they have already failed, and they only have to burn through a few hundred million in budget before they can make with the 'we quit social media' press release.

    --

    HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
  32. Could they please finish fixing the last mess.. by NewtonsLaw · · Score: 1

    Given that there are still some hideous problems with YouTube in the wake of the forced integration with G+ and then the unwinding of that mess -- could Google please focus on fixing these bugs before embarking on another round of "new functionality that nobody wants but everyone will be forced to adopt"???

    People trying to comment on my popular (YouTube channel partnered) channel still get an "Unknown Error" result -- more than a week after the problem surfaced.

    The response has been pretty much "take an asprin and call us in the morning if the problem persists" -- which it does.

    When will they learn that Google users would much rather that the existing functionality worked reliably than have to put up with another round of unwanted and unneeded crap forced on us.

    1. Re:Could they please finish fixing the last mess.. by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

      Given that there are still some hideous problems with YouTube in the wake of the forced integration with G+ and then the unwinding of that mess -- could Google please focus on fixing these bugs

      Agreed, deeper integration is necessary this time. No more bugs.

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
  33. shh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    wut

  34. Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    They just want him to apply rule 34 to G+

    Hope you brought lube.

  35. SJW faggot. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > and the throw-away undesirables of society.

    Aka "mmmaaallleeesss".

    Fuck you SJW.

    >In the United States, as late as the 1880s most States set the minimum age at 10-12, (in Delaware it was 7 in 1895).[8] Inspired by the "Maiden Tribute" female reformers in the US initiated their own campaign[9] which petitioned legislators to raise the legal minimum age to at least 16, with the ultimate goal to raise the age to 18. The campaign was successful, with almost all states raising the minimum age to 16-18 years by 1920.
    >Also: see: Deuteronomy chapter 22 verses 28-29, hebrew allows men to rape girl children and keep them: thus man + girl is obviously fine. Feminists are commanded to be killed as anyone enticing others to follow another ruler/judge/god is to be killed as-per Deuteronomy. It is wonderful when this happens from time to time: celebrate)

  36. Interesting move, Google. by stinky+wizzleteats · · Score: 1

    If you're looking for some real estate expertise, I hear the leadership of Daesh is looking to branch out. Something about a cash flow problem. At any rate, their track record on acquisitions really can't be beat. You should talk to them.

  37. intelligence, passion, and enthusiasm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This " intelligence, passion, and enthusiasm" can actually mean perfectly brainwashed by Google.

  38. Google hired a "Kassie Washington" SJW by sethstorm · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Given that he was behind the purge of traditional 4chan, this is just another placement of a SJW.

    --
    Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
    1. Re:Google hired a "Kassie Washington" SJW by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      If Poole is an SJW then the phrase is truly meaningless.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    2. Re:Google hired a "Kassie Washington" SJW by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      SJW, n:

      "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit"

    3. Re:Google hired a "Kassie Washington" SJW by AmiMoJo · · Score: 0

      I'm making that my signature.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    4. Re:Google hired a "Kassie Washington" SJW by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A clear way to mark you as a petty tyrant.

    5. Re:Google hired a "Kassie Washington" SJW by Raenex · · Score: 0

      What's the matter, attending Anita's talk at XOXO and banning GamerGate from 4chan wasn't enough for you? Does he have to crawl on glass and transition into a woman before he can join the club?

  39. The problem with google+ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't see much of the appeal of websites like facebook, google+, etc.
    I have a facebook account, but I pretty much use it like an address book where the people can update their own contact information.
    I don't post and I don't read posts. So what is my incentive to get a second account like that?
    Everyone already has facebook, and I don't want to maintain multiple of these stupid things.
    I don't see how they can fix that fundamental problem.
    Maybe they should have kept working on google wave.
    That actually seemed useful to me.

  40. Join my movement to abandon social media by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I have wanted to delete my Facebook account for ages, but never had the balls because I have so many "friends" there that I don't know how to contact otherwise. But guess what? If your only way to contact them is FB, they are probably not real friends.

    I know I'm not alone in this, most people want to close their FB account, but just feel they would miss out.

    If you feel this way (about FB, G+, MSN, Buzz, HI5, MySpace, etc), just close your account without thinking too much, and be done with it. Good riddance. No more worrying about companies selling your personal information to third parties.

    Follow me and let's go back to the simple ways, where e-mail, mailing lists (and maybe public XMPP servers) are the ways to communicate with your family, friends, and strangers.

    So long Facebook! I won't miss you!

  41. He couldn't even fix his SJW 'girlfriend' by Khyber · · Score: 2, Interesting

    You think that fucking failure at the basics of life is going to fix G+?

    LMFAO.

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    1. Re:He couldn't even fix his SJW 'girlfriend' by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      An upboat to this fellow 8gagger

  42. What made 4chan popular in the first place... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The formula is simple, and I see it replicated everywhere. You need anonymity, few rules, and funny assholes. That's it. The few places left online that have that magic combination, have communities like 4chan - they're active, they aggressively hate each other from time to time but also are tightly knit.

    There is no way google can replicate that. People want to be anonymous a lot more than they want a corporation to know their business, and their entire posting history to be one missed privacy setting away from being exposed to the world.

  43. Social media is not interesting nor important by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This kid lives in a reality distortion field that would make Steve Jobs weep.

    1. Re:Social media is not interesting nor important by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not his fault if people make up bullshit jobs to compensate for the automated/offshored ones.
      Basic income now.

  44. You don't "fix" SJW girlfriends by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Getting them "fixed" is how they became "girl" friends in the first place.

    And, oh, dear lord, if I see one more twit burning cycles at a science fiction talking about their "non-gendered asexual" identity and wasting my party time on it, I'm going to go out and sleep with their 3 best girlfriends just to show how it's done.

    And yes, I've done it before.

  45. Real name policy by Aaden42 · · Score: 1

    So does that mean Google+ users can now be . . .

    Wait for it...

    Anonymous?

    1. Re:Real name policy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You could always be Anonymous. Google never asks for your birth certificate or your SSN. So you could say your first name was Aaden or John.

    2. Re:Real name policy by Cafe+Alpha · · Score: 1

      Or that your name is Christopher Poole. And still get hired, apparently!

  46. lol by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    oh the circle jerk that is google......

  47. antisocial site founder is going to do social... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The founder of an anti-social site, dominated by sociopaths, somehow will fix social at Google.

    This will not end well.

  48. So now it will suck by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    G+ was great. I got to follow stuff I wanted to with out all the drama.

  49. Makes perfect sense actually... by MindPrison · · Score: 1

    ...If you consider the fact that the employees of Google knows pretty much anything there is to know about humanity by now - the 4Chan guy is probably an angel in comparison.

    Think about it - you KNOW just PARTS of the stuff that can be found on the internet, Google knows there's MASSES and MASSES of this stuff, and they also know that a LOT more people have a dark side than most could even comprehend.

    The thing is - eventually humanity will learn and understand that what people think of - isn't necessarily how they will act later on, but if there's anything Google knows from all and everyone on the net - no one is really that innocent - but everyone wants to KEEP things that way, so...

    --
    What this world is coming to - is for you and me to decide.
  50. I've never visited it neither by fbobraga · · Score: 1

    I've never visited it neither

  51. OP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    TITS or it didn't happen.

  52. Social by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Please don't confuse social networks with social media.

    Social networks are the backbones/internet in a particular form while social media is the content itself. The media and so called social media pre dates the internet.