Google+ Will Make the Drupal Community Smaller

Unless you have been hibernating the last few weeks, I'm sure you know most of what going on with Google's latest social network attempt Google+. This time it really looks like they will have a viable alternative to Facebook and Twitter. I've got my account already on July 1st, only two days after it launched, and can only say that so far I really like it. In my view it takes the best parts of Facebook, Twitter and other social sites and combines it with some new thinking and great integration with their own product. The end result is a much better user experience. At least for me, this is not only the most useful social network atempt (not just by Google) I've used, but also the most fund. It really makes it easy to engage with others.

But this is not a review of Google+, if that's what you want, there are thousands of them elsewhere, for example mine that was published on CMS Report. Instead, this post is about that:

Google+ Will Make the Drupal Community Smaller

Yes, I really believe it will. Not in the sense that it will take make the number of users on drupal.org smaller, but in the same way we say  - The world is getting smaller - when we talk about communication, in particular the Internet.

Using Circles it is very easy to organize the people you follow (Twitter style) to be able to quickly filter the stream of posts and other shares. My Drupal circle is quickly filling up and I see all kinds of posts and share in there. It is also very easy to reshare, +1 items and of course make comments.

Already I have both seen and participated in interesting discussion regarding Drupal that I'm quite sure would not have worked on for example Twitter. Some of these have also ended up in improvements to modules and other things, which I found is great. It would have worked on d.o as well, but then I would have activities had to search for it. On Google+ it comes to me...

Therefore I am convinced that we are going to see great discussions about pretty much anything Drupal popping up on Google+, often leading to things like a new issue ticket, module, document or something else on d.o. Google+ thus gives us a great way of starting of with an informal discussion about ideas, thoughts and other stuff. Then when more people joins up and the idea transforms into something with more consensus it can be moved to d.o.

Hangouts Could be Very Useful

Then of course we have Hangouts, the video conference feature, where up to ten people can talk with each other at the same time. Not only that, you can even watch a YouTube video together, for example a Drupal screencast or something.

Hangouts can be a great way for us in the Drupal community to get to know each other better, something that otherwise often is limited to DrupalCon's, DrupalCamp's and other community organized events. Here we can have a hangout whenever we want.

Hangouts can also be used by teams spread all over the world. By simply creating a circle with only the team members, it is then easy to start one where only those in that circle gets an invite. I think this can be a great tool for the community. I know it will give me a great way of getting to know more people in the community.

How to Find Fellow Drupalers on Google+

This is actually quite easy. You just need to find one, go to their profile page and check who they have in their circles, or who have them in theirs.

I got quite a few in mine, so that could be a good start for you. You'll find my profile at gplus.to/tsvenson (tip: gplus.to gives you a vanity URL to your Google+ profile that is easier to remember than the long string of numbers your profile has). While there, add me to your own circle(s) and I will follow you back.

Google have pretty much opened up for anyone with a Gmail account and Google Profile to join now. If you still need an invite, just use the contact form here on Drupal Mill and I will send you one ASAP.

See you in a Hangout soon...