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Google+ is ‘really about’ the cloud, not social networking

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We’ve all been blathering away for the last two weeks about how Google+ stacks up as a social network, specifically about how much better or worse it is compared to Facebook or even Twitter. This, however, entirely beside the point — at least according to self-titled “first time tech founder” Vincent Wong, who put together a slideshow (using the awesome Google+ photo viewer) to lay out his theory for what G+ “is really about.”

According to Wong, Google+ isn’t about “social network” at all — or, at least, not what we currently think of as social networking. Instead, says Wong, Plus is about moving users to an entirely cloud-based computing model.

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Most of the discussions about Google+ have centered around the navigation bar, which appears at the top of any Google-owned website, and allows users to share posts and perform other functions without having to be on the actual Plus website. This is one of the best features of Plus. But that’s only half of what the navigation bar includes.

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The other side lists a variety of the web apps Google offers, like Gmail, Calendar, Documents, etc. And it is this part, says Wong, that reveals the true purpose of Google+. By Wong’s analysis, Google+ is about enabling users to collaborate and share using the full spectrum of tools Google offers, from documents to Chrome apps.

So rather than compete against Facebook or Twitter, Google+ is about pushing the envelope further, and creating an entirely different functionality that nobody else is doing. And because of the potential to make software and documents social, Wong says that the the companies that should be afraid of Plus are not “social networks,” but Microsoft and Apple.

Check out Wong’s full slideshow here, and let us know what you think of his theory in the comments.

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