Pretty much everyone that has seen it has had the same thought—it’s just like Facebook. Well, yes and no. A great teacher of mine told me that there is really never anything that unique. Successful things usually go like this: “It’s just like _____ except it has ____ instead.” That’s why you see the same police dramas recycled across the big networks every year.

Google Plus is following a similar path. Yeah, it’s pretty darned close to being a Facebook knockoff, but it has a few deviations to make it it’s own thing. Take circles, for instance. Yes, Facebook has groups, but it just doesn’t work as smoothly as Google+. You drag and drop your connections into different “social circles” and it helps you easily manage who sees what. For instance, I share tech info with Ryan and Paul, but my grandma wouldn’t be interested. Sorry grandma, you can’t be in my tech circle, but you’ll thank me for it. For a better understanding of circles, check out this video:

While Facebook and Twitter are for “social networking,” Google Plus claims it’s for “social sharing.” Good luck getting people to call it that, but I see what their goal is. More often than not, I use Facebook to share an interesting article or to share 805 Creative’s latest creation. The problem with Facebook is all the fluff and fat. I don’t really care to see photos of Pricess the Cat, who belongs to a 7th grade classmate I’ve never talked to. But I do care about pictures of my nieces and interesting articles about tech gear. Maybe these circles can help out.

Google+ has some other noteworthy things like Sparks, which helps find interesting things for you based off of your interests. There’s Huddle, which is essentially a group chat. There are Hangouts, which in one way is a sad, digital replacement for spending quality time with your loved ones, but in another way is great for spending time with people you couldn’t see otherwise, say, relatives across the country.

For you Android users, there’s Instant Upload, which automatically puts your photos and videos online, ready to share with the world at your own discretion. Apple is coming out with something similar in iOS 5—Photo Stream—but it doesn’t easily integrate into a social vehicle.

I guess we’ll have to see what happens with Google+. My advice: get on board and try it out. Unless people try it out and actually use it for its intended purposes, it will just be a big, useless shell. In its given state, it’s nothing to write home about, but I guess it’s something to blog about and it has massive potential. If you like Facebook, chat rooms, Skype, personalized content and receiving links only from people you care about, Google Plus could be for you. If nothing else, it’s an opportunity to have a fresh social media start. Cut the fat, only add who you want, utilize the circles and just see what it can do.

Oh and just be careful with sensitive content at this point. Some re-sharing loopholes can make private content public knowledge very quickly. So in its adolescent state, stick to usage you wouldn’t mind the world knowing about.