+Vic Gundotra has been leading his team at Google+ since before the launch of the social media platform back in June 2011. Since then, we've seen countless new features and improvements, inching closer to the grand vision that all of Google's products will be interwoven together by the thread that is Google+.
Vic regularly shares interesting content on his profile to his nearly 4 million Google+ followers. Although a large portion of that figure are die hard fans of Google, the rest follow him for his photography, thoughts and stories. Also, he has always been a tease for hinting at upcoming product updates, which keeps Google+ users excited and speculating.
Knowing that Vic doesn't like to discuss upcoming plans or many other things that have not been officially announced such as user numbers. In our interview, we decided to focus our questions more around how the Google+ team functions as well as his opinion on the different features that make up Google+.
Question Time
One of the best parts of Google+ is that you and your team are so involved with the community there. Do you personally set aside time each day to post, read, and comment?I really enjoy learning about how people are using Google+ and hearing their feedback about how we can improve to make Google+ even more useful. Listening and engaging with users is an important part of my job. I check Google+ throughout the day from my Nexus 7 but I do try to set time aside in the morning and evening as well.
Do you have a favourite G+ community that you enjoy interacting with?
I love the photos LightBox community. I have made many connections and friends that share tips and photos with me on a consistent basis. It’s really helped me cultivate my interest in photography.
What has most surprised you about how people are using Google+?
I am really impressed and inspired by the ways people are using Google+ and its features. We couldn't have possibly imagined all the compelling and interesting ways people would use Hangouts or Communities, but observing how users engage with the platform allows us to build features that users want most.
Has your team’s plan for Google+ stayed consistent since the beginning, or changed after you've seen how people are using it?
Our plans have certainly changed over time as the platform has evolved but we do know that we have so much more work to do.
There’s a lot of misconceptions out there that are being held by non-users of Google+ including that Google+ is a ghost town or that it’s a Facebook clone without any added value. What’s your team’s strategy to change that perception?
We don’t focus on what other social platforms are doing because we know that what we’re doing with Google+, and with Google, is fundamentally different. Many people are still confused and think that Google+ is just a destination site with a stream. They don’t understand that it’s much bigger - it has an impact across all of Google.
There’s a lot of stories about how Google+ has changed lives especially through Hangouts. What’s your favourite one?
Hangouts allow people to connect with other people all over the world, face to face, for free. That’s an incredibly empowering technology. I was very moved when I heard about virtual photo walks and how photographers were hosting virtual photo walks with people that are disabled and allowing them to see the world through their eyes.
How does the team go about choosing new features to add?
It’s important for us to deliver an experience that users ultimately want. We listen very carefully to the community’s feedback so that we can deliver features that really improve their experience. It’s still early days for Google+ and we have so much more to do.
One of the neatest aspects of Google+ is that it makes all of Google better. What sort of integrations with other Google products should we expect in the future?
We've only just begun. Google+ will help improve all of Google - from using recommendations from your Circles on the perfect restaurant to visit in an unfamiliar city to discovering new music for your collection. We are thinking very carefully about the most useful ways to integrate Google+ with all of Google’s services from Maps to Chrome to YouTube.
One of the most requested features is a ‘Messenger Merger’ which would create a unified messaging service across Google. Can you confirm if this is something you are working on?
We’ve heard that feedback from a lot of users. We don’t have anything to share right now.
Do you read or occasionally check out Google Plus Daily?
Yes of course! Thank you for your support.
Any final thoughts?
When we announced the Google+ project back in June 2011, we could not have imagined the type of engagement and usage that we’re seeing today. Google+ has a vocal and passionate community, which motivates us to deliver a platform that makes their lives not only easier, but much better.
Final Notes
It's clear that Vic and his team are heading in an exciting direction with Google+, and there's so much left to be revealed that is behind the curtain. It's really refreshing to see a company like Google listening to their users, and improving based on their feedback.How do you send feedback, you ask? Look for the cogwheel menu on Google+ and hit the 'Send feedback' button to have your feature requests and thoughts make their way to Google HQ.