The integration of Events with Google Plus and Google Calendar is great, I love it, but the good folks in Mountain View need to make the barrier to over-inviting higher. The new Google Plus Event invites are being misused by a lot of people, sometimes with intent to spam. Plusers are being invited to events that have nothing to do with their interests. The problem is Google makes it too easy to broadcast invitations directly to all of the people in one’s circles.
I can’t imagine sending ANY message to all 2000 people that circle me. The vast majority of Google Plus users have options set to get email notifications for Hangout and Event invitations. In the example video Google produced, the Pluser invites just their “boat buddies.” Great, a savvy social media user. But most people aren’t very savvy with social, such that I got an invite, sent to 760 others as well, to Startup Chautauqua. I live in Philadelphia, and hardly see why the vast majority of these 760 people would have any interest: some live on other continents.
Google Plus makes it easier than Twitter or Facebook to build mutual following connections, which is a fine idea. We need to recognize that the connections are not as strong as other networks. Allowing users to broadcast messages with a massive net cast invites abuse – or misuse – from people that don’t think of the power of their reach. With two keystrokes, I can invite all of the roughly 2000 people in my circles to an event. Is there any other communication tool that makes it so easy to broadcast messages that wind up in people’s email in-boxes?
