Google+ Grants Better Control On Who Pollutes Your Stream

It’s kinda intriguingly funny to observe how the human behavior is being reflected on social networks just as in real life. There are some people who we crave to hear every little thing they say but they don’t do it so often. And of course, there is the other group of people…

The other group of people which we hear just TOO MUCH! “Just got out of the shower,” “Eating best cake ever,” “At the beach getting some color,” “Is it always this hot in August?” OMFG! Shut the hell up! You are so goddamn boring! Stop polluting my social network feed real estate with your crappy comments! Nobody gives a shit about your defecation schedule!

The thing is, we can’t just unfriend them because that won’t be a nice social thing to do and as humans we are socially-bounded creatures by nature (at least that’s what Aristotle claims). Luckily for us (the normal ones), the good folks at Google+ are beginning to roll out new options to control the posts on your feed.

While it was already possible to tune the post volume on the Circle-level since December 2011, now this possibility is expanding to the individual-level. Google’s Austin Chang announced on his Google+ account on three new options to control what’s rolling on your news feed:

1.  By moving the tune slider (from the top right corner of a friend’s profile) all the way to the right, whenever he/she will post something, you’ll also receive a notification. They are these kind of persons who we really crave to hear everything they have to say.

Google+ Get Notification Slider

2.  Whenever you’re posting something REALLY important and you want to make sure people receive it, you can mark “Also send email to…” However, make sure to use it properly because almost nobody really want to receive an email just to hear about your recent Tom and Katie opinion (which is in fact, a bit disturbing).

Google+ Also Send Email

3.  And finally, the creme de la creme. The possibility to shut up all those news feed polluters (sorry guys, but you are pathetic). By moving the slider all the way to the left and clicking on the “Mute” button on their profiles, you’ll hear nothing from the specific users while he/she won’t know that. Awkwardness avoided…

Google+ Mute Friend

All these small adjustments in Google+ really improves the personal experience and provides the sense of a much greater control of our privacy. I’m only left wondering if the general misconception of the social network will finally also be shifted accordingly.