I've had Facebook since its inception and it's annoying how the company keeps changing its layout and privacy policies. On top of that, Twitter's constant spam replies and quick-witted nature is starting to exhaust me. I've been ready for a change for quite some time now. So imagine my delight when, out of nowhere, Google simultaneously announced and released its own social networking service. It's new, so I can start with a clean slate that just happens to integrate with all of the Google services I already use on a daily basis (including my Android phone).

After taking the weekend to see what life was like without Facebook and Twitter, and sharing my holiday weekend with only 20 of my "invited" Google+ pals, I've got a better inkling about whether or not this new service from Google will add a new element to my life on the internet. I can say with certainty that it's a contender to the Big Two. Of course, if it's just going to be another privacy concern for me, maybe I'm better off without it. Anyway, here are my initial impressions of the new social network from Google.

It's Easy to Use

Remember when Facebook looked this simple?

Google+ has borrowed all of the practical UI elements from Twitter and Facebook, including the ubiquitous friends stream, clearly labeled buttons, an easy-to-peruse (and use!) photo album and an easy-on-the-eyes color scheme. Your "Stream" acts just like Facebook's news feed, and for each post, there's also a "+1" button, which lets you proverbially "Like" a post as you would on Facebook.

"Oh hey, I totes Plus 1'd your link the other day."

In turn, everything that you +1 ends up on your profile page so your friends can see what you're interested in. This feature is also available when you're browsing the web and stumble upon a link you want to share. Now, the Google share button has been replaced with a "+1".

Your Photos Look Nice

A dynamic way to look at your friends' photo albums.

I can already tell you that Google+ has Facebook beat in this department. First of all, there's Picasa and Android integration, so if you've been using Google's free photo service all this time you can instantly transfer everything over. Secondly, the way the photos are actually displayed is very dynamic. I'm a fan of the collage-style dump of everyone's photos and find it more engaging to look at than Facebook's very regular looking Photo albums. When you rollover a photo it actually pops out at you so you get a semi-enlarged view, and when you select the photo, a slideshow module pops up enabling you to sift through all of your friend's photos at one time.

Google+'s Photos module goes into "theatre mode" when you want to view them as a slideshow.

Put Your Friends Into Circles

Listen, I'm not the type of person that compartmentalizes her friends, but there are only certain groups of people that I can share the "John Hammeos" with. With Google+ Circles I can pick and choose who has to put up with my constant link sharing. Because not everyone cares about John Hamm, as I've learned.

Circles utilizes a neato drag-and-drop interface.

Circles work a lot like Facebook Groups in that you can put certain friends into categories and choose what information you want to share with them. You can actually put your friends into several different categories, so if you've got a co-worker that you also consider to be a close friend, you can drop their name into "Friends" and "Co-workers". Conversely, if you've got a friend you, well, would rather not be friends with, you can add them to the "People I Don't Really Talk To" category and they'll be none the wiser. There's also a tab for checking out who might have added you to their pile of Circles, and a tab with friend suggestions. Google also instantly searches for anyone you may have emailed in the past from your Gmail account, so don't be alarmed if you happen to find that there's a Google+ profile for your landlord.