As an online relationship model; Facebook is symmetric, Twitter is asymmetric, and Google Plus is asymmetric.
- Follow (asymmetric) - enables you to follow people (those people don’t have to follow you back in order for you to see their content in your stream…you are basically their fan)
- Public - your posts are shared in the public
- Friend (symmetric) - you cannot read and send each other updates unless you both follow each other (this is called "friend")
- Private - you posts are not shared in the public, instead they are shared with all your friends only (this is called a "walled garden")
- Selective Reading & Sharing - you can also read and share with just a selection of people (this is called "Lists"…this isn’t a primary design feature and isn’t used that much as far as sharing goes)
Google Plus
- Follow (asymmetric) - enables you to follow people, just like Twitter, where those people don’t have to follow you back
- Public and/or Private - your posts can be shared in the Public, or just shared with All Circles or a selection of Circles
- Selective Reading - you can also read posts in a stream from just a selection of people you follow (this is called "Circles")
- Selective Sharing - you can also share posts with just a selection of people (this is called "Circles")…BUT unlike Facebook, unless "those people you follow in your circle" follow you back, they won’t see your post in their stream, instead they will see it in an alternative stream called "Incoming".
Original content Bob DeMarco, Look Beyond the Obvious
