[seigenblues]

I notice your account is ten minutes old. Is this an astroturf? A PR troll? ...Can you really tell me it got easier to share now that it's G+ and not Reader?

One man's "community [they were] already involved in" is another man's "disconnected community." Speak for yourself

I had a carefully cultivated list of cranks, miscreants, and technologic misanthropes who found some very interesting content and had some very interesting discussions, largely by way of the "note in reader" bookmarklet.

That whole community vanished for me overnight, without even a head nod for how to get it back, and I'm a bit upset about it. Publicly "+1"-ing something isn't even a first order approximation.

[confusedreader]

I generally only lurk and don't really comment unless there is something that really annoys me. Not a PR troll, just a Reader user that isn't picking up a pitchfork and joining the angry mobs over something I've wanted changed since G+ was released.

I can see how removing the social features upsets readers, but they mentioned them before they were going to do it and allow you to move your data out if it no longer suits you. To me, using the notes for commenting always felt off, really never felt like a real conversation. I like the ability to share something to my specific circles and then discuss it there, you don't have to only click that little +1 button under the post if you don't want it public.

This seems to be the way that Google works on things. Huge changes, then iterate until it is usable again. They knew they were going to burn users, in this case very loyal users, to make a better product that aligns with their overall goals. I assume they will bring better social integration in the future, though when that will be, who knows.

[seigenblues]

that's fine, but your "only comment unless something really annoys you" is disingenuous -- this is the only thing that has annoyed you enough to comment on.

I'm sorry if my reaction seemed a little strong; you mentioned not being able to understand the sentiments you were hearing. I am suggesting that as my tiny online community vanished overnight, perhaps you could empathize with that and extend that to the other incomprehensible sentiments you were hearing.

I, for one, have resisted any sort of move towards pitchforks or torches or even (gasp) public condemnation, because I acknowledge that this is, indeed, how google operates, and also that as a user of a "free" service, that this is its actual cost. And i do still hope that the aspects of Reader that fostered such a good community can be rediscovered in G+; it's bugged me since G+ launched that the integration with things like Reader was poor.

And it may yet improve along those lines! -- Doesn't make me any less sad about the loss of my community, though...

(Likewise, you might not have used "Notes", but they could be both public or private, serving as both a vehicle for discussion or a bookmark-service for research, archiving, etc, a la pinboard or delicious. Again -- maybe not a feature that you used, but one that people who did use now need to replace.)

[anigbrowl]

I notice your account is ten minutes old. Is this an astroturf? A PR troll?

Don't be rude. Dissing people for having newish accounts breaks the guidelines.

...Can you really tell me it got easier to share now that it's G+ and not Reader?

Yes. It works fine for a lot of people, and observing this does not invalidate your complaints.

[seigenblues]

Very well. I thought it was suspicious and called it out as such, but I thought i had done it in a reasonable way. My mistake. He's since replied to me and i believe i've replied to him in (what i hope is) a civil manner below.

Yes. It works fine for a lot of people, and observing this does not invalidate your complaints.

Can you tell me about this? Previously, i had one-click share within Reader, and two click sharing from the web via a bookmarklet. I am genuinely curious about how this got easier with the new Reader.

What's your workflow now to share an article with a carefully curated group of friends?