[ams6110]

she uses Google+ to stay in touch with other family members online (< 10)

What I don't understand is if you want to stay in touch with a small group of close acquaintances/family why not use email? It's vastly easier to use than any "social network"

[ajaymehta]

You're definitely right that families are currently using email for this, but there is a huge opportunity to use newer technology to keep families even closer in touch. e.g. photos, videos, and up-to-date lists of contact information. Google Groups and email lists don't cut it.

This is actually what we're working on at FamilyLeaf: http://familyleaf.ocm

The younger generations don't use email, so you have to encourage them to share in different ways. But at the same time, you must make it dead simple for older people to share their photos and updates. On FamilyLeaf, we've solved that by using Chute (http://getchute.com) to allow people our age to selectively share from their photos on Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, etc.

And older people can just attach photos in a message to [e-mail] - they're automatically emailed to the whole group and collected in your universal family album.

[_ankit_]

A big part of staying in touch is sharing photos, and video calling. Especially, if you live far away from your family.

[phwd]

I once thought this but not again. Your family, at least the elders, would more appreciate that you pick up the phone or send postal mail than use technology.

You think it's a big part but you are in fact making that personal connection weaker.

At the very most in the world technology, email would suffice for your family.

[bdunbar]

Your family, at least the elders, would more appreciate that you pick up the phone or send postal mail than use technology.

Most of the elders in my family - talking people 65+ - have computers, use Facebook, to keep in touch. Most of my mother's _friends_ are on Facebook for that matter. They do appreciate a phone call, but for grand-baby pictures and video, that's where the action is.

My mother is the exception. At the age of 70, she's never touched a computer. She likely never will.

Anyway - my point is that my family is not exceptional, nor especially early-adopting. We're pretty typical Americans, I think.

[tingletech]

Not my family; the "elders" (my Dad and his 3 siblings) all get on go-to-meeting every other Saturday and have a video chat. They were very excited that I joined their meeting last week. I have dozens of cousins of various degrees I only know through facebook, which we are using to organize a family reunion. I'm not sure how this makes our family's personal connections weaker.

by the way; phones and postal mail still use technology.

[_ankit_]

To clarify, almost all the usability issues mentioned in the article are the ones I face myself too. The title is a bit misleading, it's just what prompted me to write it.

[JoeAltmaier]

because your young folks are all using it. You have to participate or be left out in the cold.

[icebraining]

Google's concept of a "ghost profile" (that they submitted as a patent, so I assume they're planning to implement on G+) is actually a decent solution to this problem. It lets you be "in the loop" and receive content posted on G+ accounts in your email without having to create an account yourself or post the images publicly.