Google Plus has been out for a while now, and, after giving it a try, I feel it’s fair to say I preferred the Google Reader approach to social. Google Reader was central to my news consumption because I could keep track of hundreds of feeds and take advantage of social filtering (why subscribe to Lifehacker when a few people I follow share the stories I would have cared about?). In addition to excellent features as a news reader, I could kill endless amounts of time by commenting on others’ shared posts.

With the introduction of Google Plus, Google removed the social aspects of Google Reader that were so engaging for me: (1) the ability to follow people and see their shared posts and (2) the ability to have conversations about those shared posts.

I’m largely underwhelmed by Plus and feel the void left by stripping down Google Reader. Sadly, I’m not sure that any news reader can capture the same spirit, even if they can copy the features. And no company is likely to start on such a project given the lack of monetization. Oh well! It was good while it lasted…