It's clear that Google+ has changed a bit, simply because Facebook has adapted by allowing its users to, erm, "curate" their audience. Meaning that previously, anything you posted was either public or to your circle, whereas now you can cherry-pick who can read your comments, links, etc. So that rant about your work life goes only to your friends; your parents know nothing about your revelries, etc. Kudos also for the feature that requires your approval before you can be officially tagged by someone else in a photo.
Given how social media has largely made us the curators of our personal brands, such tools seem obvious from the perspective of the rear-view mirror.
But tonight I noticed that, while options for controlling output has been made more granular, options for input have quietly been retired. Notably the "Block all" options for either people or applications. All that's left are "Block this post" and "Report post or spam." Without digging, I'm not even sure what that latter is supposed to mean. I'll guess I'll find out when the next Yelp check-in spam hits my news stream. In the meantime, I find the "trade-off" interesting: My gut feeling is this signals a tighter integration between who you know and where they're spending their money. All of course, to entice you--and your wallet--to follow.
Which only reinforces the maxim that if you can't tell what's being sold, you're what's for sale.
