❧ Describe, in your own words

Google+’s Circles has received a lot of well-deserved praise for the clever way it helps you control what you say to whom. But what about better controls over what other people say to me?

There is a tricky problem of reciprocation in social environments: what do I do when someone I know but don’t particularly want to be connected to adds me to a circle? If I don’t add them back, it will be noticed and I will look like a dick. I don’t want to look like a dick. On the other hand, I don’t want to create a network full of people whom I’m ambivalent (at best) about being connected to. I already have one, it’s called Facebook.

If I do reciprocate and add these people—even to the lowly Acquaintances circle—then I have updates I don’t want crowding my news feed. I already get these updates, on Facebook.

Yes, I know that Google+ allows you to have filtered views and block specific people but those options are too cumbersome and too harsh, respectively. Even I can’t be bothered.

Here’s what I’d like: a “muted” circle for people for whom I want to acknowledge but from whom I do not want to receive updates. This is where to put your Tea Party aunt, or a weak-tie colleague who posts way, way too much. When I first used G+, I thought this was what the Acquaintances circle was for, but alas, it’s not.

In an environment like Google+, this would allow you to avoid looking like a dick: the person receives a notice that you’ve added them to a circle but you suppress their updates with a minimum of effort.