Not so with Google+. Google+ will suggest other Google+ users you may know, but Google+ has also woven its way into my Google Contacts, or Gmail, or something, and most of the suggestions it makes are for me to add users who don't even have Google+ accounts. Based on the process outlined above, this is a great system for Google to be able to propagate Google+ and lure new members in, but it may confuse people who don't understand why the people they added to their circles aren't engaging, and it seems more than a little sneaky.

There are benefits to having the social network integrated with other areas of our lives. But, with other social networks, those integrations are a conscious choice made on a case by case basis. With Google+, your entire Google ecosystem is integrated whether you like it or not.

Google gives you an option to delete your Google+ content, or even your entire Google Profile (not to be confused with your Google Account). Google is honest and up front, though, about the fact that doing so may be tricky. The text at the top says, "If you delete Google+, Google attempts to restore your experience of other Google products to the way it was before you joined Google+, and to permanently delete your Google+ circles, posts, and comments."

Note the key word "attempts". It comes up again if you choose to delete your Google Profile instead of just the Google+ content. "Over the next few days, Google will attempt to delete your Google profile and the features and the data that depend on it."

Google+ has privacy controls to enable you to manage how and where data is shared, but with Google+ tied in to every aspect of your Google account, understanding and maintaining the various interactions . If Google isn't even sure it can eradicate your Google+ info, what chance do average users have of keeping track of it all?