So for the last three months or so, I’ve clearly had my head in the sand when it comes to technology goings on (or life goings on for that matter). A lot has happened since I’ve been in the proverbial new job, wedding planning, full-time school rat race, and I’d like to take a few paragraphs to review what I’ve missed and offer my thoughts.
Since I doubt you’ve been under a rock, much of this won’t be newsworthy at all, but hopefully I’ll be able to provide you with something insightful. It’s either that, or I’ll waste 30 seconds of your life that you may never get back…
#1. I read two incredibly profound posts.
The first post, entitled “The Last Post” was written by Derek K. Miller and posted by his family on May 4, 2011. It is one of the most profound blog posts (and pieces of writing) that I’ve ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on.
In the post, Derek wrote his farewell to his blog community and family in anticipation of his death from a terminal disease. To put it mildly, the post is absolutely stunning and heart-wrenching. It is rare that a piece of content can move you to tears in the middle of random work day, but I can say that this piece has truly affected me in many ways.
The ending is both chilling, haunting, and beautiful and is a passage that I may never ever forget:
Airdrie, you were my best friend and my closest connection. I don’t know what we’d have been like without each other, but I think the world would be a poorer place. I loved you deeply, I loved you, I loved you, I loved you.
The second post entitled, “Dead Man Blogging” by Mark Schaefer led me to something that I think about sometimes, but try to keep it in the back of my mind. First, what happens when you die (another post for another day)? Second, and more appropriate for this setting, what are the implications and impacts of your “digital footprint” once you die?
An excerpt from the post:
Since that day, Derek’s post has been pounding in my head. When I die, should I just die, or do I publish a coda? What happens with this community? Is there such a thing as a digital legacy and is that something you can prepare for?
A big thanks to Cheri Allbritton, whose Twitter feed alerted me to the above articles. Good stuff, Cheri!
#2. Google Jumps Into the Social Game with Google Plus+
I didn’t really miss this, but I certainly didn’t have time to talk about it as much as I’d have liked right when it happened. Google Plus might be the biggest search development we’ll see all year, and WILL be a game changer in the years to come.
You can check out a demo of Google+ here. Also, here’s a shot of the dashboard (click the image for a larger view):
Now, I’m still in my infancy as far as learning all the ins-and-outs of this new social network, but here’s what I like and dislike:
The Likes
- I like the dashboard, although I really think they ripped off Facebook in terms of look and feel.
- I like the idea of Circles and the categorization of folks in your circles into Friends, Family, Acquaintances, and Following.
- I like the Hangouts feature, although I haven’t tried this one on for size yet. I think it can be a competitor to the Facebook page.
- I think the most underrated part of this new network is the emphasis on social sharing as it relates to the Google+ button in the feed. The SEO value here will be off the charts for people who use this network appropriately, and I think that people will quickly begin to see a high correlation between URLs that get more pluses and higher rankings.
- Google+ will allow for better socially-syndicated representation within search results through the plus button and circles, and search results will be influenced by social sharing – even more so than now.
- I like that they’ll be providing some epic competition to Facebook and other social networking giants in what may go down as the battle to end all battles in the social networking realm. They way I see it, let them square off. It will only make them better and give us better toys to play and engage with.
The Dislikes
- I dislike how much of a pain in the ass it was to get an invite at the beginning. I was seriously foaming at the mouth to take a look at it and couldn’t get an invite for many days afterwards. Wish they had just kept it quiet with the beta testers until they were ready to offer to everyone. FYI – if you need/want an invite, don’t be afraid to ask.
- There isn’t a way currently to sync your Twitter contacts and Google+ contacts, or if there is I am unaware of it. However, you can easily find more people to add to your circle or find friends via your email, but even then if their not on Google+ you have to invite them to join – which is annoying too.
- It’s yet ANOTHER social network and presence that I have to maintain. Wouldn’t it be nice to have all these networks consolidated down? It would certainly be convenient, but I guess that might tend to create a monopoly and stifle innovation so I guess I’ll just deal with it.
And that’s it. There’s not too much to dislike so far. The positives far outweigh any negatives at this point (but check back for my thoughts on Google+ as I continue to learn more).
Here are a few good articles on Google+:
- Google+ Project: It’s Social, It’s Bold, It’s Fun, And It Looks Good — Now For The Hard Part by MG Siegler on TechCrunch
- Google Plus Is Growing Like A Weed by Jeremy Scott on ReelSEO
- What’s In a Name: Google+ Is Your Plus One by Jennifer Van Grove on Mashable
- Google Plus Will Release Business Version This Year by Simon Saavedra on ChristianPost.com.
- Google + — My 25 Random User Insights and Observations by Nate Riggs on NateRiggs.com
#3. Facebook Partners with Skype to Allow Video Chat
This move makes too much fricken’ sense and I’m glad it happened. It just makes connection and interaction that much easier.
For example, this past year my fiancé’s brother was stationed in Germany and we were well on our way to conducting many, many Skype chats with him (which was pretty darn awesome). However, due to the fact that some people who aren’t as tech savvy as my future brother-in-law and I, we had to set many of our family members up with Skype accounts (many of them hadn’t even heard of the service before).
If they’d have made this deal earlier, I’m sure I could have saved some time and frustration on the other people’s parts setting up these live chats since pretty much all of them had Facebook. Click the image for larger view.
Now I have not yet used the service, but I’m absolutely stoked to try it out. I’ve always believed that video and face-to-face is the best form of online communication, and this is an incredibly positive step in the right direction towards giving everyone the capability to communicate face-to-face. It will truly break down many technology barriers and walls that people put up either by choice or by necessity.
Welp, that’s all for now. I’ll be back later this week with some creative and interesting thoughts!
