Facebook...it's been a good run. Google+ gives me so much more.

I was recently lucky enough to get an invite to Google's newest attempt at social networking. Google+ is the latest in a long line of mediocre and failed attempts by Google to compete legitimately with their newest and biggest threat to internet dominance - Facebook.

Google+ (G+ for short) is everything that Facebook should have become over the last several years...had they been listening. Which is exactly what Google appears to be doing with their early adopters at least. There are tons of new features and things to like in this social network and while I'd love to spend thousands of words on those features I will try and keep this short.

My favorite features:

First is the Circles concept and execution. Circles are your "circles of friends" sort of like Groups on Facebook but a million times easier to create and manage. Your circles act like individual streams for each group and gives you the ability to communicate the information you want with only the people you want. I know most of you Facebook-ers are saying that you can do the same thing on Facebook. My question is; how many of you are doing it? and if you're not why not? I consider myself pretty well heeled on almost every social media platform primarily Facebook and I don't break my friends into those categories because it's simply too time consuming and not very intuitive. Google has found the most intuitive way to not only conceptualize your groups but also curate them and execute their usage. You can create layers and layers of circles and share just the information you want with just the people that care about that information.
It's even got Twitter-like functionality. Twitter allows you to follow people that don't follow you back. Creating a source for news and information without forcing a "relationship". G+ also does this. You can add almost anyone to your circles and they aren't forced to follow you back. This means that you can get the same news and information feed that you have on Twitter without leaving the Facebook-like relationship network of G+. Admittedly G+ is new and as with all new things they glitter with awesome...but I see this network replacing both my Twitter and Facebook because it can do both functions for me on one site without a third party Hootsuite, or Tweetdeck interface.
The next innovative function (probably the next one to be mimicked by Facebook) is the "Hangout" feature. This feature allows people withe web cams to meet up and have a 10 way chat with each other. Built on the Google Talk product this is an awesome social integration that really takes things to a new level. While this feature won't stand long with Facebook playing catch-up very quickly it remains to be seen just how this will be executed in Facebook. I can tell you that it is very compelling in G+.
The next feature is deep integration with the mobile phone app and image sharing. Every time you use your phone to take a picture the image is immediately uploaded (not shared) to your Picasa web album and available to share. Another mobile feature is Huddle. This is a SMS feature that allows you to select one of your Circles and start a SMS chat with the circle. All of the responses are sent to all the circle members creating a complete conversation where everyone is privy to the conversation and no rebroadcasting is necessary. Very handy for organizing diner with some of your favorite people.
The long and short of it all is that Google has finally got social figured out. They will be a force and you'll find that your in a similar situation to when you left MySpace for Facebook. Below are some important links in learning more about this network and if you understand it all you'll be as excited about it as I am, maybe. One more reason to join...Ashton Kutcher is already building a following here.

Related articles

• Google+: Why I Think Mom and Dad Will Use It (jeanhsu.com)
• 9 Reasons to Switch from Facebook to Google+ (pcworld.com)
• How to turn Google+ into and online photography portfolio(thenextweb.com)
• Google Plus 50(chrisbrogan.com)
• 39 things you should know about Google+(webpronews.com)

Review: Trust Agents

I just finished this book and for most of the people who follow this blog this post is going to be boring. Of course there's always the chance that I'll make it interesting with some quip about monkeys or something. So maybe you should read the whole review.

Why would I pick up a book like this? On the face of things this isn't the typical book that I read or review. First of all the I despise self help books and this is arguably a self help book. Second I usually read for fun and that, generally speaking, means fiction. Third, and perhaps most importantly, monkeys are funny. Just making sure you're all still reading.


Recently I decided that I had some skills with technology that I could share with the less tech-savvy folk out there. In making this decision I had to understand how I was going to offer up that help and get word out that I was available. Being something of a geek and enjoying immensely the use of my new (free) Google laptop, I decided to start a website that I would call my "business" and offer up my help as a Social Media Consultant. CnctNow (read: connect now) is born. The only problem now is that I don't have a reputation to leverage to make this venture successful or even useful. I began my search for social media professionals and advice on how to become a social media consultant. The result of this search revealed Chris Brogan. Reading some of his blog posts and seeing the way he treated the business of social media gave me some perspective. I noticed that he had written a book and the first chance I got I picked it up at my local library.

It took me a lot longer than normal to read this book. It's not that I didn't enjoy the book. On the contrary I enjoyed it more than I expected. It took some time to get through this book because there's really so much to digest in this book. It's not just a book about social media and how to build an internet identity. It is about being human and treating people like they are human. It's about creating a sense of community by being friendly, helpful, honest, and, the buzzword of the book, transparent. I learned a lot from this book and it helped point me in the right direction for how to build my reputation, identity and how to make my own game.

You don't have to want the same things as me or even be interested in social media or the internet to get something from this book. Those things are good but this book really transcends its intended audience of entrepreneurs and business leaders and becomes a guide on how to treat people and live a life of influence and usefulness. I encourage you to read this book and get back to me on your thoughts. If you made it this far into this post I think you deserve to have one more bit of entertainment. Wasn't it worth it?Image via Wikipedia

Work is no longer a dirty word.

This week I began work at the Tri-Cities Visitor & Convention Bureau.  Some of the first posts on this blog (well over a year ago now) were about my struggle finding a career.  After this first week at TCVCB (it's a mouthful) I can say that my search has ended and that God's hand was in the journey.  

My new job title is Technology and Website Specialist.  The position I now hold has never existed at TCVCB before.  I applied for the Marketing and PR Director position and was called in, after a little follow through on my application, to, ostensibly, interview for the Directorship.  Upon beginning the interview it became clear that I was not going to be getting that position.  Instead the President of the Bureau started talking to me about their website and about their print copy Visitor Guide and brochures.  She asked me point blank, "Could you make this?".  I answered, almost too confidently, "Yes".  We had a very good conversation about the needs of the Bureau and some of the technology difficulties they had.  She asked me about social media, blogging, search engine optimization and a variety of other wed centered questions.  I felt at ease answering her questions and felt encouraged to provide my uncensored opinions of their website.  In the end I used all the faculty of my degree (both majors) to communicate my ability to provide them with the expertise they needed.  It was an agonizing wait while she interviewed other candidates for the Directorship to see if any of them had the specialized skills that I have in addition to the experience they wanted for the Directorship.  A day or two later than I had expected (and after being depressed but reconciled to not getting the job) I was called to come in for another conversation.  It was the offer to come on as a "website, technology guru".  At long last I had an offer for a career position.  She asked me to think about the offer over night and get back to her the next day.  It took a considerable amount of effort not to call her at 6am and accept.  I did wait until about 9am the next morning to accept and she was genuinely excited to have me accept.  

A week and a half later I had my first day.  It was exciting and a little intimidating.  I was shown to my office (more on  that later) and then we met in the "Board Room" for a team meeting.  I was wearing a tie to work and I felt like I was important.  That first day was a blur.  I felt like the day had barely begun and I was already leaving.  I came home swimming with ideas and excitement about what I was going to do for the website and the print materials.  The rest of the week was encouraging as I got to do some simple fliers and brochures.  I was beginning to see my place in the team and I know it will be defined even more this coming week.  

Work used to be something I dreaded.  The weekends were separated by far too many days and the prospect of doing tasks that were mind-numbingly dull and excruciatingly simple made me irritable.  Now, as we celebrate Memorial Day, I am chagrined by the fact that I have a three day weekend.  Yup, I said it, I would rather go to work than enjoy a three day weekend.  Sick, huh?  Work is no longer a dirty word.  In fact I have officially struck it from my "four letter word" taboo list.  I look forward to using the skills that I gained through hobbies, education and God given talent.  I look forward to exercising my mind with tasks that excite and intrigue me.  I can hardly wait for Tuesday to get back at it and start back to WORK.