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Friday finds + friendly tips

Just when I thought I was growing tired of things online, (I actually even tweeted that I was bored with the web) Google and a few other companies have dropped some serious bombs and there are now a bunch of interesting things online worth exploring. With all this geeking it up, even an old hat like myself can learn a thing or two, I feel worth sharing with you.

Finds

  • Google+ launched and has already got 10 Million+ users. It’s still by invite only, so send me your gmail address and I’ll invite you.
  • If you have email overload, then perhaps Shortmail’s 500 character limit will help. No attachments, no junk mail, no folder management. Just pure text. Claim your name @shortmail.com
  • Adobe released the Flash Player 11 beta for desktops. This particular build brings with it Stage3D APIs, for “advanced” 2D and 3D rendering, 64-bit support, H.264 encoding, and 7.1 surround sound.
  • +1 buttons let people who love your content recommend it on Google search. Follow the instruction’s and easily add the +1 button here.
  • Kevin Rose decided to point his domain kevinrose.com to his Google+ account as it gives him more (real time) feedback and engagement than his blog ever did.
  • Over 36 000 businesses may have already signed up for Google+ which will launch later this year.
  • State of the Internet 2011 is an interactive infographic created by Online Schools.
  • If you like infographics, then you need to visit Visual.ly, the world’s largest community for exploring, sharing, creating, and promoting data visualizations.
  • Plus buddy analyzes your public Facebook profile and provides recommmendations of who to follow on G+
  • You can register for DesignSignoff, a new elegant tool for design presentation & review.
  • For interesting stats and to discover and Find People on Google+
  • Tweet my Plus is a service to tweet your Google+ posts.


Friendly Tips

  • Don’t tweet at 2am about yawning, you might have yawned several times tweeting, but no one will be around to respond to your curious questions.
  • Keep your url’s short by using the Google url shortener
  • Despite being irritated when receiving calls from blocked numbers, answer the phone, apparently clients might be calling your from PABX systems etc which will block the number.
  • Create a short URL for your Google+ profile on http://glpl.us
  • If you are a client, please don’t call, email us so we have a record of our conversation. If we talk, we’ll do it face to face, I promise we play well with others.
  • Learn how to redirect your homepage /+ URL to your Google + profile like this http://digiguru.co.za/+
  • Lots of functionality not available in Google+ can be achieved by using Google Chrome’s extensions
  • If you hit the home button on your keyboard, it scrolls to the top of the browser (Yes, I really didn’t know that)
  • If you’re not sure what is going on currently on Google+, don’t worry, the hottest topic is currently people are talking about Google+ as it’s full of early adopters.

Is Google+ the first real social network?

I’ve been using Google+ for just over a week and I have noticed one particular shift from any other social network I have ever used. For the first time some of the more popular and well respected people in our industry are engaging on a whole new level. They are inviting what seems like a natural introduction into who you are exactly. No one needs to be clever, they’re simply saying hi, tell me who you are, what you do and where you’re located. These are very normal, natural questions you might ask anyone you met in person. Google+ at the moment is mostly full of geeks, we follow each other on twitter, wish each other happy birthday on Facebook, we read what each other says, look at pictures, like blog posts etc, but this is the first time we are very naturally getting to say hi, I’m so-&-so, I do this-&-that and I’m from …

The other thing is that Google+ allows you to add anyone to your circles, so long as they permit it, you don’t have to send friend requests. I was only adding people I thought might know me, people I follow on other networks, but being that it’s currently so industry specific, I’m adding a bunch of people I’ve never engaged with, but because of the friendly and openness of Google+, I tend to be adding a bunch of new people who strike me as interesting and I’m getting to know them on a level, more casually, than any of the other social networks I’ve used.

Finally a social network is feeling normal and for me, that’s why it’s winning me over. I’m not sure how long this will last, it seems we’ve all been ‘virtually’ burnt before, so I won’t stake my reputation on this lasting forever, but if it means I’ve made a few more connections, with a bunch of like minded, more accessible people during this period, then I cannot complain.

Please feel free to add me, say hello, I’d really like to get to know you.

Google+ first impressions

There is all sorts of hype around Google+, the latest attempt by the search giant to be part of social media. So after a brief tinker this past weekend, I thought I’d share a little insight with you.

Things I like

  • Circles is kind of neat, love the drag and drop functionality, deleting circles see’s them roll off the screen etc
  • Posting to specific circles (groups) or individual people, even those not on Google+ yet via email
  • Mobile version of the site is beautiful, it looks like a app, but it runs in the browser
  • Currently there is no advertising
  • Your mom’s not using it, nor are the Justin Bieber fans

Things I’d like

  • Nice and neat vanity url in which to share profile
  • An obvious way to invite friends – without friends, it’s not very social
  • Ability to import contacts from other social networks or .csv files
  • My other social feeds imported into Google+, so I can tweet my updates but they’re posted in Google+
  • More integration with other Google apps

There’s alot of hype, but it’s the silence within the network most of the current members are enjoying, the calm before the storm and the chance to setup a network right, from the get go. I will keep posting as I discover new and cool features worth sharing.

UPDATE: You can now have a vanity url http://gplus.to

UPDATE (again): Google have opened up invites, it’s obviously placed and if you want to join Google+ leave your gmail address in a comment and I’ll try and add you. Google has said invites will be slowly added in batches, but so far everyone I’ve added has joined successfully.

Remember to be more social & less social media

I enjoy social media as much as the next person, it’s become part of my life just as I’m sure it’s part of yours. Without social networks, I probably wouldn’t have made nearly as many connections with people all over the world with similar interests.

This week we lost a wonderful guy who in hindsight was using social media as a way of screaming out his pain, yet we all didn’t see it. No one is at fault, there’s little we can do to change things, but might I be so bold as to suggest, that if you have the good fortune of being able to pick up the phone, visit and hang out with friends, do it! It’s great to keep up with what people are doing, engage, but it’s better to spend time with people and make real memories with them, not just read about and comment about them.

To my family and friends, expect a call cause I hope to see you round the dinner table soon.  People in my industry, perhaps we should all have more get-together’s too and lets build a real community.

R.I.P. Rob Dickens

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