Sometimes, the only way to get a blog post up is to just sit down and bang it out.
I got an invite to Google+ on Friday, and spent a lot of time this weekend setting it up, adding fellow #FridayFlash writers, sending out a couple of invites, and generally feeling it out. It strikes a nice balance between Twitter’s minimalism and Facebook’s overwhelming featurism. I’m using my real name there, as a warm-up to when I start putting my books on various sites.
It’s also a relatively quiet hangout — for now. It reminds me of when I was in high school; the local Baptist church had a “teen center” thing they did on Friday nights. Being in a small town with not much else going on, it was a pretty popular thing because there were lots of table games and a concession that sold various teen-ambrosia (pizza, soft drinks, snacks). It could get a little overwhelming at times… and that’s when a few of us would meander to the Congregational church’s version about a block away. It was much less of a “thing,” having (free) popcorn and a pit group to hang out on, with a checkerboard and chess board if you wanted a challenge. If you needed a place for some quiet conversation, that was it. And that’s what Google+ is like right now, with Facebook playing the Baptist version.
Right now, to get on, you need an invite — sent to an email address associated with a Google Profile. You have one if you have a Gmail address, or have a Blogger profile tied to some other address… which is to say, if you want an invite I’ll send you one.
The manor was pretty well packed when I got here. M.A.E. is here (with Moptop, oh joy) and her boyfriend (who is helping Mrs. Fetched with the chickens), along with Lobster, Skylar, and even EJ coming by. EJ and I hung out in the kitchen to chat for a while. The Boy and Snippet are visiting her mom in Florida, so they weren’t here, but they were here yesterday.
Monday, July 11, 2011
7 comments:
Comments are welcome, and they don't have to be complimentary. I delete spam on sight, but that's pretty much it for moderation. Long off-topic rants or unconstructive flamage are also candidates for deletion but I haven’t seen any of that so far.
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I have an invite, but I've been hanging back, for two reasons, one I'm not very good at setting these things up - and two will be become just another distraction.
ReplyDeleteI guess if I don't want to be left out of the crowd I'm going to have to knuckle down and tackle setting it up. I wonder how hard can it be?
It's not that difficult right now, Helen — there's not a lot there. G+ is a little more involved than Twitter — you pick (or create) "circles" (kind of like lists in Twitter) to add people to, then you can post your own updates or reply to someone else's. You can also share (similar to RT) updates. Oh, and you can limit an update to one or more circles — if you wanted only the people on a list to see a tweet, that's what it's like.
ReplyDeleteIt's a little flaky, being a beta, and there's a "send feedback" button in the bottom right corner to point at problems. People are sharing cheat sheets and other help items to help get started.
I'd love an invite, if you have one to send. cherie.reich @ gmail.com. Google+ looks really cool from what I've seen of it so far.
ReplyDeleteI'm totally waiting. Got three invitations this week, but I don't want another blasted social network. They take up too much time as it is. I'll probably hop on in a month, if it's survived and become anything noteworthy. Could always fade like Buzz did.
ReplyDeleteCherie, done and I've already seen you on!
ReplyDeleteJohnW, I don't think this one is going to die. Google's already applying feedback received and a lot of people are tired of Facebook wanting to pry every byte of data out of them. See you there in a month, I hope!
I'm on Google+ but I'm not sure I have you on there?
ReplyDeleteHi Icy, I'm there but under my real name and you're following me. I'll DM you my real name so you'll know who you're talking to. :)
ReplyDelete