I’m Beginning To See A Pattern For Facebook

Real quick…two articles in Mashable today that should give Facebook a clue:

Sean Parker (a FB shareholder) notes that Facebook’s power users are moving to Twitter and Google Plus

and

What do these have in common? It’s the perception that users’ privacy is being chipped away too rapidly. For instance, I think Timeline is awsum! I want to look at my Timeline…what a great tool! It’s just that I want to be able to lock it down and only show it to a few people (or no one).

What if Facebook’s default position was to make all new features super-private in the beginning and give users a chance to adjust to them and open up themselves instead of forcing everything to be public and ratcheted down? They continually come at things from the wrong direction.

UPDATE

And teens will leave Facebook for Google+? I’ve said it before…they really screwed up by putting off that IPO.

112 days ago Thinking 0 Comments PERMALINK

I’m reading– September 27th through October 17th

Facebook Missteps and Shortcomings – Exhibit F. Heart Rate Training Zone Calculator – Will have to do until I write one. Which will be tomorrow plus infinity. Page Speed Online – Woot…super useful tool. Will the New Facebook Lead to Information Overload? – What he said. Google Financing Solar Installations – This looks interesting. If the cost is the same as your typical electric bill and you don’t have to Read More ...

113 days ago Reading 0 Comments PERMALINK

<3 Google+ Photo Sharing

I’ve shared plenty of photos from my phone on Google+, but in the last couple of days I’ve started uploading larger albums there. The display of photo albums within Plus is very nice (waaaaaaaay cleaner than Facebook), and if you upload through Plus instead of Picasa, your photos get auto-resized and don’t count towards your Picasa limits: If you’ve signed up for Google+ Free storage limits Photos up to 2048 Read More ...

125 days ago Doing 0 Comments PERMALINK

The Great Facebook Compromise

I’ve been going back and forth for a while on what should be done about Facebook in my particular case. It would be kind of nice to eliminate it completely since I don’t ever post there, but there are some work-related advantages to being there that I just can’t deny. Oh, and I also need a FB account to use Spotify. My first thought was to go to an extreme Read More ...

126 days ago Thinking 0 Comments PERMALINK

Homeschooling, Robot IronMen, Unstructured Play, Plus MORE!

Another link dump. I promise I’ll try to include more bloggers and less news stuff in the future. Here’s How to Stop FB From Tracking You Online – Logging out isn’t enough. Can We Play? – Feeling guilty because you don’t get to spend enough time on education and they are aimlessly wasting the day? Don’t. Career Ruin: Homeschooling I realized that public school is like Social Security. There is Read More ...

133 days ago Reading 0 Comments PERMALINK

Sorry Facebook–MySpace Had It Right From The Beginning

Nothing is easier than self-deceit. - Demosthenes Last week I wrote a post that stated Facebook had no long-term direction. Boy was I wrong. The F8 keynote address made it obvious that they have a very clear vision…they want to know everything about everything you do. They want to seamlessly allow you to share your entire life with your friends. No effort required on your part. Just install the right apps to your Read More ...

134 days ago Thinking 0 Comments PERMALINK

Plus and Facebook Both Jumping

Every day I read something about how lame Google Plus is because no one is using it. That’s not the impression I’m getting. I see it being used a lot, although mostly by people who presumably can’t stand Facebook. But that’s not an insignificant number of people. And yesterday Google announced that Plus is now publicly available (no invite needed) and unleashed a plethora of new features. Facebook has been Read More ...

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Google released a +1 extension for Chrome last night. Big news? I guess, but maybe not that big.

I’m surprised at a couple of things. First of all, I can’t believe it took Google this long to push this extension out. It’s nice, but nothing that Facebook can’t do for “Like”. I wouldn’t be surprised to see an official “Like” extension out in the next 24 hours. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Facebook acts like this isn’t even happening.

*UPDATE*

Here’s Facebook’s extension, less than 24 hours after….I should do this for a living.

*END UPDATE*

What I really can’t believe is that the +1 button hasn’t made its way to the Chrome base install yet. That’s something Facebook can’t do unless they build a browser and capture market share like Google has. Extensions are great, but they still require people to install extensions, and I’m not convinced that’s something the average user is going to go out of their way to do.

Now…when is the API going to be exposed so that my blog posts can show up in Plus automatically? Twitter has it, Facebook has it.

Well Google?

159 days ago Reading 0 Comments PERMALINK

Warren Buffet is not Your Grandpa and More Link Dump

Warren Buffett, Robber Baron? – Nah….he could never have anything but pure motives. Mother of 13-year-old who smashed up shop blames government – “His mother described him as a ‘good lad’…” Right. Right. Putting Your Chores on Auto-Pilot – Skimmed this…didn’t see anything about containing young tornadoes that undo your work faster than you can do it. 7 Facebook Features Google Plus Still Lacks – Uh…well, it DOES have photo Read More ...

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Gut feeling:

Since Google Plus came online, Facebook’s traffic hasn’t been affected very much.

Since Spotify became available in the U.S., Pandora has seen less traffic.

Just a thought.

194 days ago Thinking 0 Comments PERMALINK

(GooglePlus != Twitter) && (GooglePlus != Facebook)

Ok nerds. I’ve seen a lot of discussion over the past few days about what Google Plus is trying to replace, what it is going to “kill”, why it will never work, etc. The truth is, Plus is it’s own thing, and that’s cool. Nothing has to be killed for Plus to succeed. Let me state this simply in a language everyone can easily understand: Switch (SocialNetwork){ case Twitter: Read More ...

202 days ago Thinking 2 Comments PERMALINK

Use It How You Want To–Another Plus of Google+

I’ve been noticing lots of the people I follow on Twitter have been connecting up with me on Google+ over the last few days. Some of these folks are using Google+ in the same way they use Twitter and putting out a steady stream of status updates. Of course, it’s kind of Twitter in reverse. Instead of “following” the way you do on Twitter, Google+ lets you choose who you Read More ...

211 days ago Thinking 0 Comments PERMALINK

Link Dump Obsession With Ditching Facebook

How To Move Your Facebook Photos To Picasa – Get them over to Picasa/GooglePhotos/Plus. One step closer to ditching Facebook forever. Facebook blocks Google Chrome extension for exporting friends – It’s ON! HT @slashdot. Fast-food chains selling alcohol – HT @FrankStrovel. I will not rest until I can get a Cherry-Vodka-Limeade straight from the drive-up window. RunKeeper Building ‘The Facebook Of Fitness’ – I started using RunKeeper when it became Read More ...

216 days ago Reading 2 Comments PERMALINK

Google Plus Could Make Buzz a Real Product

I’ve been playing with Google Plus for a few days now, and I really like it a lot. One of my favorite features is the Buzz tab on the user profiles. This makes Buzz an almost usable product. I think Google could not only make Buzz more viable but also improve Plus a lot by making a simple change. Plus needs a Buzz gutter. I’m seeing lots of people making Read More ...

217 days ago Thinking 1 Comment PERMALINK

What Will Make or Break Google Plus

I was thinking about Google Plus a little last night as I continually refreshed my screen hoping it would magically appear. I think there are a few things that can really make or break Google’s latest attempt at social. 1. Nobody has groups right yet Twitter’s lists are great, but are basically read only. You can’t broadcast to them. This is in keeping with the way Twitter fundamentally works, so Read More ...

223 days ago Thinking 0 Comments PERMALINK