…or not.
I’ve been pretty vocal about my dislike of Google+ – I haven’t really found much use for it in its infancy. Something I have been doing, though, is setting up circles of people, mostly by how I know them. I don’t have a really good explanation for it, but for some reason, random people “sharing” with me unnerves me a little bit. I’m not going to delve into why it seems different from Twitter, except to say, it might boil right on down to word usage.
(Used under creative commons, Thank you Siitaps!)
On LinkedIn: You Connect – And you accept or deny.
On Facebook: You Friend – And you accept or deny.
On Twitter: You Follow – And you accept or deny.
On Google+: You Share / They Share – It’s an auto-accept.
I think that’s been my real issue with it. People are “sharing” with me that I have no connection with whatsoever. On Twitter (Which seems to be the biggest comparison for some) people follow me and I hardly notice unless they engage me. (That may not be entirely true since I actively watch my followers list.) When someone “joins” me on Google+, they’re suddenly “sharing” with me. Like they’re pushing things at me. It’s a little creepy. I don’t know why.
(Used under creative commons, thank you Arriba!)
So I created a circle, on g+, called: “People I Don’t Know.” and it’s one of my most populated circles. Now I wanted to experiment with that for a moment. I engage people on Twitter & Facebook that I don’t already know, so why not on Google Plus, too?
So I began an experiment. Three days ago I posted the following directly to my “I don’t know you” circle:
Hi. If you’re seeing this, it’s because you’ve decided to share with me and I don’t think I know you. So – I want to change that. Hi. What’s going on?
To date: I’ve received two responses. One stating: “It’s awfully slow in here,” and the other, “Everyone in my circles are from twitter pretty much and I hardly know everyone by real name.” ..And it wasn’t someone I know.
Google plus still seems somewhat unnecessary to me. Maybe that will change over time, maybe not.
Update. Interestingly enough, one of the people quoted above is a connection through Twitter. I just didn’t know his real name. Maybe that’s part of the problem?
Top 11 Posts of 2011
Well, we’re almost to 2012 and recently I posted my top 11 photos of ’11, so I thought I would dig around in my stats and share with you the items that a plurality of you decided to visit over the year. They’re ranked by number of views.
11: (Dis)Engaging Google+ – I’ve written that I’m not a fan of Google+. Based on my experiences, my opinion hasn’t changed from August 11, 2011.
10: 10 Things (About me) – Interesting, this post, written around my birthday in 2010 garnered enough views this year to make my list. I find it funny that it’s number 10.
9: Oh, to be Popular. #199 – My 199th blog post here. A photo essay of my top Flickr photos. Be sure to check out #1 if you haven’t already.
8: Crossroads. Help Me, Pathfinder! – A great post about my future education and where I want to go from here. I say it was a great post because it offered me some good conversations with people about the state of education, what I should focus on as I continue forward and helped me figure out where I truly am in my head.
7: Good Customer Service: America’s Tire – I’m thrilled that a “Good Customer Service” story made the list. The adage goes, a happy customer will tell no one, while an unhappy customer will tell everyone. That’s not true in my case, I try to give equal time to good and bad customer service.
6: O.H. in the E.R. – On of my funnier (and sad) posts about an ill-fated trip to the ER last August. My pain is your joy. The things you hear in an ER waiting room are rather funny. If you take the time to listen.
(Photo Credit: Sea Turtle on Flickr)
5: Following the Pack (or not) – A post from last February where I offer my commentary on a “gorilla marketing tactic” on Twitter that was horribly spammy. I found it interesting that my desire to speak up was met with extreme hostility and mob mentality, which border-lined on bullying. I still stand by my opinions and observations. Sometimes you have to go out on a limb. Be bold.
4: The Lone Zebra, an Educational Opportunity – Written regarding a kerfuffle in the Real Estate Community about copyright and trade dress infringement. This gave me an opportunity to put into real life practice some things I had been learning in my Business Law class. It was a great case study.
3: Guest Post: Judgment Between The Lines – I’m so thrilled you liked, or viewed, this post. It was an important post. A guest post by my close friend Sarah Salter, she writes about something I think we all struggle with: Judgement and its many forms. An extremely timely, timeless and poignant post, worthy of read, whether it’s your first time or tenth.
2: Missing The Mark: Sears – Christmas Customer Service – Wow. This post, written just six days ago, outlined some poor customer service I received from a National big box store. Outlining the systemic issues from corporate culture, to employee detachment (An employee adds his comments to the post) it has become one of my most popular Customer Service Commentary posts.
(Photo Credit: Synchroni on Flickr)
1: You’re Welcome?!? - A post from this summer, I volunteered at a women only half marathon this year, I was struck and moved that almost every single runner, no matter how fatigued or festive, took a moment to thank the volunteers, when all I really was doing was standing in the middle of the road. I’m very thankful and grateful that this is my number one viewed post. It makes me believe that you all enjoy a little bit of gratitude in our world and maybe we/I need to be sharing a little more of it.
I’m extremely proud of these posts and some of them I think are close to “my best.” I hope that this streak continues in 2012!
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Posted in Customer Service, School, Thoughts, Writing
Tagged 2011, About me, commentary, flickr, Good Customer Service, Google, Google Plus, Gratitude, Hope, Judgement, love, Sarah Salter, Schnikism, School, Sears, statistics, thankful, Year in review