Tag Archives: Google
Google Plus Hangouts - The Anti-Social Media

Nobody Will Hangout With Me On Google+

by on January 25, 2012

Google Plus Hangouts - The Anti-Social MediaI’m a loser. A total, epic, mega loser.

I’ve been on Google+ since it launched in June, and only one person has hung out with me. And that was for work.

Hangouts are supposed to be fun and friendly. They’re supposed to bring your intimate circles together. They’re supposed to be impromptu and spontaneous.

Instead, they just make me jealous.

Why do other people get to hang out with The Muppets, President Obama, and William Shatner? Why am I stuck alone in my apartment with my cat? She doesn’t want to hang out on Google+. She just wants to sleep and eat cat food and hang out on my lap in real life.

And where’s the fun in that?

So let’s hang out. Join me for a Google+ Hangout on Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 9 pm EST on The Anti-Social Media. We can all be losers and talk about cats and coffee and how much we all hate Facebook and Google+. Afterwards, we can all blog about how much we hate hangouts.

But for a few minutes, we’ll be the coolest kids on the internet.

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8 Predictions About Social Media in 2012

by on January 2, 2012

2012 Social Media Predictions - The Anti-Social MediaHappy 2012! It’s a new year for marketers to mine more data from our user profiles on social networks. More hyper-targeted ads! How exciting!

Because the internet is fueled on rumors and nonsense, here’s what will happen in 2012. If it doesn’t happen, well it will all be ok. I think.

  • Facebook will change once more, and everyone will hate it. - We all know it will change, and it will suck balls.
  • Twitter will get even worse - Monetizing Twitter will take over idea to allow users to share meaningful messages. Twitter will become filled with crappy more 140 character ads, spambots, and insightful hashtags like #mydickinthreewords. Twitter will only hang on because the mass media will give it more hype than it deserves.
  • Nobody except job seekers and self-absorbed, so-called assholes experts will care about LinkedIn. Oh, and Betty from HR will like it as well. But it’s her job to care about LinkedIn.
  • Google+ will either make it or fail miserably - Time to put up or shut up Google.
  • Quora will go away -  Seriously, it’s still here?
  • There will be at least 20 new social networks that claim to be “Facebook Killers” - No one sane will use them besides Linux users and Android elitists.
  • The entire internet will be absorbed in baseless iPhone rumors - Because our entire existence and worth as a human is based solely on successfully predicting a mobile phone we’ll use for a year until the next one comes out.
  • There will be at least one viral cat video - Wait. There will be hundreds. And they will be the best ones ever.

Honestly, most of that is just expansions of what happened in 2011, but who am I kidding? It’s not like someone will be clever enough to make a successfully monetized social network without a newsfeed and a slew of advertising. That’s just too creative.

So here’s to 2012.  May my Facebook newsfeed be ever filled with sponsored stories!

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What I’m Thankful For

by on November 23, 2011

What I'm Thankful for 2011 - The Anti-Social Media

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Google Plus Pages - Who Cares - The Anti-Social Media

Google+ For Business: Who Gives a S*&%?

by on November 9, 2011

Google Plus Pages - Who Cares - The Anti-Social Media

This is just the innovation social networking needed. Another inbox so businesses can put more of their half-assed press releases and marketing bullshit into our inboxes.

Thanks Google!

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Google is Awkward - The Anti-Social Media

How Boring Is Google+?

by on October 26, 2011

Google is Awkward - The Anti-Social MediaI’m bored with Google+. Seriously, what’s happening with it? What is supposed to compel me, the user, to spend a minute and load up the website and then go through all the crap my “friends” posted?

I’m already doing that all day long on Facebook and Twitter. Now you want me to add another place to do that? Sheesh.

As far as I can tell, Google is now focusing on bringing Google+ features to gmail and Google Reader, which I guess is ok enough. And at some point they’ll be bringing business pages, and then most likely, advertisements because barely anyone cares about Google+ and will never be able to find those pages without ads.

But here’s the thing.

My friends don’t hang out there. Many of them likely never will. They’re happy enough with Facebook and Twitter.

And as long as the people I care about are staying somewhere else, that’s where I’ll be too.

What would make Google+ compelling for you? Free money? Hot babes? Or are you happy int he knowledge that you’re giving your precious information to Google instead of Facebook?

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Social Network Fetures Battle - The Anti-Social Media

Social Network Features Battle

by on September 21, 2011

Before Google+, Facebook was content to muck up users’ lives about once a year with news feed changes or a half-assed profile redesign.

Now, twice a week we have news announcements that go like like this:

Social Network Fetures Battle - The Anti-Social Media

Smart lists. Mobile hangouts. Huddles. News Tickers. Do any of these features really matter to users?

This all sounds like a war for who can push out more crap first, without knowing how users actually user their social network. I’m doubtful there’s a gem that will come out of all these turds.

Screw it. I’m joining not Google+. At least they have their shit together.

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Sharing is Caring - The Anti-Social Media

There are No Private Circles

by on September 6, 2011

Sharing is Caring - The Anti-Social MediaWhen I first got on Google+, I was so excited to share rings in my circles. I could write things, and be sure that only the people who I meant to read them would read them. How novel!

And then I realized that people could share publicly what I previously limited.

Damn.

Lesson learned: Even if it is locked down and private, there is no privacy for anything on a social network. Ever.

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Verified Accounts - The Anti-Social Media

Celebrities, Verified Accounts and Google+

by on August 22, 2011

Verified Accounts - The Anti-Social MediaOver the weekend, Google announced it was rolling out verified accounts for Google+.

A part of me is jealous. Why can’t I be verified? I’m devilishly handsome, I write a popular blog, and I’m an ego maniac. I’m a perfect candidate.

Unfortunately, I’m still getting screwed over in favor of more famous and influential assholes.

Regardless of my pathetic need to validated and verify myself to Google, I wonder if users actually care about these verified accounts. I don’t give enough of a shit about the livelihood of celebrity PR agents to follow a celebrity’s accounts on any social network.

What about the unfortunate people who share their name with a celebrity? When I was in grade school there was a kid named Neil Armstrong in my first grade class. Is he going to get kicked off of Google+ because his parents thought it would be cute bestow that name upon him?

And why do celebrities get to be on Google+ in such a public fashion anyways? Anyone can use a social network as a marketing tool, but celebrities have a much more vested interest in using Google+ to push commercial updates. Businesses get the shaft, but Dolly Parton can hawk her latest CD.

Verified accounts open a whole can of worms for both users and businesses that Google needs to address. Unfortunately, they’re too busy trying to beat Facebook in a war for online identity to take a step back and examine their social network objectively.

Do we get on Google+, or any social network, to experience the weakest of connections with a celebrity? Or are we there to connect with one another in a fashion that is more authentic than what we get on other social networks?

You all answer those questions in the comments. In the meantime, I’m going to put a check mark everywhere I see my name so I can feel verified.

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