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Google+

Anything to do with New Zealand Classic or Vintage Computing not covered in the other forums

Google+

by lizardb0y » Sun Sep 25, 2011 9:50 am

I have been using Google+ for a couple of months and have found it to be a much better environment for the sharing of quality content than Facebook or other "social" media. The one problem is that there are very few people from the vintage computing community that I have been able to find - in fact, Jason Scott (of BBS Documentary and Get Lamp fame) is the only other person I have located whi seems to be active on G+

If you're on Google+, let me know and I'll add you to my circles. My profile is at http://gplus.to/lizardb0y
lizardb0y / Andrew
Just another 8-bit hustler

blog: http://www.vintage8bit.com
twitter: @vintage8bit
google+: http://gplus.to/lizardb0y
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Re: Google+

by Gibsaw » Sun Sep 25, 2011 12:18 pm

lizardb0y wrote:I have been using Google+ for a couple of months and have found it to be a much better environment for the sharing of quality content than Facebook or other "social" media. The one problem is that there are very few people from the vintage computing community that I have been able to find - in fact, Jason Scott (of BBS Documentary and Get Lamp fame) is the only other person I have located whi seems to be active on G+

If you're on Google+, let me know and I'll add you to my circles. My profile is at http://gplus.to/lizardb0y


Well I can't speak for the rest of the community, but I can tell you why I'm not on there, and not going to be. Facebook, is SEPARATE. (apart from the insidious "integration" with other websites.)

I prefer the demarcation between my "real" personal comms, and my considered public opinion to be much more hardline than a "privacy setting". (Which facebook keep silently changing the defaults on.)

Google+, (like "Buzz" before it) has FAR TOO CLOSE a relationship with gmail/calendars/documents etc, which are my "real" personal comms channels. It might SEEM like having your social networking more properly integrated with one's general comms might be a good thing, but everything with social networking is potentially public domain. (with "don't blame us" disclaimers to that effect.)

I'll abandon gmail/android altogether if they force us to integrate google+. (which will annoy the hell out of me.)
"dsakey" on trademe. Apple II's are my thing.
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Re: Google+

by lizardb0y » Sun Sep 25, 2011 12:36 pm

I can appreciate your position, but there's a very big difference between the way Facebook used to work and the way Google+ works. I think it's worth a look. I post exclusively public content on Google+, and I don't really use it for "social networking" - I prefer private conversations to be both private and conversations. Though I have (weirdly) found myself posting what I had for breakfast!

Think of G+ as more an interactive blogging platform.

Nonetheless, if anybody is on Google+ and would like to connect, let me know :)
lizardb0y / Andrew
Just another 8-bit hustler

blog: http://www.vintage8bit.com
twitter: @vintage8bit
google+: http://gplus.to/lizardb0y
trademe: andrew9 - over 500 positive trades.
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Re: Google+

by Gibsaw » Sun Sep 25, 2011 1:53 pm

lizardb0y wrote:<snip>...very big difference...<snip>...I think it's worth a look...<snip>

I'm sure it has merit, functionally... It could be absolutely FAAAAAAAAN-BLIMMIN-TASTIC!!!!!! .... and I still will NOT use it. Don't want to seem like I'm wearing a tinfoil hat, but I'm still feeling very burned by the integration of "Buzz" into gmail. My private email turned, without warning, into something approximately equivalent to "twitter" that I had to opt-out of. That was a real "WHAT THE HELL!?" moment for my opinion of google. :evil:

I don't think I'm alone in wanting my "social networking" and my email to be totally distinct organisations. :D
"dsakey" on trademe. Apple II's are my thing.
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Re: Google+

by tezza » Mon Sep 26, 2011 12:28 pm

Hmm,,yes, Google+

I realise your post was just to look for other Google+ users Andrew, but it's also a chance to reflect on social media, and it's role in supporting this hobby generally.

I'm on Facebook (largely because my daughters nagged me to get on) but I'm a light user. I'm not wedded to social media. I'm not sure if I'd use Google+ any more than I use Facebook. Not that I have any strong anti-feelings towards social media...I'm just not sure it's for me. I struggle to get the time to do the things I want to do anyway without devoting time to yet another online life. It's probably an old-fashion idea, but I'm also slightly uncomfortable with having my on-line presence so deeply intwined with dominant corporate entities. This is the reason I don't buy or support modern Apple products.

Having said that, I am watching their development with interest. I may yet sign up eventually. In the long term, and if everyone (or most) (through choice or not) are eventually signed up to Google (or whoever), then "groups" of Google+ users with an interest in vintage/classic computers could well be a replacement for forums like this. That said, even the old technologies still have their place. The classic computing Internet group for example, still use a listserver for postings...and it's very active!
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Re: Google+

by YetiSeti » Wed Sep 28, 2011 10:15 pm

Just checking in with my tinfoil hat.

I woke the morning (on the day reading this thread actually) with a scary vision of Google ruling the world transitioned to the mega city in the cloud (after previously considering it to be an evolutionary dead end) . I'm not sure what issues my mind was cogitating that sleep, but I awoke realising how close Google can come to owning all the content as well, and the image of a phoenix rising from the ashes of a crumbled search empire based on a system of algorithms that can be gamed and indexing other peoples' data, to a trusted social media search engine, which one first has to hand over all trust and information to Google. They're poised to keep themselves relevant and create a win-win-win where we're blissfully unaware of what we actually are giving up.

I have a problem with corporates and monopolies, especially multinational companies which exert so much control and ownership, but ultimately are part of a single nation. I'm scared by any one company, government, country calling all the shots (which it is pretty close to now).

It's an interesting one to follow. Will I move to Google+? I'm not sure. I'm struggling with Facebook as it is. I am wanting to create some communities around a number of my ideas and it seems Google have such a product. I have nothing to hide, but am more concerned by Google than Facebook. Now to save me up some pennies for the Groupon IPO...
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Re: Google+

by lizardb0y » Thu Sep 29, 2011 6:32 am

Did you know that when you register a domain you are required to provide your address and phone number for a public database with no access controls? That's more personally identifiable information (PII) than I've provided any of the "social" networks. I get a couple of hundred spam a day directed at me through my Registrant Contact.

The content I'm publishing on Google+ is mostly also published on my web site, but I get a much wider audience using Google+ and Twitter than I have through my site. There is far better interaction of both of these services (people who respond to content I've published, or share it with others). So far, Twitter is still the most successful medium I have used to increase reach.

From everything I've observed about company behaviour and public statements, as well as the way the services are constructed, I'm far more comfortable with Google+ than Facebook. FB has made a concerted effort to play to addictive behaviour in its product to increase "stickiness" (the amount of time people spend looking at it). Google is also climbing, but through the expansion of useful services rather than cheap tricks like the Facebook "ticker" and constantly forcing game updates in your face.

Image

If you have your documents in Google Docs, Google already have them. You don't need to sign up to Google+ with the same account you use for your docs. I don't. Only give the service information which you're happy to share anyway. I publish almost everything that I post on Google+ as public posts on my web site as well. Google already has this, as do Bing/Yahoo and anyone else with a web browser or a perl script.

As to Terry's point about many existing forums using older tech, I agree. I still regularly use Usenet and mailing lists as much as web forums or social networks. Where the social networks excel is in reach (the size of your audience, the ability for people to find your content, and the sharing of content) and the easy integration of modern content types like photos and videos. I find it much quicker and easier to post my Vintage Computer Friday to Google+ than my own web site.

But again, do what suits you. I'm not trying to influence, just educate.
lizardb0y / Andrew
Just another 8-bit hustler

blog: http://www.vintage8bit.com
twitter: @vintage8bit
google+: http://gplus.to/lizardb0y
trademe: andrew9 - over 500 positive trades.
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Re: Google+

by Gibsaw » Thu Sep 29, 2011 11:25 am

lizardb0y wrote:If you have your documents in Google Docs, Google already have them. You don't need to sign up to Google+ with the same account you use for your docs. I don't. Only give the service information which you're happy to share anyway.


Interesting point, but my objection is that under google docs, gmail etc..whilst it is true that google has your data, there is an expectation that it is private.

The second you join google+, you're relinquishing that expectation to "it's private, but only if I've set my privacy settings correctly.".. and the whole service is far too integrated.

Interesting point about using a different account though, they do also seem to have something akin to a main account and subordinate accounts, so you'd want to be careful that it was really separate. (i.e. if you were making another account, you'd want to make sure you were logged into NOTHING google related when you make it...

I've still yet to fully get my head around the google accounts. Requires "try-every-permutation muckaround" time that is in short supply right now. :)
"dsakey" on trademe. Apple II's are my thing.
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Re: Google+

by WelshWizard » Tue Oct 11, 2011 10:59 pm

for some reason my firewall and anti virus blocks out the link to your google page :(
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