Genuinely Curious Monday: Will the Social Media Triumvirate Become a Tetrad?
I think there’s a certain agreement that social media engagement–by those who engage, that is–is reaching its saturation point. The problem is, that’s the same point Google+ has been introduced. Right now, the “power” in most “power” social media users’ engagement comes from Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Will Google+ be an alternate or a fourth “must have?”
I’ve just joined Google+ (so have you if you’ve joined, I’m assuming, since it’s only 24 days old), and it’s going to take me a bit to get my bearings (read: check it since the day I joined). So I’ll spare you my thoughts. But the invites and the circles and the ruminations, cautious optimism, analysis, and even love is already showing up in a few of the circles I run in. But along with it is a shadow of doom, because if we feel the obligation to join now (“Hurry and register your nickname before it’s taken” sound familiar?), it’s going to become yet another thing to check. For those of us whose job this is, I’m sure there’s no objection. But for those of us whose job is to run a business, it’s going to become another burden we’ll delight in and commiserate about all the same.
So please go take a look at the opinions in the links above if you haven’t read them already and tell me what you think. Will the triumvirate become a tetrad or will the current three be broken up into other combinations of three including Google+? And does anyone have a more supreme-sounding word for a group of four? Tetrad sounds like AP Biology.
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krissybrady Great new look (you really dig the hot pink, and it suits you, I must say!). I will add a "me-too" to your thoughts, though. It's going to take a minute for me to get acclimated--and build my community up within it--to make any sense of it yet.
But I do think this is working faster than even Google expected, because everyone (well, savvy business owners I keep up with, anyway) is thinking, "Wow, if Facebook is a must-have, well, this is Google! It would be crazy not to try and get in on that action!"
ShakirahDawud I completely agree! We have to at least give it a chance. I finally finished setting up my profile today, and I like it! It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, and I like the "circles" feature where you can communicate with certain people on certain subjects. (For example, sharing a blog post with your writing friends, and then a personal update with your family.) I'm so used to facebook, and once I cleared my mind of facebook habits, I was able to absorb some Google habits. :)
krissybrady That's great, Krissy--did you find many of the people you want to connect with already there, too? I figure soon it'll make it even easier to just import our contacts from other networks.
ShakirahDawud I haven't had a chance to search for people yet, but I'm hoping to play around with my account this weekend. Considering they're up to 18 million users now, I'm sure I'll find quite a few. :)
I love G+ and I don't see it replacing Facebook or Twitter. It will be interesting to see how we fit one more tool into our lives because I don't see it going away.
ginidietrich One vote for the tetrad, then? I have to get more of a feel for its vibe. I read something recently saying Google+ was asking businesses to hold back on joining just yet until they're ready to serve the goodies: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/07/google-asks-businesses-to-stay-out-of-google-for-now.html.
But I figure if a biz already has its own community and is using it like "real people" use it, there shouldn't be much to hold 'em back...
ShakirahDawud Last night Google started removing the people who are using it for business. They're not ready and they made a pretty clear statement about it. It'll be interesting to see what happens next.
ginidietrich ShakirahDawud Oh, really--good to know! Is it membership fees I'm smelling, or just the sum of their best intentions...?
ShakirahDawud It might be a little bit of both.
You really would win a Spelling Bee, wouldn't you? Tetrad? I have to admit that I had to look that up. There, I said it. A group of four! Got it!
Hmmm...I haven't a clue and won't get my knickers in a wad worrying about it, because there will very likely be something else that comes along. I'm not making ANY predictions, just using what works for me and ignoring the rest (I.e. Empire Ave, Quora).
Cheers!
EricaAllison That's the spirit--no stressing over this, that much is certainly noted! I'm partly asking this question because I'm already short one, so to speak, since I'm not on FB (I'm nothing if not a rebel). Curious as to whether this'll be another source of peer pressure, lol.
I have setup an account, but have yet to fill everything in. I redesigned my blog in March, and still have yet to update the social media accounts I already have, lol! (I am on a big mission to have this done by the end of the month though, so I'm thinking I'll incorporate my Google+ setup into the schedule). It's true--yet another account to check regularly and keep track of. It's really hard for me to tell at this point; I'll have to take some time to play around with it before I give an opinion. :)
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