Today Alphabet/Google gently broke the tether that bound many a soul to its wanna-be-better-than-Facebook social media platform: Google Plus.
I was sorry to have Google Plus depart the public Web, though I never used it much after I realized it failed to generate much fire and/or buzz. Buzz. Did you realize that before Google+ there was Google Buzz? It faded and died at the buzzer too — I suppose you could assume the buzzards got it, but I am positive all that data is safely in Google’s care, just like all that GooP data is. It’s just that you can’t get at it. (Although I suppose you could hire on with Google Buzzard and…)
Google warned you with plenty of time that it was pulling the plug on its great Facebook substitute (aka, Google+). Here’s my last post on the GooP’s next-to-last day live (and you can click the photo):
But how are you supposed to survive just fine?
- Visit with real people in real time in real face-to-face encounters. (But better not do that with strangers at 2:34 am.)
- Write letters to send via the Postal Service. (Write. As with a pen(cil). On paper.)
- Call your friends to “post” something substantive in their ears.
- Set up a private email list of people you want to stay in touch with and send them a weekly email.
- Read lots of good books.
- Go visit strangers in nursing homes and retirement centers.
- Type status updates on your computer, take photos of them with your phone, and send them to friends. Or print them out and mail them.
- Enjoy the cold turkey.
- Keep a handwritten journal. You and/or others might really treasure it some day.
- Pretend that they plan to dump Gmail in six months…and start weaning yourself from that service also.
No, don’t spend more time on Facebook or Twitter or some other social media platform. In fact, learn from your loss of GooP and start easing your way off all social media and back into truly real living.
In fact, you could dump Gmail while you’re at it. I’ve been meaning to do a post on why you’d be better off doing that. (See? I mean it enough to repeat the point.)
And if there’s stuff you posted on Google+ that you’re just as glad to have gone…I’m sure it isn’t. You surely don’t think Google will just throw away all that data they’ve already spent billions accumulating, do you? I expect it’s all nicely tied in with all the additional data you’re providing them via Google Search, Gmail, Google Maps, Google Docs, Google Pix, and GoogleOnAndOn.
Just remember to capitalize the second vowel in their name: GoOgle. Now stick that in your critical thinker and chew that cud well.
And to think it was five years (almost to the day) since Microsoft pulled the plug on Windows XP. At least they waited until they had something better in place, tested and proven for years.
I’m tired of this post. I took too long. And I really should have taken longer. Thanks for reading. Now go do the right thing. 😯