Week 6: REFLECT -- Lots of people thought Google+ would be a Facebook killer. Do you use Google+? Is it a Facebook killer, or is there another SNS that will take Facebook out?

Image: http://www.androidguys.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/google+_720.png

I'm a little biased here with the endless stream of tweets coming out of my Twitter account, but I personally believe Facebook is on the way out. ABC News, Washington Post and a slew of other places posted articles earlier this year echoing my sentiments. The Goliath is falling hard under the weight of its own gravity with all the ads, the frankly bizarre calculations of what should appear at the top of the news feeds, the revelations that Mark Zuckerberg really doesn't care about privacy much.

The site is becoming infected by the amount of companies scrambling to make some moolah from users by slapping the fan page all across the Facebook network. People like me are slowly moving onto places like Google+ and Twitter, where information is still curated largely by you, the user. Twitter still ardently respects user privacy, even when it comes to Wikileaks, an organisation that made its name as a bad word for any first world government.

Google+ is I think the next Facebook. Its design is smarter, the privacy controls better, the choice of whom receives status updates is easier to define, the colour scheme is nowhere as bland as the blue and white. Google is constantly listening to the community and tailoring the layout based on that. And what's the best thing is Google Hangouts. Video calling for multiple people. You don't need Skype when what is on offer in Skype as a paid membership can be freely attained in Google+. People haven't caught on to Google+ yet, mainly because so many are on Facebook and pop culture still centres around there. One subject in this course takes place on Google+. Nobody has voiced concern over its use, whereas I know a few took issue with needing to sign up for Facebook for a few subjects in this course. Google+ is simple to use. It will be the social network where you put your expanded information (type anything over 140 characters to friends).

Twitter, on the other hand, is already booming. You can reveal as much or as little as you like on the site, depending on where your over sharing line is. There is a private Twitter function, where nobody can access your tweets unless they have your express permission to follow. Twitter defends your privacy and fights subpoenas, even if that privacy also belongs to racist assholes. Recently, there were issues surrounding Twitter's privacy giving trolls an easy and anonymous way to post rape threats to women. Thankfully, Twitter has revised its privacy policies to exclude that behaviour.

In all, Twitter currently looks like this:



And this is Google+, with its small (but massively growing) user base of mainly geeks and social elites:



And this, sadly, is Facebook at the moment:

Week 1: Pre-existing Personal Learning Network

This first week of INN333 was about setting up the connections for my Personal Learning Network (namely, a Facebook account, Twitter account and a new blog). I already make great use of both Facebook and Twitter and there are many, many connections I've made on those with regard to my course. Previous subjects in my Masters degree meant that I needed to be heavily involved in Facebook and Twitter discussion. I see my Personal Learning Network being tied to everyday interaction on those platforms. I'm an avid tweeter, so expect to see me on there discussing a variety of topics, some related to university, some not. Facebook is where I conduct more measured discussion on things that interest me. The debates arisen from certain posts of articles have caused me to rethink some of my beliefs..

I've learnt more through use of Twitter. Connections I've made on there have enriched and enhanced my university study, my writing and my hobbies. As a result of Twitter I've made plenty more both personal and professional connections, including BTUB (Brisbane Twitter Underground Brigade) that meets each month to chat. I've met people involved in my own industry through this social collaboration and indeed close friends of completely different views and backgrounds whom I'd never have known had I stuck to my own pre-existing circles. I've been involved in the discussions going on (especially on Twitter) about the rapidly changing place of libraries in the digital realm. At least once or twice a day I will read an insightful piece about the place of books in today's online world.

I can only hope that moving into the blogosphere will live up to what Facebook and Twitter have already done in expanding my Personal Learning Network. I look forward to this semester.