Being a blogger means going through the ebb and flow of the internet and testing the waters while others are still unaware of the "next big thing." I don't pretend to be one of the first to know anything, but I find that even if I am late to the blogger party, I am still ahead of the general public.
However, I am guilty of holding reservations much longer than I should. I joined Facebook long after most people. I didn't join Twitter until I officially launched this blog in 2010 and then I only gradually branched out from there. I didn't "get" Pinterest for almost a year into my account registration, which is really strange because I am totally addicted now. Instagram was my one and only leap of faith that I have adored from the start.
This brings us to G+.
I have been a member since it replaced Google Friend Connect for those of us who were on Wordpress at the time. I really haven't understood the draw for many people and I don't see anyone of my IRL people using it regularly, but I have been more curious about it since it seems to be holding it's own.
My favorite thing about G+ is the mobile app. It is so visually appealing that it refreshes my iphone addicted body. I'm not joking either. I spend waaay too much time looking at my phone and when I pull up this app I mentally sigh-in a good way. But the best part is the automatic photo backup. I said AUTOMATIC. I am constantly needing more space for pictures and videos and there is nothing worse than being at your kids graduation and having to quickly figure out what you can delete to get the darn thing to take a picture. It can't be just me...right?
When I loaded G+ onto my phone it automatically loaded every picture from my phone and does so with each picture I take. It's backed up and you can view it from your phone or computer. Edit, share, download, whatever. I LOVE IT.
The second thing that has really hooked me is the communities. I had no idea what was springing up without me! The networking possibilities alone make it worth it, let alone creating friendships and alliances.
If you spend some time there, you realize that it mimics Facebook in that you can post you updates and statuses, but I really like the integration and no-nonsense design. I use Blogger, Gmail and Drive all the time. I constantly check my feeds and analytics. Almost everything I do on a daily basis is connected with one login that I don't have to enable over and over again. I am not saying that other programs are difficult to use, but Google has made it simpler.
The two things that I haven't tried yet are the hangouts and video calling. I think both have so much potential because being able to keep in touch with one person or a whole group is extremely valuable. to be able to see the person you are speaking with over the "phone" is something out of futuristic movies and now we just have it to use for free. I am amazed at what we have at our disposal at any given time.
I am sure that this is only the tip of the ice berg. Google is so innovative that it makes me excited for the next big thing, rather than apprehensive.
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