...it only took me an hour to figure out how to automatically share my blogger postings with Google Plus.
Of course that's because I'm an idiot, not because it's not intuitive in any way.
2013-01-15
Google Plus Content
Dear Google,
The reason why nobody is using Google Plus is because there's nobody else using Google Plus. And the reason why nobody is using Google Plus is because there's no content in Google Plus. And the reason why there's no content in Google Plus is because A) there's no audience for directly-created content and B) there's no easy way to add other content creation feeds that people are creating anyways.
Take Facebook. I don't use Facebook. I don't like Facebook. But there are a couple of people out there who do use Facebook, but don't use Twitter. For whatever reason. However, I can add my Twitter content to my Facebook content. Now, I'm generating Facebook content, which encourages people to interact with me, which encourages me to check Facebook periodically. Now I'm technically a Facebook user. All because I'm able to send my Twitter content (which is easy for me to generate) to Facebook. I win, the people who only use Facebook win, and Facebook wins.
Who's missing from this discussion? Google Plus.
I'm a Twitter user. That's where I am today. That's where the bulk of my audience is, and where I can arrange things so that the rest of my audience can find things (ie: Facebook integration).
But since I can't even get my Twitter content added to Google Plus, I can't even get my foot in the door. Or you can't get my foot in the door, to mangle the metaphor.
So: if you make it easy for me to add my already-created content to my Google Plus feed, my feed will start having more regularly generated fresh content. Which increases the likelihood that people will read it here. Which increases the likelihood that I'll be back here to interact with them.
Which increases the amount of time I'm back here using it.
Which means: you'd win.
So in conclusion: make it easy for the content I'm generating anyways to get added to the content my Google Plus followers can see. And maybe, just maybe, there'll be people using Google Plus.
But if you don't make it easy for me, I'm not going to do it.
Love,
Me.
(Originally posted on Google Plus.)
The reason why nobody is using Google Plus is because there's nobody else using Google Plus. And the reason why nobody is using Google Plus is because there's no content in Google Plus. And the reason why there's no content in Google Plus is because A) there's no audience for directly-created content and B) there's no easy way to add other content creation feeds that people are creating anyways.
Take Facebook. I don't use Facebook. I don't like Facebook. But there are a couple of people out there who do use Facebook, but don't use Twitter. For whatever reason. However, I can add my Twitter content to my Facebook content. Now, I'm generating Facebook content, which encourages people to interact with me, which encourages me to check Facebook periodically. Now I'm technically a Facebook user. All because I'm able to send my Twitter content (which is easy for me to generate) to Facebook. I win, the people who only use Facebook win, and Facebook wins.
Who's missing from this discussion? Google Plus.
I'm a Twitter user. That's where I am today. That's where the bulk of my audience is, and where I can arrange things so that the rest of my audience can find things (ie: Facebook integration).
But since I can't even get my Twitter content added to Google Plus, I can't even get my foot in the door. Or you can't get my foot in the door, to mangle the metaphor.
So: if you make it easy for me to add my already-created content to my Google Plus feed, my feed will start having more regularly generated fresh content. Which increases the likelihood that people will read it here. Which increases the likelihood that I'll be back here to interact with them.
Which increases the amount of time I'm back here using it.
Which means: you'd win.
So in conclusion: make it easy for the content I'm generating anyways to get added to the content my Google Plus followers can see. And maybe, just maybe, there'll be people using Google Plus.
But if you don't make it easy for me, I'm not going to do it.
Love,
Me.
(Originally posted on Google Plus.)
2013-01-12
Wordpress Fail, A Continuing Series
I know blogger gets no respect, but blogger doesn't do this: http://www.leancrew.com/all-this/2012/12/wordpress-3-5-and-the-deathly-auto-embeds/
(Found in my drafts folder which is why it's getting thrown up now.)
(Found in my drafts folder which is why it's getting thrown up now.)
The Obvious Joke
I waited something like three weeks to post that joke, waiting on the blood test results.
2012-12-26
Small Accomplishments
Last year at a Christmas party, one of our friends said that he'd given up chocolate for December because there was so much of it around at that time of year and it obviously isn't the best thing to be eating. i thought that was a good idea, so midway through January I made the decision to stop eating candy in general, just to see how long i could do it.
So as part of Christmas, Santa brings me candy in the stocking -- traditionally four candy bars and a large bag of M&Ms.
I'm somewhat pleased with myself that this candy is more than I have eaten over the whole rest of the year.
So as part of Christmas, Santa brings me candy in the stocking -- traditionally four candy bars and a large bag of M&Ms.
I'm somewhat pleased with myself that this candy is more than I have eaten over the whole rest of the year.
2012-12-13
Occupy
Wired has an Eulogy for #Occupy, a survey of what happened in the Occupy camps during 2011.
I think the biggest lesson I took away here is that humans are humans and for the most part you can't expect them to be better than themselves. The descriptions of the GA (general assembly) and the way it devolved into violence and force showed that there were non-trivial percentages of the 99% who, given an opportunity, would try to exploit others. In the face of this devolution, the moderate majority said nothing, and then eventually turned away, leaving the helpless and their exploiters alone in the dark.
The 1% may be habitual exploiters, but they are not the only ones -- they are merely the most successful ones. With this realization one wonders if pulling it all down is really such a good idea, since all we would end up doing is squabbling over the wreckage.
Just another example of how direct, participatory democracy doesn't scale.
It isn't enough to hate the status quo or to want things to change. You need real, concrete ideas of how things need to change AND real, concrete ideas of how to get there. Occupy had neither, acting as a focus of free-floating hostility and frustration. Since the outside world refused to engage with them -- and really, why would they? -- Occupy turned on itself, shedding its moderates.
Change is coming. Change is inevitable. But you have to make the change, or it will happen to you.
Occupy seemed to focus too much on the "and then you win" part of Ghandi's mantra.
I think the biggest lesson I took away here is that humans are humans and for the most part you can't expect them to be better than themselves. The descriptions of the GA (general assembly) and the way it devolved into violence and force showed that there were non-trivial percentages of the 99% who, given an opportunity, would try to exploit others. In the face of this devolution, the moderate majority said nothing, and then eventually turned away, leaving the helpless and their exploiters alone in the dark.
The 1% may be habitual exploiters, but they are not the only ones -- they are merely the most successful ones. With this realization one wonders if pulling it all down is really such a good idea, since all we would end up doing is squabbling over the wreckage.
Just another example of how direct, participatory democracy doesn't scale.
It isn't enough to hate the status quo or to want things to change. You need real, concrete ideas of how things need to change AND real, concrete ideas of how to get there. Occupy had neither, acting as a focus of free-floating hostility and frustration. Since the outside world refused to engage with them -- and really, why would they? -- Occupy turned on itself, shedding its moderates.
Change is coming. Change is inevitable. But you have to make the change, or it will happen to you.
Occupy seemed to focus too much on the "and then you win" part of Ghandi's mantra.
2012-12-01
The Spirit Of Christmas
You are celebrating Christmas... by stealing a Christmas tree... from a mental health fundraising sales centre.
I hate people sometimes.
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