A View of Social Media

It started back in 2001, when I set up a Yahoo Group for the Long Island Sea Searchers Scuba Club.  Since then, I've played around with a number of social media platforms (and participated in a few on-line forums); but nothing serious.

After watching a MKBHD vlog on Google Now, I thought, "why not," and jumped into the Google experience with both feet and Google+ is where I'm most invested.

Here are my thoughts on some social media platforms:

Facebook:  This is a necessity if you want to enter on-line contests.  Your news feed is, unfortunately, a popularity contest.  The posts with the most activity float to the top and other things get lost.  I keep in touch with a few (a few being three) friends on here; but that's about it.

Google+:  The service is well integrated with Picasa and Android phones.  There's a great selection of tech people to follow; and not all the post comments veer off topic.  I would be happier if more of my friends were on here, but most of them have limited on-line presences anyway.

Linkedin:  I do keep track of friends and family on here; although it seems to be more of a resume service than anything else.  At least one friend posts on here somewhat regularly, but most people I'm connected with seem to be building networks or connecting with friends accounts.  They seem to be promoting the service more than they did in the past; so, there may be changes in the future.

Tumblr:  A very nice blogging interface.  When I was using it regularly, it seemed to be heading toward pictures and minimal text.  I didn't keep up with it, but I liked it.

Twitter:  A very good news feed and a good place to follow people who can keep it short and to the point (comics mostly).  If you follow too many people it can get tough to manage; especially as people change their participation rate.  One possible improvement would be to allow people to follow discussion group sin addition to individuals.

Yahoo Groups:  I've found this service to be the best for administering a group "account".  Having a Yahoo account is not necessary; so, there is no need for everyone to set up a Yahoo account (unlike say ... Google).  It runs fairly smooth except for the usual user-related issues.

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