Would you pay $12 per year (more in future, no doubt) to use G+? Some of you have said yes. (OOPS! make that $60/yr. It's billed as $5/mo. as a marketing ploy.) P.S. As per comments below, the price is now $6/mo., 12/mo. for business option.
If an experienced G+ user cared to form a "corporation" to share the benefits of G Suite and enrolled a number of us at our expense as "employees," the expanded benefits of G Suite would be available to all members of our "corporation." In essence we would have a private club. The public would not be able to see our activities directly. We would have to spam each other if we missed that aspect of internet life.
As a Google "corporation" we could have meetings and all sorts of activities as outlined on https://gsuite.google.com/intl/en/terms/user_features.html
Evidence indicates I would not be the one to organize this. I can't even get folks to sign up for email reminders when my blogs are refreshed! Only an experienced "cat herder" should attempt this.
On the other hand, If I recognized your name as a leading G+ user/leader, I might be willing to sign on as an "employee" of yours.
What do you say? (aside from "Hey, Google, you should do this on your own!)
https://gsuite.google.com/intl/en/terms/user_features.html
If an experienced G+ user cared to form a "corporation" to share the benefits of G Suite and enrolled a number of us at our expense as "employees," the expanded benefits of G Suite would be available to all members of our "corporation." In essence we would have a private club. The public would not be able to see our activities directly. We would have to spam each other if we missed that aspect of internet life.
As a Google "corporation" we could have meetings and all sorts of activities as outlined on https://gsuite.google.com/intl/en/terms/user_features.html
Evidence indicates I would not be the one to organize this. I can't even get folks to sign up for email reminders when my blogs are refreshed! Only an experienced "cat herder" should attempt this.
On the other hand, If I recognized your name as a leading G+ user/leader, I might be willing to sign on as an "employee" of yours.
What do you say? (aside from "Hey, Google, you should do this on your own!)
https://gsuite.google.com/intl/en/terms/user_features.html
There is a difference though between being willing to pay to continue to use Google+, with all its contents left in tact, and using a restricted Google+ service, where only a paying subset of users can afford to read and contribute.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm not quite sure where you are getting the 12 USD a year from, as the Basic edition of G Suite already starts at 5 USD (4 Euro) per user, per month: https://gsuite.google.com/pricing.html#choose-an-edition
gsuite.google.com - Pricing Plans | G Suite
you will need to use your corporation google account instead of the normal one
ReplyDeleteIt's not $12 per year. It is $5 per month, per user.
ReplyDeleteI've been considering G Suite, but outside of the potential to have actual support for a Google product I still haven't decided if it has much benefit. Even if they add in Google +, which is not listed in the benefits in the pricing. I know a lot of businesses that paid for the dedicated email and then went someplace else - even though the pricing was about the same.
ReplyDeleteGoogle suite is very debatable on whether it's worth it or not.
ReplyDeleteYou can get a fully custom email linked to your domain which is better than a @gmail.com email and have it forward to your gmail for just the price of hosting for your site. The storage is not worth it and is a complete rip off. Their cloud storage platform by itsself gives your more storage for less cost, and even then there are cheaper options. Would never recommend joining Google's GSuite unless you have no choice
Filip H.F. Slagter This is a brainstorm (could very well be the "lead balloon" of legend), meant to spark ideas and not a business proposal set in stone. There would be a difference between public Google today and the private club alternative. People would be paying more, for sure. On the other hand, within the private club, they would have a considerable "something," all G Suite services now and those to be added beyond G+, instead of the "nothingburger" Google is forcing on us.
ReplyDeleteI don't trust Google to keep prices at $5 for long. So I projected more.
If I were setting this up, it would be a business. I would charge more than Google to pay me for the aggravation of setting things up and maintaining them. (Though probably $6, not $12 unless I was looking forward to one of those "golden parachutes" for myself in the event the service failed.)
Here's another practical consideration. I don't know how Alphabet's legal team would greet a for-profit resale of Google services. The person organizing this might have to be a "volunteer" and set up the club as a non-profit.
Frankly, at this point, I don't trust Google enough to invest much energy (or money) in the things they provide. About the time I get used to a thing, they rename it, replace it, or kill it off.
ReplyDeleteJust too much unknown.
Alex agreed. I initially explored the G suite packages when G+ shutdown was first announced.
ReplyDeleteIt's a horribly overpriced. You get better software, more features, and a butt ton more storage with a personal office365 account.
I can get all of what's offered for 5 a month and way more like a personal website, completely custom email, and personal access to my own dev server for my applications for 5 a month.
ReplyDeleteeric peacock Thanks! I should look into that.
ReplyDeleteAlex Thanks for the clarification. GSuite users are paying $60/yr., not the much more reasonable price of $5 or $12 or whatever.
ReplyDeleteCharles Moore Excellent point. Google pursues shiny new things and may be a lousy service provider for the long haul.
ReplyDeleteJeff Diver I pay $8/mo for outlook.live.com - Outlook.com - Microsoft free personal email email address, full MS office desktop suite and 1TB OneDrive storage.
ReplyDeletebest deal on the 'net.
Jeff Diver well, price increases have already been announced (https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/g-suite/new-pricing-for-g-suite-basic-and-business-editions) to 6 USD monthly for Basic, and 12 USD monthly for Business.
ReplyDeleteHowever, your initial post has that 12 USD as annually rather than monthly, which is quite a difference imho.
12 USD annually for a G+ service is doable imho, but not monthly.
Besides all that, you'd be rewarding Google for screwing over loyal G+ users. That alone is reason for me to not pay Google for another G+ service.
cloud.google.com - New pricing for G Suite Basic and Business Editions | Google Cloud Blog
Alex eric peacock Thank you for the information. G Suite strikes me as something Google has cobbled together in hopes that we'll all go "if its Google its worth the money." They probably aren't enticing too many smaller businesses to Adwords. The marketing and website professionals I work with pretty much have one local Adword expert we all go to, because it requires someone who really knows it.
ReplyDeleteBryan Ruby Actually, that's the way I'm going, though my approach is scattershot at this time. I'm on FB and MeWe, all over the place testing the waters.
ReplyDeleteThey are missing out on an opportunity to just charge the personal account users and just make the active user base into a co-op - maybe there is some one in G-suite google world - that would like to set it up it would be good for their numbers bottom line income
ReplyDeleteLooks like I am going to be paying someone TapaTalk or a yet to be setup Wordpress - TT did a great job migrating I am still figuring things out - I would rather pay to stay on with G+ the niche I share in is so user specific other than the newly found photo games
Does anyone know G-suite executive?
well the only problem for me is the fact that killing the social side. what you're going to get on Google Plus via G Suite it's not the Google Plus experience you have now. this is more geared toward businesses. but if they brought back the social aspect left it the way it was knowing you don't have to lose your profile you created all your communities all your collections I'd even pay 15 a month..what many people myself included watch simply is the ease of having everything right there and how Your average Joe's and Janes can use it even those with very limited PC knowledge which was one of the heartwarming things to G+ as you saw people that didn't use Facebook I couldn't quite even figure it out but learn how to use G+ with the ease it offered and senior citizens and more polygons to come out of their shell and enjoyed conversion with people they never met face-to-face I'm such a daily basis some for quite a few years...and enjoy their time until the Google the side of the shut the social side down
ReplyDeleteCathy Mosley Looks like I might be saving $5/mo. in the near future! It appears I'm overpaying for services on GSuite as it is.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm not 100% sure if the Google Plus that will exist after the April shutdown will be an open environment anymore.
ReplyDeleteThey have been insanely vague about what's coming down the pipeline other than deleting all the things.
I have 3 gmail accounts. This one is an @ gmail. The other two are @ . They're free, because I have fewer than 20 users on each of the two domains.
So on Apr 2, this account will disappear from GooglePlus. But if I open up G+ from one of the other two accounts, will I be able to post public content? Or content that's only visible to other people in the same domain? Or only to other G+ account holders? Will the features change dramatically? Will it have fewer bugs (I'm relatively tolerant of flaky crap when it's free flaky crap. But if I end up paying for G+, it better be a step up, quality-of-service wise than the mess G+ has been over the years). Is the rebirth going to be an "open to all corporate users" system, or a closed "internal to your organization" system to compete with MS Teams/Skype, Slack, and similar products?
They really haven't explained how it will work going forward. Therefore, I have zero interest in investing in that product.
Es wäre ein elitärer Club, ein geschlossener Verein, für den man einen Monatsbeitrag zahlt.
ReplyDeleteEs ist nicht das freie, offene soziale Netz, nicht vergleichbar mit G+!!
Und es widerspricht doch auch irgendwie dem Gedanken des www, in dem sich alle Menschen treffen, Informationen austauschen und voneinander lernen können. ;)
Charles Moore internal to your corporation, not public, from what I understand, but it's still not clear.
ReplyDeleteNo reason for it to cost anything. Just setup a 501(c)3 non-profit and get free G Suite for Non-profits.
ReplyDeleteNot public, not paying, no, thank you.
ReplyDeleteIt has come to my understanding that the "new" Google Plus will be a walled-in garden where nobody from the outside world can see your page and posts, just like MeWe. So I'm not willing to pay for that because I won't get the features of the "old" Google Plus.
ReplyDeleteAnton A see article social media journal January 25th 2019 me we now has an option if you do not use the default settings to where you can share a post publicly or privately your choice..they become very proactive and started listening too many people and are trying to work with them and build what people were hoping to still have here
ReplyDeleteNo.
ReplyDeleteTrucker Kev The Paid Tourist If you share a post as "public" in MeWe, you still can't see it outside of MeWe. That being said, it comes the closest to Google Plus at the moment
ReplyDeleteAnton A They have stated that truly public posts are coming.
ReplyDeleteIf Google had handled the shutdown in a vastly more considerate and professional manner for its existing users, my answer could well have been YES. Unlikely now. I’ve invested too much effort looking at other alternatives, and no longer trust Google at all. I’d rather go back to using FaceBook.
ReplyDeleteProbably not. I'm deliberating over paying $60/yr for Flickr Pro. Hmmmm.
ReplyDeleteLaura Ess
ReplyDeleteIch dachte es sind $49,99 Jahresbeitrag für ein Flickr Konto mit völlig unbegreztem Speicherplatz und diversen Zusatzoptionen!???
Und momentan gibt es zusätzlich noch 15% Ermäßigung, wenn man von kostenlos zu Pro wechselt.
Flickr Pro is 4,99 monthly if you pay annually (=59,88), or 6,99 monthly if you pay monthly (83,88 total annually).
ReplyDeleteAFAIK the 15% discount Flickr was offering during the transition period has ended.
Filip H.F. Slagter
ReplyDeleteIch habe es gerade aktuell auf meinem kostenlosen Flickr Konto angeklickt, lieber Filip...
Und habe auf meiner Profil Startseite das 15% Rabatt Angebot für den Wechsel zum Pro Konto...
Und das Pro Konto Jahresabo, jetzt in der Euro Währung Anzeige, für 4,49 € pro Monat *Jährliche Abrechnung.
Es gibt das Pro Konto auch als Monatliches Abo, für 5,99 € pro Monat.
Bei Monatliches Abo bin ich nicht ganz sicher, ob es genauso viel Zusatzoptionen enthält, wie das Jahresabo .
Angezeigt werden hier auf meiner Ansicht, für das Jahresabo auch exklusive Rabatte, die bei Monatliches Abo nicht angezeigt werden.
Ein Abo kann man jederzeit ändern oder kündigen!
Andi Droid not to derail this topic further, but you are right that the front page still (sometimes) shows the 15% discount offer. However, when I click on it, it doesn't actually seem to apply it for me. Even stranger, when I click on 'not in the US?' link in the payment options to switch to my country, the annual plan cost switches from 49,99 USD to 59,88 USD...https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/qeO6Cab8czS-2n5CF3k7yJKKC0R0J23EBOYn5BYgTF3bGfcEfr4yf-FOzkrR36mSoKrrLLwuEMj8srsM0UU8Q94tb1Mac9-Ii6pi=s0
ReplyDeleteAndi Droid not to derail this topic further, but you are right that the front page still (sometimes) shows the 15% discount offer. However, when I click on it, it doesn't actually seem to apply it for me. Even stranger, when I click on 'not in the US?' link in the payment options to switch to my country, the annual plan cost switches from 49,99 USD to 59,88 USD...https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/g7T58g_nADYfTjIfhG_WbnNLMPE8LTffDYcKyhRs_cLkIXaJnrP588qG6eXnUXry9HirLBCt1YZ2KJ_pWvnW5OvjQxUGD__0GFbb=s0
ReplyDeleteAndi Droid not to derail this topic further, but you are right that the front page still (sometimes) shows the 15% discount offer. However, when I click on it, it doesn't actually seem to apply it for me. Even stranger, when I click on 'not in the US?' link in the payment options to switch to my country, the annual plan cost switches from 49,99 USD to 59,88 USD...https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/cFhkIpn-mkia5SgJxtyTeDyI7Ve5Ctlk2N3h5EHKFdV_6FAf_rfRrfuCNM8E6_LYqOFNFHlZrruSFEvvHGOmxO7fT3TBfz3wbBFl=s0
ReplyDeleteAndi Droid not to derail this topic further, but you are right that the front page still (sometimes) shows the 15% discount offer. However, when I click on it, it doesn't actually seem to apply it for me. Even stranger, when I click on 'not in the US?' link in the payment options to switch to my country, the annual plan cost switches from 49,99 USD to 59,88 USD...https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/GqSgzP4efw5Xi3AYcbvyGaawMEMQwBAfBriTovH5ab255UY2cqkzeJZlwbz4aoXoginYZtakGgoZ-EvNfGxXbZcRmKGOT1eX5T_X=s0
ReplyDeleteAndi Droid not to derail this topic further, but you are right that the front page still (sometimes) shows the 15% discount offer. However, when I click on it, it doesn't actually seem to apply it for me. Even stranger, when I click on 'not in the US?' link in the payment options to switch to my country, the annual plan cost switches from 49,99 USD to 59,88 USD...https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Vomnao8PmY_DGZ0dXpqq5A9JPfZ-7aKV2FQLJAZ0qBupb-NY3Gr0rD5xNZYvro6N3sQOe-ovhicmQNwlOtLOcHAzq1ixGK404ofI=s0
ReplyDeleteAndi Droid not to derail this topic further, but you are right that the front page still (sometimes) shows the 15% discount offer. However, when I click on it, it doesn't actually seem to apply it for me. Even stranger, when I click on 'not in the US?' link in the payment options to switch to my country, the annual plan cost switches from 49,99 USD to 59,88 USD...https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/TlBcAwoPawOqN-CxSp-8SGO-_vWJnvGe9I_yxic2pVgxgBZbh9fVkF7jVSXjCML8DB1CfOeApkwpSUb-NT4q4ntMOIc73UMgokwy=s0
ReplyDeleteAndi Droid not to derail this topic further, but you are right that the front page still (sometimes) shows the 15% discount offer. However, when I click on it, it doesn't actually seem to apply it for me. Even stranger, when I click on 'not in the US?' link in the payment options to switch to my country, the annual plan cost switches from 49,99 USD to 59,88 USD...https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/mJ-BvAXswn7mSdYiABb-E880f0654hvGtMgDXqLTdXM0ImaomQ25cS2xjbFX8wBJlZ_lHT0LyWb2m5ByeP4dnuLyTlrAGQv1MjRi=s0
ReplyDeleteAndi Droid not to derail this topic further, but you are right that the front page still (sometimes) shows the 15% discount offer. However, when I click on it, it doesn't actually seem to apply it for me. Even stranger, when I click on 'not in the US?' link in the payment options to switch to my country, the annual plan cost switches from 49,99 USD to 59,88 USD...https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/jE_1t0_0osaCJULbKIUk6Z7kidHnUWzWl0gM4PyRwOtsyuWDwbbIp99luu-nGLaRLijl5FTh1M4swfErObI7-4--bolUXsiuwLW5=s0
ReplyDeleteAndi Droid not to derail this topic further, but you are right that the front page still (sometimes) shows the 15% discount offer. However, when I click on it, it doesn't actually seem to apply it for me. Even stranger, when I click on 'not in the US?' link in the payment options to switch to my country, the annual plan cost switches from 49,99 USD to 59,88 USD...https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/CtNbHsgrTc2dyjICUOKUZ961tdaWo7OMzzaaEtmLoG9HFWF7pALPhhZHKYxGKUleVA_ryE_qqmmwnYoTqgkwqxEiK8wQiwGsFj88=s0
ReplyDeleteAndi Droid not to derail this topic further, but you are right that the front page still (sometimes) shows the 15% discount offer. However, when I click on it, it doesn't actually seem to apply it for me. Even stranger, when I click on 'not in the US?' link in the payment options to switch to my country, the annual plan cost switches from 49,99 USD to 59,88 USD...https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ID_Bpu1WYzYUqBEqpA26Vtx42CbIhqABM0b5u1Vr50kdjaijasf30cZOIPrQdOLSz2wRKVQiSBLICBRWVSA7eTfOmiC7rpL93kpc=s0
ReplyDeleteAndi Droid not to derail this topic further, but you are right that the front page still (sometimes) shows the 15% discount offer. However, when I click on it, it doesn't actually seem to apply it for me. Even stranger, when I click on 'not in the US?' link in the payment options to switch to my country, the annual plan cost switches from 49,99 USD to 59,88 USD...https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/qp2mnNncHiDdgv6xdHgKCIfrRObAyUZc0VJRP2NtNHOCMv1c7NGP2tiNs-SURmbCdBnJZT1oF4vRB1p3KdYXtQkTCkxNc1Z2idop=s0
ReplyDeleteAndi Droid not to derail this topic further, but you are right that the front page still (sometimes) shows the 15% discount offer. However, when I click on it, it doesn't actually seem to apply it for me. Even stranger, when I click on 'not in the US?' link in the payment options to switch to my country, the annual plan cost switches from 49,99 USD to 59,88 USD...https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/MGB-M7Kc2kMNFdPsQWkPRAe3tJCpih6MGrkMpUVBiIgpIsZIFRqY7PjQWrSnRfjeaXEvGdE1unCIsEHcO2YA98Yl3MEb14a3fzQ7=s0
ReplyDeleteAndi Droid not to derail this topic further, but you are right that the front page still (sometimes) shows the 15% discount offer. However, when I click on it, it doesn't actually seem to apply it for me. Even stranger, when I click on 'not in the US?' link in the payment options to switch to my country, the annual plan cost switches from 49,99 USD to 59,88 USD...https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/mMaKsJSlKYuXjttT4bm1uIOVbzaNW4Xb8f4blkLIt2I634H6lNShxHRnTJI7BOgUYlL94giteYiZU9CuBm0pBRPIjgvg2YxpNn1q=s0
ReplyDeleteAndi Droid not to derail this topic further, but you are right that the front page still (sometimes) shows the 15% discount offer. However, when I click on it, it doesn't actually seem to apply it for me. Even stranger, when I click on 'not in the US?' link in the payment options to switch to my country, the annual plan cost switches from 49,99 USD to 59,88 USD...https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/QZ-uSK14lgEvudSdQNcwcgO-t9n9i1oMYZkfc5jsv7N-GV_8YXbdETdTUpGvqE8lzwRi_TvISwY8At8Xjd7t1qEDLa3dXGacvj_l=s0
ReplyDeleteAndi Droid not to derail this topic further, but you are right that the front page still (sometimes) shows the 15% discount offer. However, when I click on it, it doesn't actually seem to apply it for me. Even stranger, when I click on 'not in the US?' link in the payment options to switch to my country, the annual plan cost switches from 49,99 USD to 59,88 USD...https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/xoMWuQzM0jEf4HmXZIqrajInNEXDYX9ybYTM3Z7fdeoetddCtlUwRaZ8dXaMnFGsDS6oHuDxPgrCsh-ywYq2RJNLE0uufyqAktvJ=s0
ReplyDeleteAndi Droid not to derail this topic further, but you are right that the front page still (sometimes) shows the 15% discount offer. However, when I click on it, it doesn't actually seem to apply it for me. Even stranger, when I click on 'not in the US?' link in the payment options to switch to my country, the annual plan cost switches from 49,99 USD to 59,88 USD...https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/jCscVLrsetA_gxkkbfRvDOm9IHepGnr9gFhuDumkL-IDQv_gBj15-m1iZHW4mZX2AazAbN3ew7AOT6kwykJj9sgagq7Q-wh8fK_7=s0
ReplyDeleteAndi Droid not to derail this topic further, but you are right that the front page still (sometimes) shows the 15% discount offer. However, when I click on it, it doesn't actually seem to apply it for me. Even stranger, when I click on 'not in the US?' link in the payment options to switch to my country, the annual plan cost switches from 49,99 USD to 59,88 USD...https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/dmdcOmkon0XEUrd25636fbbDIHcLqYiDQR-R8rCnBhN5dHP7xDIWw7irpdQp-DG5tMAcjs84nKSwgNkMymnzojPV5Pb2ImWd6fo0=s0
ReplyDeleteAndi Droid not to derail this topic further, but you are right that the front page still (sometimes) shows the 15% discount offer. However, when I click on it, it doesn't actually seem to apply it for me. Even stranger, when I click on 'not in the US?' link in the payment options to switch to my country, the annual plan cost switches from 49,99 USD to 59,88 USD...https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/FtkvlS17NZIJHbuzgm_678pIrz8zhUubMYzHu_aPCZ3wBZm5zRYqyEXclWEw2MXp6de1ohNwNithaZZ9oKPG-nWdmxc-YfE59BJE=s0
ReplyDeleteAndi Droid not to derail this topic further, but you are right that the front page still (sometimes) shows the 15% discount offer. However, when I click on it, it doesn't actually seem to apply it for me. Even stranger, when I click on 'not in the US?' link in the payment options to switch to my country, the annual plan cost switches from 49,99 USD to 59,88 USD...https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/FToTeaYoZxJbDDG-3KHz54VdswJwZOUV1iElKJI2dXNSzWTMwPa3TBAq7-jW3Rk-7B65fJ4F-97hPDhc6qACEVm2lfqWv_iZzkZm=s0
ReplyDeleteAndi Droid not to derail this topic further, but you are right that the front page still (sometimes) shows the 15% discount offer. However, when I click on it, it doesn't actually seem to apply it for me. Even stranger, when I click on 'not in the US?' link in the payment options to switch to my country, the annual plan cost switches from 49,99 USD to 59,88 USD...https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/USj8u6fGBCUQGPvNsgR077nqR3Vbv5_a5v9Ln7tCRRhF6-7yo4rAbN-ViXwRHyAq90u_125gQU2OhS7XMmhrSS0JFcGFJkmouLe2=s0
ReplyDeleteAndi Droid not to derail this topic further, but you are right that the front page still (sometimes) shows the 15% discount offer. However, when I click on it, it doesn't actually seem to apply it for me. Even stranger, when I click on 'not in the US?' link in the payment options to switch to my country, the annual plan cost switches from 49,99 USD to 59,88 USD...https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/L-7EADfVtsbHB_94Z4r0Z1l2QBCwNqF4mLzw9H9H2wSL0yy1zfavpzuR4g3m6IPQ_i2MeHS4lPn5uPFvIHnS8vn2u7i9YALNs6Vl=s0
ReplyDeleteAndi Droid Can you use Flickr as a social media platform?
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThe amount of almost invaluable customer good will E
Google has squandered in their insanely inept closure of G+ baffled me. The top guys are incredibly smart. I just don't know how this could have been handled in a worse way.
Brian Holt Hawthorne Your 501c3 idea intrigued me. I looked up the steps required. However, given the short time to G+ sunset and the numbers of us required to set up a corporate structure with board of directors, etc., it doesn't sound like it could be set up while we're all still here.
ReplyDeletedonorbox.org - How to Start a 501c3 - Ultimate Guide to Registering a 501c3 Nonprofit
Jeff Diver not to mention it would still be a very exclusive club of just the people with Google accounts in your private domain. And you'd still have some costs -- whatever legal fees to get and maintain the 501c3, the domain costs, etc. Plus the time and effort to do so .
ReplyDeleteJeff Diver On the other hand, there are many existing 501(c)3s out there already. Surely one of them includes the necessary mission statement that would enable them to do this. FYI, a G Suite for Non-Profits organization can have multiple domains and multiple organizational units.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the non-profit that I am an admin is limited in its corporate mission to just our local town, so I can’t help, but there must be a national non-profit out there willing to take this on.
For myself: no, for reasons largely stated above.
ReplyDeleteA closed walled-garden-silo is very different from the open/public G+ that's existed to date. I've posted on G+ not just for the other users of the system (and quite often, simply myself), but so that my posts were publicly accessible on the Internet at large. On G Suite G+ they will not be.
Google's management of the G+ shutdown has been absolutely abysmal. I've had numerous other reasons to move what limited cloud / SaaS activities I've used off of Google, I now have several very compelling ones. The general observation that this is exceptionally poor business practice _and reflects on how Google has treated paying as well as non-paying customers is one that should be very strongly heeded. This is not a company which behaves competently.
Cost-gated online services have profoundly different dynamics than freely-available ones. That's not to say this cannot be a useful mechanism -- Metafilter's one-time $5 fee (per account, forfeit on violuation of TOU) is an exceptionally effective crap filter. It's also an exceptionally effective growth filter. Metafilter is a tiny service by modern standards, though the standard of discussion is also exceedingly high. Maybe these things just go hand-in-hand. The hassles of financialising online activities remain substantial. And this is not to say that online services have no costs or must be free, or free to all. But how such costs are structured and assessed has massive, massive impacts.
This is why almost all discussions of "pay for it and avoid X", where X is advertising, tracking, or other annoyances, frequently fail. The more so as the committments to avoid X for payment frequently fall flat, short, and/or are violated. For the service provider, the cost of revenue itself is often a major component of that revenue. Take the case of Pluspora: the direct per-user hosting costs are about $0.25/user-year. That is literally too cheap to invoice, though with some level of group support and an ability to charge groups over some threshold for use might create a viable revenue model.
There are other indirect costs, including administration, moderation, development, etc., which might bump up the per-user threshold a bit. But quite literally and seriously one of the problems we face is that costs are too low to be economically viable to collect, at least on a per-person basis. Someone needs to figure out a cost-aggregation model that doesn't involve advertising.
I don't think a paid-in G Suite G+ will have the type of activity or members I'd be looking for. The people I'd most been interested in following on G+ have .... well, most of them left a long time ago. But they don't seem keen on sticking around.
This gets to the point that focusing on the technology rather than the community is probably ass-backwards. Find a solid cohort who want and need a discussion platform, and don't mind expanding the group reasonably. Solve their needs first, then address scaling considerations as those arise. Learn from earlier efforts, but put community first.
Successful social networks seem to have generally done this. Most by accident: Usenet, mailing lists, specifically-focused BBS and weblog systems, blogs, and Facebook. The parts of G+ which worked (and there were many parts that didn't) succeeded mostly on this basis).
Having seen more than a few flame-outs in this space over the decades, I've also noted that some of the worst failures in social networks come from those with extensive experience at earlier sites that scaled highly.
And the reason seems to be this:
ReplyDeleteThe problems of social networking at small and large scales are almost entirely different. That is, when you're _small, the technical problems are minute -- you could communicate on postcards or whiteboards, for all it matters. It's the social problem which are significant -- finding an interested community, bringing them onboard, and keeping them engaged. "Growth hacking", if you will.
Once you've got growth and scale, issues start to emerge. These are almost comically predictable. At small scales (< 100 users), there are the Bores and Fanatics, who annoy others (I resemble this, often). Above 100 or so users, you start seeing focused interpersonal issues -- relationships, jealousies, obsessions (people rather than topic-focused), and the socially inept or toxic -- start to be seen. The WELL famously had this emerge -- with a staffer as a key friction point, early in its career.
Above 1,000 or so, you start seeing opportunists. These give lie to the statement that "we're all here for the discussion and community" statement you'll occasionally see. Opportunists -- spammers, trolls, griefers, etc. -- seek to extract from rather than add to the network's value. At this scale, they're typically small operators, and not particularly systemic, though that can vary with the audience.
At the 10k - 100k level and up, you start seeing concerted attacks -- bots, propagandists, and the like. Again, Usenet history in 1994 saw an automated propaganda spam account, Serdar Argic, posting over 100 times daily to discussions mentioning "Turkey" or "Armenia", denying the Armenian genocide. This ultimately lead to the create of cancelbots which could send "cancel" messages, preventing specific Usenet posts from propagating.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serdar_Argic
http://www.jaedworks.com/shoebox/zumabot.html
http://www.jaedworks.com/shoebox/serdar-eye.html
Also at about this scale, petty criminal activity begins to emerge, ranging from various forms of copyright infringement, direct cyberattacks, fraud, grifters, bullying, and the like.
At the 1 million - 100 million user level, networks achieve social and political significance. Malfeasance ranging from fraud to drugs trafficking to pornography and prostitution (or worse) attract the attention of law enforcement and prosecutors, who often go after system operators directly. Mass-market advertising emerges as a significant force. Propaganda attempts escalate, and organised crime increasingly targets businesses, organisations, and governments with fraud and other attacks.
Above 1 billion users, systems become effectively global propaganda engines, used by state and non-state actors. It's interesting to note that of the three publications in world history with over 1 billion copies produced, all three are propaganda instruments: the Holy Bible, the Qoran, and The Sayings of Chairman Mao. The first in the original sense of the word, the second in the same spirit from a competing firm, and the third in the modern political sense. That social networks have followed this pattern should perhaps not be so surprising.
The point of this scale-problem excursion is to point out that there are problems which emerge at reasonably well-defined points, but which don't generally manifest below that level. Again, the result is that those who have experience with very large systems often apply their large-system-problems experience to their new, small, systems. Whilst useful for advanced thinking,
this is a mismatch of focus and needs. I'm increasingly confident that Imzy was and now Tildes is burdened by this mismatch. (Both are founded by ex-Reddit staff.)
ReplyDeleteAnother point is that there are many paths to social-media failure, and fairly few to success. Certain strengths can sustain ultimately unsupportable projects for an extensive period of time -- as Google's massive advertising-monopoly-fueled subsidy of Google+ shows. Many social networks seem to go through periods of first building and then extracting or mining value -- generally reputation or goodwill. Facebook certainly seems in this phase, Google very likely is as well. How inevitable this may be is an interesting question.
But looking at present options and alternatives, keeping an eye out for fairly obvious signs of commitment to highly-probable-failure paths by sites and platforms should be a high priority. MeWe would be one site which has rabidly embraced several of these simultaneously (community cohort, management policy, business model, social dynamic, closed silo, and possibly more). It's hardly the only one.
And whilst I'm favourably inclined to open / decentralised options, these are not immune to failure paths themselves, as the case of Usenet clearly demonstrates.
I completely agree with nearly everything that Edward Morbius says. I would add the slight amendment that his list of publications with over a billion copies refers just to long-form paper publications; there are plenty of short-form digital publications that have far exceeded these numbers and most are entertainment rather than propaganda. See for example en.m.wikipedia.org - List of most-viewed YouTube videos - Wikipedia . And I am more disappointed than I am outraged at Google’s handling of the shutdown. It’s what I have come to expect from corporations, but for a brief moment in history, Google held the promise to be something more.
ReplyDeleteUsing the post-4/2 Google+ on G Suite will be a very different experience than using the pre-4/2 Google+ has been. I am nonetheless intrigued to see what it will become, hence my hope that someone will take up the baton so the rest of you can try it. Not as a replacement for Google+, but rather as another experiment on online social interaction.
Filip H.F. Slagter
ReplyDeleteDankeschön, lieber Filip!!
Ich hoffe das SmugMug diese merkwürdige Unterschiedlichkeit beseitigt!!
Eine eindeutige, ganz klar angezeigte und offene Angabe der Preise ist immer Notwendig und gehört zu einem seriösen Geschäft!!!
Und da es eine weltweite Plattform ist, sollten auch alle Kunden gleichzeitig einen einheitlichen Preis zahlen.
Ebenso sollten Angebote und oder Preisnachlässe, für alle Kunden gleichermassen gelten.
Benachteilig oder Bevorzugung, einiger Kunden aus einigen Weltregionen, lehne ich vollständig ab!!
Benachteilig oder Bevorzugung ist, nach meiner Meinung, auch eine sehr schlechte Geschäftspolitik.
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Vielleicht hängt die unterschiedliche Anzeige auch mit Umbaumaßnahmen zusammen?
Mir scheint, seit kurzem verändert sich kaum merkbar etwas...
Die Ansicht und der Platz von gewohnten Funktionen scheint sich schleichend zu verändern/zu modernisieren.
Und ich habe inzwischen auch schon drei Flickr interne Informationsseiten... Die ich jetzt in meiner Sprache angezeigt bekomme. Noch im Dezember waren diese drei Seiten nur in englischer Sprache für mich zu sehen.
Ich hoffe jetzt, nach und nach werden jetzt alle Informationen auch in meiner Sprache zu lesen sein! ;)
Anton A
ReplyDeleteFlickr ist für Foto und Kunst aller Art sehr geeignet.
Und unter den einzelnen Bildern kann man kurze oder lange Kommentare geben...
So bleibt es jedem Teilnehmer überlassen, inwieweit jeder sich austauschen möchte!
Mit einigen Flickr Freunden tausche ich ein angeregtes hin und her der Kommentare, innerhalb eines Bildes.
Mit einigen ist der Gedankenaustausch persönlicher Art...
Mit einigen ist es eher über die Qualität der Fotos...
Es werden manchmal auch Verabredungen oder Einladungen zum Foto-Walk gemacht.
Und innerhalb Flickr kann man auch direckt, über eine FlickrMail, in ganz privaten Austausch mit den Flickr Freunden gehen.
Also JA!, natürlich kann man es also auch als eine Art der sozialen Plattform nutzen.
Allerdings fehlen auf Flickr die, hier auf G+ auch noch üblichen, anderen Informationen und Interessengebiete!!
Für Newsletter oder andere App Informationen und derart interessierte Gruppen/Community's muss ein anderer Ort gefunden werden!!
Ich deshalb gerade auf der Suche nach einem zusätzlichen Netzwerk für mich.
Wahrscheinlich werde ich das Friendica wählen. ;)
Aber es bleibt jedem selbst überlassen, welcher G+ Ersatz der jeweils richtige ist.
Sicher ist nur, es gibt keinen 100% gleichwertigen G+ Ersatz!!!
Man muss für sich selbst die besten Alternativen aussuchen!! ;)
Edward Morbius this kind of comment & community is the reason why I'm in love with G+, matured & lots of valuable information, but sadly it will be ended soon.
ReplyDelete