Notes from the (G+ and beyond) Field

Notes from the (G+ and beyond) Field

For all 6 who may read this. ;) With 11 days on the shut-down clock.... quiet time

#1
First, I got a direct ("mandatory") email from Google+ today.
(Wondering: did lawyers mandate this? Not shocking it's not just from good will!)

G-PLUS EMAIL:

"You’ve received this email because you have content in Google+ for your personal (consumer) account or a Google+ page you manage.

This is a reminder that on April 2, 2019 we’re shutting down consumer Google+ and will begin deleting content from consumer Google+ accounts. Photos and videos from Google+ in your Album Archive and your Google+ pages will also be deleted.

Downloading your Google+ content may take time, so get started before March 31, 2019.

No other Google products (such as Gmail, Google Photos, Google Drive, YouTube) will be shut down as part of the consumer Google+ shutdown, and the Google Account you use to sign in to these services will remain. Note that photos and videos already backed up in Google Photos will not be deleted.

For more information, see the full Google+ shutdown FAQ.

From all of us on the Google+ team, thank you for making Google+ such a special place.

Google LLC 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043

You have received this mandatory email service announcement to update you about important changes to your Google+ Page, product or account."

~~

Thanks, oh "don't be evil" one!

And a reference to their handiwork thus far:
https://killedbygoogle.com/

~~

#2 Happenings in the "New World", on the 2 main immigrant sites I've been immersed in, as "participant observer" (social scientist hat) and new immigrant:

Mindful that there are very strong feelings, independent of angst/anger brought upon us by Google, about two main recipients of #gplusrefugees:

I have stayed out of "endorsing" or blanket condemnation, as the world online, as offline, is "complicated" and people will be somewhere, even if booted from FB or Twitter, or simply enjoying the interface and people chosen to interact with.

Two summary notes, with positives and negatives galore I could say, but mostly already have, along with many others ("missing" features, platform bells & whistles, ability to edit, the definition of "public" posts, aspects/circles etc.)

OK, MeWe first (indulge me mods - there's not much time/space left to share)

I find MeWe to be Facebook without ads. Lots of chat windows (for every group and contact, and ability to voice chat and emoji your heart out). Some absolutely love it, especially as a (decent but not Google+) replacement, for communities, especially for photographers, of which there are many, in specific topic groups (say landscape or street or nature photography) and specifically outreaching and welcoming G+ refugees. If you stick to invite/closed groups and are careful not to join groups which are overwhelmingly .gif and emoji feeds (unless you like that), you are unlikely to encounter the "Nazis" (except a few rule-crazed admins) or hate talk, and people stay in their own groups/cells. It's just the idea (IMHO) of the CEO's "openness" to hateful groups which is a deal-breaker, it seems, for many. And some, out of conscience (or concern) will stay away for that reason.

Personally, what annoys me, as has been amplified here, is the whole campaigning against something (in this case FB, which may deserve it, but the model of blaming/belittling the other is not a positive path, just more bad-mouthing). It really hit home to me when yesterday, MeWe was largely up and down all day, people complaining that emojis didn't work, and myself getting a banner "sorry there's a problem" about 90% of the time. (My task, taking imminently lost G+ posts and putting into an album I can access later.)
So when I went to the main announce page, I see the CEO apologizing for down time, and it's all good, just growth pains, it's under control, we have only 30 people running the whole show.... I hope they're brilliant, because - calling a bit of BS myself, after 5 days "in line" for their hugely announced import tool of their own, I'm still "in line for processing". And of 4 million reported users, I have yet to see ONE person say they've succeeded, nor one sample of an imported page, collection, community, or anything. Correction: There was (yesterday) ONE person joyously exclaiming the import went through. When I asked to see a sample, he hadn't seen it. Only gotten a notice. "What did you get?" Crickets....
So that's my mixed experience with actual functioning of the team there. Can't say they're not trying like heck... And maybe it's paradise for some. YMMV.

Oh, and as for the "public posting" they now tout: Publicly in the garden, that is, and quite vague at that. Again, maybe a nice plan (or hype) but I don't see logically how they can both "open up" to be public facing and retain their claim-to-fame of privacy. Unless, as some do foresee, they move to circles/aspects and totally remake their platform. And again, maybe 80% of users (non refugees and younger folks especially) care about none of this. They're having fun.

Diaspora*/Pluspora

Again, the structural issues are widely discussed/bemoaned (Pluspora, e.g. limited in inability to post-post edit, while other pods excel in portability and inter-pod connections, blog-hosting, etc.). It has aspects (the basis for "circles") which are not only a wonderful thing to have, but increasingly useful. I say this having seen, in the past few days, a rise in the Fediverse of chatter and cut & paste rants and "manifesto" discussions, emulation of Limbaugh, conspiracies, etc., post- the tragic events in New Zealand. Mods have had to deal with it, and some contacts have taken to limiting public posting. To me that's the same as G+, having the option to be truly public or truly selective in posts, a brilliant thing.

I say this because - some may know my mantra of "context & perspective" - it is not straightforward that MeWe is all Nazis and diaspora* is all love and lights.
There is an entire world population living not only where they are, but online, and like we used to say (pioneering online groups in the 90's), "online life is like offline life, only online". So as more from G+ flood other platforms, and some see the "death of social media " - centralized "walled gardens" like AOL & FB - there are also those booted from FB and those leaving by choice. So it's more and more a reflection wherever we turn, of the overall social landscape today.

And lastly, a few more pora* observations. #1, it's not immune to trolls, nor is it a single place or entity. It is collectively a collective of communities, and a global one. You can edit with an editor, but not post-edit (contentious for over a decade!). You have "aspects". You can nicely display photographs, individually or grouped (but other than tagging, on Pluspora at least, no way to make text-named albums or collections, and no "groups", which many really want/need). You can share, truly publicly. Beyond that, I have met some really profoundly interesting, talented, thoughtful and creative people via diaspora*, so much so that within a few short months I've come to adore some people from around the world, many who have called the Federation home before my ship arrived in December 2018. Amazing people. Easy threaded conversation (well, linearly threaded, not by post - and you can't just + or thumbs up individual comments).

So that's about it, for the few who may read this and benefit. Obviously it's (past) time that people are already settled in or settling in elsewhere.

There's a terrific effort being made to archive the entirety of G+ (See the discussions about this and join in if you possibly can!) Many platforms are now seeing humongous growth (MeWe claiming 400% in a month) and both pora* pods and MeWe are listening to the new and renewed calls for "improvements" to make things more integrated and feature rich a la G+. (Tip: Chrome has a translate extension which works great for both pora* and MeWe, which don't offer native, in-stream translation as does/did Google).

Eleven days on the clock... Do you know where your data is? Your friends?
Your new home?

Time for new beginnings, growth, and blossoms... even the calendar says. Happy Spring!!


https://killedbygoogle.com/