On Social Media

*UPDATE/Death-Knell NYC - Phase One* This is new. As of 15:37 EST/New York. I just posted a farewell photo - successfully. Things look fast and clean (I chuckled too soon.) As of just moments ago, after I posted I was unable to go back to "home"; and I can now only see the last thing I posted. (This!) Perhaps one last time I can post? Trying to see if I can post "here", which I can still access via the panel (communities yes, home no). So... I may be fired - though so many are posting soundtracks now and goodbyes, which I think is appropriate and an "action". But here's the only photo I think I've posted here, amid the "working" tasks... My parting look at G+. G for "ghost" - at last the broken-clock thinkers are right. It's been lovely. I do like ghost towns, but wish this wasn't one. Peace-love-joy.

Ground Control to Major Tom... Can you hear me? Originally shared by Michael Fenichel Breaking News Live from the Google-land.... G- Day Begins Google+ Ends

This is where the most discussion has been (serious and satirical) about when, where, and how big the switch will flip. Most (IMHO) are assuming-anticipating continued decrements and the clocks tend to run out at midnight, April 2, with our Cinderella world chariot quickly (?) returning to a pumpkin, and then no mas. Here's one of a few countdown clocks, for those asking. (Don't stare too long at the accident or into the eclipsing sun!) Seems to be that 1 April will be the day of watch parties, some documenting, and a whole lot of watching. As others have no idea ... Well, here's to us... All of us collectively who shared this lovely world. Originally shared by Michael Fenichel COUNTDOWN CLOCK - For clock watchers and nail-biters... Here's one of a few live countdown clocks, all - like some of the parties &/or deathwatches - assuming/guessing "the switch" is pulled at midnight (somewhere) . So most see April 1 as the "beginning of the end" ...

Limiting my goodbye-party posts here (with so many no-nonsense, no time participants.) But a reminder (doh!) - This is the end, my friend... The last full working weekend to clean up remains and do some last salvaging of a live G+. (But I've posted, and continue "until the end", some music posts of relevance, both publicly and to the "Lights out" community, where some party/wakes are.) #googleplus #gplusrefugees #googlecountdown #end #googleisevil

As the Google Countdown Clock Turns to Day #9 / # 9 / No9.... Just watching. Mighty quiet on G+, nobody in OUR ghost town. Thanks to all those still "here". I may have mentioned: I like ghost towns! I've enjoyed this one. Busy times, spring times. Yin/yang I guess. Bon voyage. (If a thumb pops up, follow the text link to "originally shared", for a "bonus"!) Dang Google was good when it was good, and evil when it went evil. Originally shared by Michael Fenichel #9 All aboard! In a moment, as soon as the steam locomotive quenches its thirst. Click/tap on image to see brief video. Links below to #9 music. Musical references : 1. Beatles: Revolution #9 (AKA "Number 9") https://youtu.be/HWmvbxGpra4 2. Beethoven: Symphony #9 https://youtu.be/t3217H8JppI 3. Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 "From The New World" https://youtu.be/WuqyfEyNXQo 4. Glenn Miller: Chattanooga Choo Choo https://youtu.be/bGBwmLRNLJ4 5. Grat...

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 a...

Final Notice!? The widget warning has now come and gone, along with the widget. Next stop, planned oblivion. (Yes, plenty of notice, sure....) The image here is what shows as of today when you (manually) check the notifications panel, at least on Chrome/desktop. Seems pretty final! Google+, anyone watching will have noticed, is (finally) "like a ghost town" with very few posts - to what end, other than goodbyes and signal flares? For sure most in this community have long made, re-made, and laid plans, taken out, set up, whatever... maybe breathing easier at surviving to see another life, but... Sad. Disappointing. Infuriating. Perplexing. You name it. Thanks, Google! The countdown clock shows 18 days and 2 hours - not that I'd expect a switch to flip at a precise time and poof! It's been a nice run, could've should've been thriving still. Into the future. Many fun times here... Hopefully the voice of so many of us will bring our new communities some of the ch...

Welcome to the Widget Watch... Originally shared by Michael Fenichel Check Your Calendars If you're reading this and don't know.... "Welcome to Google+, enjoy your stay." For anyone still here, who has lived in this wonderful community over the past 8 years, trusting that "don't be evil" Google would never callously or malevolently disrupt the way of life and vitality of its own community - much less destroy it altogether, with ever-decreasing notice and ever-increasing collateral damage, such as wiping out years of lives & data. The widget is going-going-gone, maybe by the time this is read, if it is read. The site is still up and - for the fist time in 8 years "they" are right - it's a ghost town! #thisisevil #googleplusRIP #googlepluswidget #gplusrefugees #socialmedia

R.I.P. Google+ community... But do rest in other new homes. "It's been a good run", a bad stewardship by an evil Google, and an era ending... Originally shared by Michael Fenichel Last rites time... Enjoy this last weekend of (partial) notifications and working widgets. :(

A little test/demo/observation #1 Activity "here" has suddenly slowed, robots gone, I'm guessing the majority of people with a long sustained presence on G+ have already re-settled & are busy settling into new homes, new communities. #2 It feels rather nice to see, re-acquaint "old friends" from G+, and know that the mutual desire to stay connected goes far - be it to a pod/instance of Federation (e.g., Pluspora, where many G+ers are heading), or a blog platform or MeWe - which to be fair and honest, is exploding with new users from G+, with many photo and discussion groups, and many bells & whistles people love (e.g., chat and emojis) - but no real public visibility, and no real formatting options. But it is pretty and easy, like Facebook or G+ . So - this is not about me, except trying to share... I've been focused on salvaging hidden (album) images "here" and Collection photos which I posted only on G+ (and don't want to sift t...

Image Download Issues FWIW - I set out to download some G+ photos (directly from my G+ collection) in order to relocate them. I got one and then the next several only partially download and I get "Failed- Network Error". So... I hope I get to all the remaining images I want to (easily) download and relocate - not many left, but it feels like the machine is getting wobbly. I have no idea if there's any impact on "takeout" (or if it's a result of high demand), but just wanted to note this. "I see things" - including this - as Google + functionality (from widgets to downloads) sputters and fades away. :( If this is a harbinger (along with all the other bumps and fits)... Just another reminder IMM to finish up packing and saving ASAP if still doing it, as the end is not only near, it is here. Grab what you want and what you can!! Nice (but sad) to see so many people and groups already safely landed in a new safe haven, hopefully more responsive to h...

Update Google Speaks! "We have heard your questions and want to help". ahem (Heard that before somewhere?) Originally shared by Google+ We heard your questions about the Google+ shutdown and want to help clarify what will go away with the shutdown of Google+ for consumers on April 2nd. No other Google products (such as Gmail, Google Photos, Google Drive) 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 backed up in Google Photos will not be deleted. Thank you for sharing your questions with us and for more information please check out this article on our Help Center or this list of frequently asked questions . https://support.google.com/plus/answer/9195133

"Preserve Your Memories" "....they're all that's left you". From Simon and Garfunkel, "Bookends". So maybe it's time to send up a #signalflare ... and say that I've safely landed in a New World or two (Pluspora mostly, but also MeWe just for those who give me no choice for staying in contact, except Facebook or MeWe - no further comment.) I use my real name everywhere, so I'm not hard to find. Flickr too, for photography, which I've long loved (nice display, exif info, groups, albums, etc.) - and I am happy if people shun it as "not social enough" due to "no chat", emojis, etc. I like it as-is. Aside from what may or may not be left standing on G+ (albums in Photos?), much of my photography and psychology is on my own website for 20+ years, a blessing: http://www.fenichel.com And to end this "flare", I want to just boil down what I think - as both an individual and social scientist/psychologist - ma...

Another Google notice (oh joy, oh joy) - Groups FWIW, maybe of note to some who will migrate elsewhere but continue to use Google Groups (which has been mentioned as one continuing alternative to some other Google "products"). Not - yet - a death notice, as I was expecting, though there's time for them to decide to only continue as enterprise-based. Ah well. FYI.

2 cents of quirks & G+ fun (today, 7 Feb 19) Two things caught what's left of my eye today. It feels like watching a person or favorite sofa falling apart. :( #1 Notifications (via widgets and web panel) - They've been quirky a while now (weeks) sometimes stopping altogether. For the past 10 days or so I've been noticing (on a laptop and desktop, w/Chrome) how G+ notifications have been coming (or not). First to go is the little widget on the top banner, "the bell". I noticed that some notifications were going to this "bell", particularly those from friends/sources posting via mobile (ostensibly via G+ app). On the left-side panel the "notifications" section usually, not always, had the same notifications (when notifications were coming at all). And many times this section got notices which never made it to the top-right bell/notice widget. OK, so as of a day or two ago, the top/bell notifier always puts the yellow band of impending dea...

OT a bit, but related to YouTube's delinking - a tiny (small d) detail I've noticed. I'm a YouTube "creator" and on my main page I see something new. To me it's a sign of their backwards-cutting loose all links to G+. On the upper right, as always there is a Google tic-tac-toe thing. On G+ one option has always been G+ home. On YouTube it's now entirely separated from G+ and the 3x3 grid leads to only YouTube creator options. (No sharing, no G+) However there's now something tiny/new (I think) in the banner, a small G+ icon, nearly invisible. lower right. Click on that and it takes me to my main G+ page. Something's different, probably means nothing, certainly YouTube users won't mind (mostly). Just feels to me like they've already cut the main feeds in/out and temporarily connected them together with a tiny icon which will simply be ripped away soon. Screenshot one is the right side of my YouTube banner, with the now-tiny G+ logo. Screensh...

Anyone notice - or not notice - a change in commercial posts - like BBC? Uh oh, writing on the wall - or actually, absence of writing on the wall. (I feel like a canary in a Coal mine watching the demolition begin in biG+ly earnest. Surreal) I just noticed this...Think it's some kind of sign? My 3-column notebook display has of late been 2/3 BBC News stories - and just now there are none at all. Scrolling down I see nothing much (though I do see familiar friends and communities). Seems they have pulled their plug. Hm, maybe part of Brexit? ;)

Clarity, perhaps... "Don't be evil?" Hah! Originally shared by Michael Fenichel Make those plans for the afterlife! https://support.google.com/plus/answer/9195133?hl=en&authuser=0 #gplusrefugees #googleplus #googleplusrefugees #gplusmassmigration #gplus #googleisevil

On "Hangouts" - hanging out, evolving, re-vamping, or... Clear as mud? Originally shared by Michael Fenichel Thank you Google. That's clear as mud now. (per usual) Hangouts may still be hanging out. In some form. Maybe. Probably. Possibly. #googleplus #gplus #hangouts #google #googlesunset https://www.androidauthority.com/google-hangouts-retirement-schedule-945472/

Not so sure I like the title here (all of us have been long-dead, we all know, but only a dozen walking wounded left in town?) Round and round she goes, where it stops (and when) is "uncertain", the thing that causes anxiety. Well, as people smirk and say "I told you it's dead" (since 2012), a whole lot of people seemed to notice when G+ blinked out yesterday. Yes, entirely out or disconnected, in many spots. https://9to5google.com/2019/01/10/google-plus-outage-january-2019/