Ok, I've taken the dive with Google +. There are many out there who are wondering if we need another social network. I asked myself the same question this afternoon and came to the following conclusions:
- We do need more social networks. That doesn't necessarily many another Facebook or Twitter. Maybe it's in your community where you live or a cause you're passionate about. It's right as breathing.
- If you're taking the bumble bee approach to social networking (online or otherwise), then you need to reexamine your motivations. Take a hard look at who you are or who you were before you drank the kool-aid, and then order your social networks around that. You've got to do this.
- Google + is rightly placed. Google has such a huge influence around the ordering of content and flow, that for them not to be involved would be silly. I'm not gushing over with Google fan-love when I write this. Google is like Churchill or Edition; what they created and impacted was bigger than who they were as influencers.
- All of this flurry on social netowrks and the experiements, ventures and such created have produced good strategy and tactics for me. Lord knows, you need good strategy and tactics for your brand (personal or business) these days. I'd be overwhelmed if I didn't. For example, I know why I interact on Brazen Careerist versus why I interact on LinkedIn. By the way, strategy and tactics will also lead you to learning the art of saying no and turning off things that have a button.
- If we were living in the industrial age, then Google +, Facebook and Twitter would be nothing more than eye candy and entertainment. Since we are no longer in the industrial age, you should start acting differently. Differently in that you think like an entrepreneur, even if you're far from it in form. If you don't start acting differently, you may wake up and find yourself in a ghost town of one.