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Why I’ve Left Facebook for Google+ – Part 1

August 28, 2012

I've Moved to G+I’ve been on Google+ now and Twitter off and on as I’m working or to keep in touch with my very broad network of nearly 2,000 friends from conferences and others in my industry. I’ve had a Nexus 7 tablet for 2 weeks now and haven’t installed Facebook on it, connected to Facebook, or shared to Facebook. I’ve noticed a number of changes to my mind, friends, and network that I’ll share in later posts.

Over the past 24-36 months, I’ve considered leaving Facebook for one reason or another. It was usually because of one of the following annoyances to my daily life:

  • they changed something about the experience that was a change most of us didn’t like (things like Timeline or the activity stream in the sidebar)
  • they changed privacy settings that made everyone go change something to maintain their privacy
  • a tech story broke about employees leaving based on their conscience
  • The Social Network movie

I’ve read up on many privacy issues, seen their own CEO’s family leave to go work for other tech companies, including Google, and read many accounts about how peoples’ lives changed after cutting the cord. For me, it’s an overall mindset of what they are doing with our openness with each other and our willing and also unknowing sacrifice of personal information, coupled with lifestyle changes that have moved me enough to leave.

I decided to leave on July 15th when I was using the phone app and deleted all of the apps I’ve allowed to connect with Facebook after reading how they are really vulnerable to have my info (and who knows what they REALLY have access to on my computer). I went back into the Facebook app and found all 22 of them were still allowed! I read some more articles that day: here, here, here, and here.

I got quite the string of “what the heck, you moron?” comments from a number of people who were classified as “friends” on Facebook. Others were intrigued or wanted to know more, so I provided the links above. Some of my friends came over to Google+ or re-visited their accounts that they looked at last year and no one was there to play with. Believe you me, there are tons of people now – just not early adopters of technology. We saw the same thing with the decline of MySpace and climb of Facebook about six years ago.

I’ve agreed to not deactivate my account so Beautiful can “still be married” according to Facebook… but one day she’ll make the switch and not care what that little box says. Four years ago, she reluctantly joined Facebook while we were on vacation. I didn’t see much of her after that because she was busy finding hundreds of old friends. I’m confident that will happen all over again.

Who’s Feeling Adventurous?

I know quite a handful of you are already over there. I’ve got a pretty good collection of you in my CF-related circle, but you’re pretty dormant. Hit me up, add me to your circles, and we’ll start sharing stuff over there.

My next post will be about how I’m liking (or not) Google+ in quite a bit more detail than I’ve alluded to already.

I leave you with some things for your learning pleasure:

Flat Out Exhausted: Day 1

April 28, 2011

Chi-townI’m in Chicago for a 4-day conference on leadership and loyalty. Everyone attending is in some way connected to a website or social media, many of us own our own companies. Some own empires worth millions of dollars. It’s a very exciting group of people to surround yourself with to show everyone, even the most beginner of the group, one thing above all else: you can do it, too.

Everyone speaking at the event began somewhere. One, if not the, most successful speaker in attendance was working in a retail wireless store as recently as 2006. He now commands a daily speaker’s fee that blew my mind the first time I read it. Is that my goal? Yes, and no. I want to connect with people and help them, just as I have been. If that happens to bring me success of that level that equates to financial gain in order to secure a future for my family should something happen to me, that’s great, too. One thing will never change: I am a giver who gives until it’s stupid. That is my nature, but I’ve learned to be wise with my gifts in the last few years, and I look forward to the opportunity to

What is most exhausting about this weekend is that they talk your ears off. Imagine being able to have a conversation with one of your role models. What would you talk about? What would you ask? Let’s explore that after I indulge myself telling you about my day first.

Apple StoreI woke up at 3am to get to the airport for a 6:50 flight that took me an hour back in time, only to start a gauntlet run. I had a client meeting a good 15 minute walk away, carrying my bag and camera. Then they drove me to my next client, and I took the bus back to the hotel… only I had to walk the last 1/4 mile in the 41 degree rain with 20mph winds. Then, I got to my room to charge my phone before our evening social… only to realize I left my cable at home hooked up to my keyboard. I schlepped 0.6 miles each way to the flagship Apple Store with the glass apple window to get a new cable. Cold and wet, I had 20 minutes to charge my phone.

Back to my point… Don’t reserve yourself for mediocrity, let alone failure. What makes the difference is determination, passion, the intangibles of life that you can’t teach, but you can certainly learn through experience. When everything stops being seen through a “they have what I want” lens, you will start to see your own successes. I still forget that more often than I care to admit, but I’m going into tomorrow with that from the start. Sure, I do want what they have, but I’m darn proud of where I stand today to be in this group of people working to make our value propositions to everyone even better.

Don’t let having CF stand in the way of anything you want that you should be able to do in your mind. Be reasonable, but think big and make it happen.

Stay tuned for more exhaustion and insight. The insight may have to wait until I return, decompress, and edit hundreds of photos, but they will come, and you will like what is in store.

I leave you with the only view of the Willis Tower I’ll have since the weather here is not going to make the $17 ticket to the top worth $2.

Willis Tower

 

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