Cleaning up the social media

I think I'm overwhelmed. There are way too many social media accounts out there. With the advent of Google+ everything is shooting into overdrive.

So, I decided to start looking for any account I ever opened. So far I've cleaned up six old accounts and am debating if I "need" my other profiles out there.

Then in one last major attempt to purge a little bit from the ether, I found an old blog tied to a website with a previous employer. Deleted. But in the same venue I found two other work related blogs tied to that company too. I thought I'd left instructions of how to manage/delete, but they were overlooked. Three years later I was contacting my replacement to let her know they are there.

Makes me wonder what else is buried out there. I'm glad to say that I've always been well behaved on the internet, so even if I've really lost something, it's ok if someone finds later.

About.me

Well, new social media platforms are cropping up all over the place. Today Klout partnered with Spotify to give early adopters a way to sign up quickly. While I have a Klout profile, I'm not into the Spotify insanity. I prefer quiet when I code so streaming music is not something I'm going to chase down.

The twitterverse is jumping all over Spotify, so perhaps now Google+ will have a chance to catch up. While many of my colleagues are in G+ now, many are not. So, I'm still checking multiple platforms to pull my info stream together.

As part of a way to streamline my SM, I recalled About.me (http://about.me/cpd623). I had signed up for an account last October but they never notified me when they opened it up. So, I had my name saved, but couldn't access it. Finally got it all fixed this am. Still way too much stuff to check, but until the dust settles, I think I'm in for a lot of touching base all over the web.

Google Plus

Finally got into Google Plus, so now I have to learn about it. A few thoughts right off the bat:
1. People seem really excited to have an alternative to facebook
2. The sorting into circles is awesome. Can control the flow of info much better.
3. The slowness of invites is hampering the process, but may not affect in the long run. We have to remember facebook started off only on college campuses and had plenty of testing time before being opened to the world.

On the negative side, I now have another place I have to check daily, so my time on any platform will be lessened. I also don't know how many of my friends will migrate again. My colleagues are definitely embracing google+, so perhaps I'll end up with a social platform (facebook) and work platforms (twitter and google). In the long run that might be better.

July: Let the Summer Fun Begin

Today is July 1. This means Happy Canada Day to our northern friends. As a Buffaloian, thanks for coming down and shopping here. You help to keep our stores busy and new merchandise on the shelves.

This month is also the time to observe national hot dog month, national ice cream month and national blueberry month... as well as firework safety, rubies in general and the dog days of summer.

Most importantly though, we get to celebrate Independence Day on Monday. If you have served in the military or serve now, thank you. Freedom is not free.