Google

I've been toying with Google+, even having created a Google+ Page for KnowProSE LLC, but there's some things that Google+ simply doesn't seem to be doing right - and maybe they will in the future.

First, and foremost, the method for adding people is wonky at best. Much of the social networking done pre-Google+ on other social networks doesn't seem to be leveraged well. The networks built on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn don't seem to be reflected well on Google+. I'd have thought that maybe some brilliant engineers would have leveraged the APIs from at least Facebook and Twitter to connect the accounts as, for example, Klout does. And the process of adding people to circles, while well intentioned, suffers from being - at least in my experience - unpredictable in who Google+ picks. It's not that Facebook is better in this regard, but Facebook at least shows some of the common friends as a reason for suggesting people.

Next comes the issue of people who work for companies that use Google's services and thus have a work account and a personal account, assuring that people have to constantly switch accounts to post things on personal or work related Google+ presences.

Last, but not least, the workflow for interacting with Google+ is akin to stuttering when compared to others social networks - but it is made easier with this browser agnostic Google+ Bookmarklet.  You likely didn't know it existed unless you did a search specifically for it (as I just did). But integration with third party applications such as HootSuite, allowing people to share across networks so that cross-pollenation is possible, is missing still. Despite Mashable's misleading title, Google+ Pages Can Now Be Managed With Third-Party Apps, Google+ pages cannot yet - they are planned to. Bad Mashable. Fix your headline.

Does it mean that Google+ will not improve? Of course not. But in speaking with other social media pros, Google+ has yet to become the river that other social networks are. Google+ grew at an astounding rate not because of popularity as much as leveraging a pre-existing customer-base, but that doesn't mean it's being used as much or that it's as usable as other social networks. In trying to add new features, Google+ is missing some of the most for usability so far.

This is all pretty hard on Google, I know - but it's fair and meant constructively. I've no problem with Yet Another Social Network, it's another flavor added to the mix. More taste testing, though, seems to be necessary.

Imagine being in complete control of your data on a mesh social network.

When formalized social networks started in the post-Orkut era, people flocked to them because of their simplicity of use. Since then there have been issues related to privacy and an increased complexity in the user experience - but to anyone with a freshman's knowledge of content management systems (CMS), the social networks are not too complex to build with a solid CMS and some sturdy hosting. The trouble now, for some of us, is the plethora of social networks that we're involved in. Speaking for myself, on a personal level I'm on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and a few others that don't immediately spring to mind because they are new. To combat this issue of complexity within the user experience, third party applications have sprung up because the complexity has been deemed necessary by a great number of people - even Google+ will be allowing it 'soon'.

The main issues with social networks remains privacy/data ownership, transparency of social network application programming interfaces (APIs) and their updates, and their business models. It's hard to make a business model for a social network now without some form of advertising or accumulation of marketing data involved. TANSTAAFL.

As I constantly wrestle with the conceptualization of the Hedgehog Project idea, based on Schopenhauer's Hedgehog Dilemma, Google+ circles have created a trend to something similar, but don't allow for attenuation of things one thinks are important - such that if you follow me on a social network you won't have to suffer the things that you're not interested in but can get the things you are interested in. Where social networks and social media believe in specialization, many of us are generalists: We exist in more than one sphere.

A localized instantiation of a content management system with PGP encryption on its RSS feeds would do much the same thing as present social networks and could be a pathway to assuring much the same - as visible as you want to be, as private as you want to be, with complete control of connection to people(or entities) with similar systems. A true node on a secure network. Since PGP encryption on a server could be processor intensive, why not have it on our devices themselves? Your Android, your iPad, your desktop PC, your laptop and maybe even your digital watch in the future.

To assure content transition from one device to another, the cloud makes sense.

While technically possible, it's too complicated to do for the average user right now. Can it be made simpler? I think so. But it goes against the present logic of moving things from the desktop, where individuals can control their data instead of trusting others to do so. Imagine being in complete control of your data on a mesh social network.

The Internet is awash with the latest fads regarding social media for businesses to the point where if you follow it at all, you'll end up reading a lot of regurgitated articles about how xyz will make your social media presence better, easier, and perhaps even profitable. I suffer them daily as I'm sure many others do.

It's not as simple as starting a blog, getting a Twitter account, Facebook page and Google+ account for your business; there are plenty of empty placeholders out there that simply occupy space on someone else's server in the hope that, someday, it will do something. That's not only wrong, it can actually detract from your presence on the Internet: people may view you as unable or unwilling to participate simply because you don't.

The first thing you need to do is go back to your business plan, if you have one - and if you don't have one, you should create one. If your business sells widgets, social media usage is simple enough - you want to use it to advertise your widgets and demonstrate that your widgets are better than other widgets. If you service widgets, you want to demonstrate that you have a great service for widgets. If you build or integrate solutions, you need to work on assuring that your message is clear in your abiliyt to build/integrate solutions. All of these things require a simple thing:

Content.

Social media allows you to use other people's content in your stream, and you should do this once it doesn't dilute your own message. You should also be creating your own content around your message and have a general strategy on how you are going to implement your content. Your strategy should include metrics that allow you to gauge if you're doing something right or something wrong. You need to be consistent, which requires time, and if that means that you aren't a first adopter - suck it up. Do it right the first time; second chances are hard to come by.

Once you have all of that in place, you need to network and interact with others through social media in a way that is consistent with your message but doesn't make you look like a robot from a 1950s science fiction movie (unless, of course, you sell 1950s science fiction robots).

None of this is very difficult on the surface, but tailoring it to your business is most important and can be difficult - a fact that many social media buzz articles neglect in favor of people becoming acknowledged as 'social media gurus'. It's not as simple as 'build it and they will come'. 

It's as simple as say what you mean and mean what you say while listening to what others have to say. Where content was once king, discussion is now king - but to have the discussion, you need the content. To deliver the content, you need social media.

And to use social media properly for your business, you need to figure out what your goals are and reach for them in a meaningful way.