Google + and Minuses

A New Form of “Virtual Pressure”

I predicted this to happen and do we really need more circles of friends in cyberspace? There is a lot more online peer pressure which I have coined as “virtual pressure.” It’s defined as a strong desire to belong to a larger online community and become an early adopter of new technology. First it was MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, FourSquare, Google+ and whatever else to add to the list. Plaxo, Digg, Flickr, Klout, Godwalla etc. In this new virtual world we live in today, if you don’t accept it and jump on the bandwagon you’re going to be left out of the crowd.

Google took everything they already offer and put it into a different interface to appear as a social media tool. This improves one’s reliance on their search, as well as better monetizes their data and ad exchanges. It makes the platform a significantly better way for others to share and integrate numerous Google online products and services such as Google Docs, offers “plus” recommendations, Google AdWords, and accessibility to Android, etc.

Each day is a new tech trend to follow while some are more useful than others. Companies seek to create more services to monetize social media, stir up competition and figure out how to collect more data to target you. Too many options can be overwhelming and cumbersome for one to juggle in his/her life. The introduction of the fax, mobile phones, internet and other new technologies was a way to make our lives easier, but it also caused in some cases more work to communicate. Things will continue to fall by the wayside and new options will continue to emerge. This new digitization of the world takes commitment and can cause much stress and emotional strain for some. It is also opening up new ways to discover information, reach people across global continents to exchange ideas, as well as learn a new perspective on each others’ lives.

Check out Vincent Wong’s presentation about the new Google site and you decide the pluses and minuses of what it has to offer and what’s ahead next for you and your business.