So, Google+ has been out in the world for about a month now. I picked it up quickly – a friend at Google sent me an invite right away — and I have spent some decent time on it, consistently adding people to my stream and picking up new pieces of interesting material all the time.

Initially I had wondered if this was really something I’d still be looking at a month out. I had dropped both Buzz and Wave rather easily, despite many people calling both of them revolutionary and labeling them as game-changers. There are still the folks who are now declaring Google+ those such things, and although I’m still hesitant to agree with any of them, I don’t think Google+ will die off all that soon.

However, I’m wondering if it’s a little late for Google+. I’m not entirely sure that it can be embraced by people who aren’t “early adopters” of social media and have already established a solid relationship with Facebook. I get it when people tell me that they like how Google+ has achieved many of the things Facebook can’t seem to do — like put the focus back on content and eliminate functions such as games, applications, etc. — but that is coming from the relatively tech-savvy, up-to-date crowd. What about the crowd that just wants to connect with classmates from several decades ago and post photos of their new grandchildren? Will they switch to Google+? Will they even touch it? I mean, my dad’s still using Yahoo even though he has a Gmail account. I’m sure there are instances of the 55+ demographic making headway on Google+, but I have yet to see that appear. Who knows, though – it could be something that comes up a few years from now, as Facebook also started out with a younger demographic.

That younger demographic sets the tone, though. As George G. Smith, Jr., pointed out, Facebook started with college students. I’ll build onto that by saying this: Facebook didn’t necessarily set out to be a competitor of something as big as what it is currently, and that’s one challenge it did not have that Google+ has now. Sure, MySpace and Friendster existed back in ’05, but neither was the behemoth of social networking — a facet of the web not well-defined nor high-profile at the time — that Facebook is now. That said, it’s not like Google+ is really trying to be Facebook; it’s that, for practical purposes, the masses of people who use Facebook certainly define its power and relevancy, which is something Google+ has to compete against, goal or not.

Google+ is limited, but that’s its strength. Whether this remains its strength is something to be seen. Popular social media names such as Robert Scoble have already hit the 5,000-person limit for circles, something which may deter social media power-users but could encourage those like myself who are overwhelmed with Facebook, Twitter, and other services that beg too much attention be paid to too many voices with umpteen different modes. I and many other users — many of whom I subscribe to — seem to be in favor of the more minimal approach Google+ has taken to this new venture, eschewing the interactivity encouraged in Facebook’s wall posts, pokes, messages, etc., and instead adopting a format that breeds sharing but incorporates approval (the +1 function), interaction (commenting), and sharing — but few other stimuli. Instead, there are useful functions that are not singularly useful but multifaceted and complex; the entire concept of circles and how they function could be described with borderline sophisticated logic.

Overall, I feel less of an obligation to Google+ than I do Facebook, Twitter, or even Foursquare. I feel like I don’t need to constantly be posting material to “stay relevant” or be interesting on Google+. I haven’t yet felt the need to axe anyone from my circles, but I’ve found that I would like it to be easier to switch between different streams or hide/show different circles (as opposed to just looking at one circle at a time). But does this lack of obligation translate into less usage and ultimately less attention? Possibly, and that’s something to consider, especially if you’re looking at using Google+ for business. Also, it seems difficult to really pore through tons of comments and conversations, but I’m not so sure anyone has figured that out yet (not even Facebook).

What I do really like is the +1 button becoming more relevant; I’m excited to see if Google+ can take off with it beyond the tab of +1′s. So far it seems that Google+ is becoming a great new community for designers and photographers, perhaps because not all data is stripped from posted photos (that’s what I’ve read?) and because sharing images is rather easy. When it comes to new services, I’m open to trying things the way the creators intend it to be just as much as I’m intent on finding services that fit my needs — I think I need time before I really decide where Google+ fits into my routines.

I could nitpick more, but that’s about all I find significant in my thoughts about Google+. I’ll leave you with this excellent video that George made to help explain this new thing:

I do it every year and so should you.

I used to be of the Political Type.

Now that I’ve lived in San Diego for nearly two years, I have quite a few close friends here. They’re wonderful, and I adore them, and I usually find that they tend to know me rather well. However, they have yet to see a different side of me. See, 2012 is sneaking up on all of us, and it might as well already be 2012 – you’d think so, at least, if you tune in to any cable news channels and absorb the incredible amount of political news aired daily. Twenty-twelve means an awful lot to the Political Type: it’s the next presidential election, and even if the Mayans are right, it’s still gonna happen.

Most of my friends here in San Diego probably haven’t seen evidence that I used to be very, very political. (For the sake of simplicity, “political,” in this blog post, will refer to the overall American political scene.) I was quite adamant in my political beliefs, and it showed; I conducted most conversations in pol-speak, always seeking out the political nature behind any topic, cultural phenomenon, or newsworthy event. In high school, journalism became my most serious interest, and politics seemed to fit hand-in-hand. Although I still wanted to be a sports journalist at some point, I often found myself dreaming of that coveted front seat in the White House Briefing Room (if I can’t have Helen Thomas’ seat, I’m glad the AP does). My father and I also connect rather well over politics; he involved me in our local party’s activities from a very young age and we still talk about politics pretty much anytime we pick up the phone to chat.

The thing is, I’m not terribly political anymore. Well, at least not like I used to be. Okay, so I still post some things of a political nature on my Facebook, but that gets harder all the time; it’s tough to please everyone, and while that’s not really my goal when posting political items on Facebook, I like to keep my wall more happy and friendly than political and angry. I’ve seen some horrendous firestorms on Facebook walls, and while intelligent discussion is fantastic, it can easily spiral down into flame wars.

I don’t know exactly why I’m not as willing anymore to be political, but I think my political nature began to decline with a few developments:  I dated a political opposite at one point in college, a presidential candidate I supported actually won, and – like mentioned above – social media has seemed to change the ways I communicate.

When I was in a bit of a transition mode between maintaining a Xanga blog, my old Year in Sweden blog, and the WordPress blog that has become this blog, I wanted to switch gears a bit. At the time, WordPress blogs seemed far more flexible, but there seemed to be less of a community; I felt that I could generalize my writing, go back to my journalistic instincts, and document life rather than editorialize it (as I did on Xanga, where community interaction and privacy characterized the functionality). I worked on refining my opinions, if I were to introduce it quite plainly (as I did in pinpointing Hillary Clinton’s failures in 2008), all the while documenting my own experiences during the 2008 presidential campaign (as I did when Forest Whitaker visited my campus or when I participated in the caucus). This very slowly worked my less-articulate and more-personal (gossipy, even?) writings out of my blogging routine.

While by its definition, being “less political” doesn’t  entirely equate with “apolitical,” I’ve noticed that, on a case-by-case basis, I’ve gone against my political tendencies. I’ve sacrificed my eagerness to debate for my desire to avoid conflict. I can’t say I’ve turned down all good opportunities to debate, but I can say that I’ve become better at picking my battles (unlike in high school, when I was notorious for taking up anyone at all willing to argue it out). Honestly, I think it’s made me a better writer and a calmer person, and it’s also made my friends who disagree politically a little less afraid to bring up the issues with me.

So will I blog about the 2012 election? Will we see my dormant Political Type resurface? I’m not so sure about that. There’s plenty out there to read when it comes to criticizing the Republican field or speculating on the President’s strategies. Could a headline or particular topic grab me enough to write something? I wouldn’t count that out completely. But now that social media has been established as a ‘must’ for candidates, I think we’ll learn more than ever about our political climate and the way social media users react to politics much in the way I learned about myself during the last few elections.

A beautiful day at Coachella

Last month, I attended Coachella as a guest of Sony. I was only able to attend one day, but you bet it was worth it!

So I had been hearing about this thing called the bloggie (yes, Sony brands it in lower-case) for a few months. My friend Liam won a bloggie at a Sony event and Sukhjit has been showing me what a it could do, and it was finally my chance to check one out. At Coachella, Sony gave me a bloggie to document my time at the festival and basically show just what I could do with it.

Okay, let me tell you: I was psyched. I’ve never really ventured into video; any projects I’ve done were about being in front of the camera or having written content. Any kind of video is something really strange to me and I don’t entirely know what to look for when creating or editing video. Now, not that the bloggie is complicated — it definitely isn’t — I feel like it’s my chance to start learning how to develop an eye for creating and editing video.

I was able to take all kinds of video at Coachella, including a few clips of my favorite band, Spoon, as they performed.

I spent a lot of time just taking clips of the scenery or random little things I think I might string together when I find a good editing program and start playing with my video.

I wish I’d taken more video in HD. I was just so curious about the bloggie and excited to have one in my hand, I just started taking video right away without even changing my settings. Now that I’ve had time to see what I can do with my bloggie, I have learned how to change settings without frustration and how to use the software provided for transferring files to my computer and uploading video to social media services. It’s very user-friendly software and gives me more of an incentive to use my bloggie because I know I’m going to be putting my video and photos somewhere after I record it (I’ve already started a Coachella playlist for my videos on YouTube).

I’d have to say that I also really like the photo quality. I’ve taken some really gorgeous pics with the bloggie, and now I’m glad I have a pro account on Flickr — it’s something I’m going to have to start using again.

Britt Daniel on the big screen at the Coachella Main Stage

Needless to say, I’m pretty happy with my bloggie. I’ll definitely be using it more. What I’ve posted here is nothing compared to what I’ve already recorded. I’m absolutely certain that this will help enhance my blogging. Thanks Sony for the great experience at Coachella and the many opportunities I will have thanks to the bloggie!

Aubrey Sacco, Boulderite and Colorado native, missing in Nepal

This afternoon I received a text from my brother: “Can you retweet my last tweet? Morgan Sacco’s sister is missing in Nepal.”

I remembered instantly who Ryan was talking about. I didn’t know her well, but I saw Aubrey on the CU campus probably only a handful of times. Regardless, it scared me right out of my sleepy stupor; she had been traveling in southeast Asia on her own. I checked Ryan’s Twitter account and found a link to the Facebook group, where people have been posting messages of support and the membership has been growing steadily. Aubrey’s cousin Amanda has asked people to spread the word, especially on social media, so we can find people who can help.

Aubrey’s last verified location was at Shyabrubesi on April 20, where she checked in before her trek and after she arrived from a bus trip from Kathmandu. She was trekking the Langtang region and planning on taking a popular route from the Lonely Planet guide. She was supposed to be back by April 30 or May 1, when her parents expected to have heard back from her — but nobody has heard from her.

Aubrey Sacco

Since then, there have been strikes in Nepal — strikes that have shut down shops, transportation, and services all over the country. There’s a strong likelyhood that Aubrey has been unable to contact family because of these strikes, but the Saccos still want to find their daughter is and it’s the community’s duty to help make it happen.

I rang up (okay, direct-messaged) the Elephant Journal with a plea: please help! Knowing that readers of the Elephant Journal not only care about the well-being of a valued member of the spiritual community, but may even know others who can help find Aubrey, I figured it would be one of the best ways to spread the word on social media.

Waylon got back to me in minutes. He said he’d publish something if I could get it to him this afternoon. After getting ahold of Connie, Aubrey’s mother, I had a detailed explanation of the circumstances and a piece to go with. Also, the Daily Camera was looking for information. By evening, the Daily Camera / Colorado Daily, Greeley Tribune, and the Elephant Journal all had information about Aubrey posted on their sites. Faithful Elephant Journal readers are tweeting and re-tweeting about Aubrey.

Today I have seen a huge demonstration of community and I’m hoping that this continues. The Saccos are a good family and they deserve to see their daughter step off the plane on May 15, when she is scheduled to come back home.

Before then — and I mean, right NOW — please spread the word. Pass these links along. Tweet about it. Join the Facebook group. Do whatever you can do get this message around the world and in the hands of people who might be able to help.

UPDATE: The Denver Post is also writing about Aubrey and I’ve included the link below.

UPDATE, pt. 2: The Greeley Tribune has published a piece about Aubrey for the Tuesday edition. Link below.

UPDATE, pt. 3: I’ve added a few more blog posts and television coverage.

• Facebook group for Aubrey
• Daily Camera article about Aubrey
• Colorado Daily article (replica from above, really)
• Greeley Tribune preview article about Aubrey
• Elephant Journal article about Aubrey
• Denver Post article about Aubrey
• Greeley Tribune article
• ExploreHimilaya.com post
• Piece on The Denver Channel (Denver’s ABC station)
• Piece on cbs4denver.com
• 5280 piece
• Huffington Post piece
• Digital Journal article
• CNN coverage

Other links about Aubrey:

• Aubrey’s website
• Aubrey’s travel blog

The family can be contacted at findaubreyglitter@gmail.com and welcome any e-mails with information or helpful contacts in the Langtang region.

Aubrey Sacco

A worn-down jennyjenjen at Coachella

For a few weeks now, I have been silly busy. I’ve even been too busy to post a Must Read/See/Hear update; there’s just so much going on, like moving, finding a job, and attending boatloads of events.

It’s been nice being busy. My mind has generally been occupied with the future, my ambitions, what I need to do to succeed at this point in my life, and actually, the relationships I have around me that keep me balanced and sane. While I get a little frustrated every day, I’m also in this very great period of personal growth — and I’m getting outside of my comfort zone, just like I intended to by moving to San Diego.

Anyhow, I thought I’d post on my blog for several reasons: first, Butch keeps bugging me about my Must Read/See/Hear series (which shall return even as soon as this Monday); second, I should definitely keep this remotely updated and post something during the month of April; and third, I wanted to post a rundown of all the fun things I’ve been doing this month that will appear on the blog within the next few weeks.

So what will I be eagerly writing about soon?

• One Day Coachella 2010 with my Sony bloggie. This has to be one of the coolest things I’ve done in a while! I had the opportunity to attend Coachella 2010 for just one day, and thanks to Sony Electronics, I had the opportunity of capturing it with a bloggie.
• Getting a makeup tutorial by Estie. Estie of Estie’s International showed me (and a few other ladies!) how to apply makeup in a way that flatters the shape of my face without looking overdone, and then he sent us home with some goodies so we could test our newly-acquired skills ourselves!
• Attending yoga classes at Corepower Yoga. Thanks to a week-long free trial at Corepower Yoga from Sugar Jones, I was able to try some yoga classes. Funny — I never took yoga classes while living in Boulder, CO, but after trying it at Corepower, I like it!
• Attending the Influence SD awards. I was the lucky winner of two floor tickets for the first annual Influence SD, thanks to Someday I’ll Learn. It was the first event of its kind that I’d ever been to, and I had a blast!

Phew. That’s a lot, really. How many exclamation points did I use there? (No, really… don’t count.) April really has been an extremely exciting month for me, and I’m hoping that it only gets better as May rolls around.

And with that, I’ll also have plenty about being a complete fangirl and getting the chance to meet Spoon. (Yes, I met Britt Daniel! And I kept my composure!)

Until then, this busy little bee needs her beauty rest…

Ignite Boulder. Oh, how it has grown.

From less than two hundred people in a smart room on the CU campus to a nearly sold-out show at the Boulder Theater (only 12 tickets were left when the sales ended), Ignite Boulder has become one hell of an event.

After Ignite Boulder 5 and its exceptional performances, I knew I had to try to submit another topic. I had gotten lots of suggestions from friends and plenty of reassurance that I couldn’t go wrong with another submission. This time, it was Ben‘s suggestion to try some Swedish in my presentation that really got me going. Thus it was born: “Bork Bork Bork: Swedish 101 for Foreigners.”

I was beyond excited but nervous. Last time I spoke in front of no more than 500 people, and this time it could’ve topped 800. Thankfully, it went as well (if not better) than I had hoped for — people laughed where I wanted them to (and at some times, in places I didn’t expect), the crowd learned a little bit of Swedish, even my father came to watch, and I didn’t screw up!

I have to say that this was probably my favorite Ignite, and it was not because I felt like I succeeded — that’s just the icing on the cake. There were some fantastic presentations that exceeded my expectations and absolutely blew my mind. I laughed, learned, and overall, I really enjoyed myself.

It’s so hard to pick favorites, highs or lows, surprises, etc., from Ignite Boulder. I loved Ef Rodriguez‘s Sacrificial Deck in which he showed the crowd that you can forget a line or two and still pull off an amazing presentation. Plus, he sang!

Ef wasn’t alone in entertaining the crowd with music. Mountain Standard Time played a few sets, and we were all happy to help them out a bit — turns out their equipment got jacked a few weeks ago. I hope we raised some cash for them.

It was nice to finally meet Jen Yu, who presented on “Food Porn: Behind the Lens,” but it’s too bad I didn’t get to talk to Sari Levi more because I thought her presentation on “The Alternative, Alternative Energy: My Million-Dollar Idea” — capitalizing on America’s obesity — was brilliant.

I laughed a lot thanks to Ryan Wanger (“Our Princess is In Another Castle”), Vanessa Schneider (“The Things They Don’t Tell You About a DUI”), Luke Tilsley (“Have You Kissed Like a Trobiand Native?”), Heather Clisby (“Screw Logic: An Unbelievable Look at Bizarre Beliefs”), George Smith (“How to Master Debate”), and Dave Burdick (“Everything I Need to Know About Journalism I Learned From Ghostbusters”).  From Blowseph and crude jokes involving Australia to video game nerds and how many people believe the sun revolves around the earth, I got my fair share of laughter from these presentations.

But we all learned a lot from Naomi Meredith (“Making Friends and Insulting People – The Shakespearean Way”), Cristina Sagray (“Classic Literature Through The Eyes of a Teenage Chick Flick”), Todd Berger (“Business Earth”), Kaley Sutton (who presented on Burning Man), and Michael Brown (“Reward and Risk”). It was dead silent as Michael Brown described life and death on Mt. Everest through his experiences as an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker — we closed with some clips of his work, a perfect way to end the best Ignite Boulder yet.

Oh yeah… and I almost forgot! The volunteers were great as always. They handled the huge line really well, and there were no technical problems. The whole thing went so smoothly!

“Sätter eld på Boulder” is how you would say “set Boulder on fire” in Swedish. And that’s just what happened at Ignite Boulder 6!

You see, Twitter has been getting on my nerves for many months now. I first started getting tired of Twitter when CNN started to pick up on it, asking people to voice their opinions and basing entire shows off of the concept of giving viewers a voice. The problem with that, if you ask me, is that a lot of the hot topics on the news are far more serious than 140 characters, and require much more space, time, and context than a mere tweet. Of course, that’s been a problem in journalism for a while now; 140 characters is extreme when examining the way that half-hour news programs have severely limited the quality of content while becoming a prime source of news for most Americans.

I could go on and on about user-generated content, the importance of editorial discretion, why journalism is dying, etc., and it’s all relevant — but it’s only distantly related to my unhappiness with Twitter.

Twitter is beginning to tire me out because of the way it is being used by a large amount of its user base. When I first joined Twitter, I thought it was a neat concept; I could broadcast something I wanted to say to a lot of people, and they could get it on their phones if they wanted to. I could keep updated on what my friends are doing without having to ask each person separately what their plans are for the weekend or if they felt like seeing a movie. I, like many others, never anticipated Twitter becoming quite as huge as it is now, nor did anyone actually anticipate the rush it has become to gain followers, build a brand, start discussions, etc. In all honesty, I’m quite disappointed that it has become such a big deal.

And don’t even get me started on all the social media guru stuff that goes around. The hundreds of top ten lists that circulate the Internet, written by supposed social media experts? I get so tired of it. But like I said — don’t get me started.

I’ve been involved in a few arguments over Twitter lately with people whom I know personally to some extent. Funny enough, the arguments have been sports-related. Now, I’m pretty into sports; I’m a Cubs fan, I love the mechanics and the rules of football, I play and love watching ice hockey, and I tend to get pretty involved when the World Cup rolls around. But by no means am I a Super Fan (though I’ll always be devoted to the Cubs), and I think I have a hard time understanding such intense fandom when it becomes personal. Regardless of my stance on sports, it was the combination of debate/argument/discussion with the incessant need to pursue the topic over Twitter that really turned me off. I was accused of not wanting to stand up for what I was saying, amongst other things, especially when I wanted to stop the discussion. In fact, it’s the exact opposite — I want to stand up for myself and continue a discussion, but it’s not possible to do so on Twitter. I don’t believe that Twitter is the proper medium for arguments; it is not a glorified chat room, nor does it provide much space for one to properly and thoroughly discuss a topic.

On top of that, what’s the result of trying to halt such an occurrence? Name-calling, unfollowing, blocking, and really just unpleasant behavior. Come on, people. It’s Twitter! It’s not necessarily the right place to start a serious conversation. If I mean to start a serious conversation, I wouldn’t start it on Twitter. Therefore, what I talk about on Twitter is not serious. There’s a reason I don’t delve into most of what I do at work on Twitter. There’s a reason I stopped talking about my love life on Twitter. Those reasons, with different pieces of nuance to each, all come down to the same things. Plain and simple, Twitter is just not the place for a multitude of valuable interactions; it takes away from quality, just as not all news can be summarized in 30-second snippets or within a half hour of a news program. Regardless of the different ways it can provide a great service, it just isn’t the best place for everything — especially long-winded and rather public arguments.

Even though I find it ludicrous to create a policy for something one doesn’t take so seriously in the first place, I think I will have to put some time into writing about the reasons I use Twitter and what I expect (or don’t expect) from others when interacting on Twitter. For instance, I really like Jeremy Tanner’s Twitter policy. Although I think that it’s slightly dated in the sense that following/unfollowing is no longer one of the top issues users have with etiquette and behavior, it’s still a pretty solid start.

In the meantime, I don’t mind hiding out from Twitter for a while. I’ve discovered that the less time I spend on Twitter, the more time I spend reading a good book or two. The less time I spend on Twitter, the more I get done at work. And the less time I spend on Twitter, the less I get pissed off at asinine arguments that are best conducted through other media.

• Huge thanks to Illegal Pete’s!
• Can SW be applied in the community?
• SpotGrab: Grabbing your attention
• Livestream for SW Boulder 3
• Making CL easier to use with CraigsWishList
• Ron Bronson on community and ideas

I ended up being the only blogger, but it was fun! I was unable to cover all of the projects, but hopefully there will be updates from some of them in the future.

One of the most important things one can learn from building a startup is that having a good idea, but it’s not enough. Other people might’ve already done something with your good idea — and if you can’t do it any better, you might want to move on to the next idea.

That’s what we figured out in the group dedicated to solving our language problem. Although it’s true that we had a good idea — basically, matching people to other foreign language learners at their level and providing a web space to video chat and connect on forums — we have discovered that the service is available elsewhere, and we didn’t think that we could compete.

We’re now developing another idea, and here’s what we’ve come up with so far:

• Creating a database of information that can be easily accessed when you lose your credit/debit cards and need to cancel them
• Making reservations at restaurants via Twitter
• Gathering a database of clothing sizes over different brands so that one can more easily order clothing online (i.e., if I’m an 8 in Banana Republic, what size am I in other brands?)

I’ve learned a lot about Startup Weekend, despite this being my first time doing it; Andrew Hyde, my first Boulder tech connection, founded it a few years ago and has seen it take off since then. It’s great to have it back in Boulder, and I am thrilled that I finally have a chance to partake in this opportunity.

Last night, roughly 50 participants met each other, socialized over pizza and soda, and began to pitch any ideas — or rather, come up with any problems that can be solved. Although most people decided to pass on coming up with a problem, we did come up with this rough list of problems:

1. Learning languages. One can learn a language, but keeping those skills can be difficult. How can we connect people at the same levels of learning to help keep those skills?
2. Scheduling efficiency. Scheduling is always a difficulty. How can we create a better tool for scheduling, for instance, at a salon?
3. Apartment hunting. Finding apartments is a hassle. How can we bring together all the best sources for apartment hunting?
4. Accessing healthcare information. Everyone knows that healthcare has some issues here in the U.S. How can we assist first responders in getting information quicker?
5. Media sharing. Some institutions and businesses have the need to use a program with the same functionality of media sharing sites (e.g. Flickr, Vimeo, YouTube), but don’t want the registration, the large user base, or rather, the “social” aspect. How can we create an internal media sharing site to fulfill these needs?

So far, each and every idea has pulled in a lot of interest, and most everyone has found something they really want to work on. We’ll be updating at http://startupweekend.com/boulder3 and I will be posting my blogposts here as well.