They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. I gave it a good try, but the whole thing of 2-3 posts a day just didn’t work out. People are too attached to their walled garden social networks. With a very few exceptions, I didn’t get comments. So, this site’s going back to being a place for things I’ve written. For the time being, I’m not going to bother with a comments system either.
Ars Technica has an article about Google’s failure in social, which ignores the toxic nymwars but is otherwise very insightful. I use Google+ and Gmail. I have an Android phone. I’m subscribed to Google Music All Access (because it works in a Linux browser and pays artists the most). I’m signed up to get Google Fiber. I’m not anti-Google at all, yet it seems like they keep trying to drive me away.
Google doesn’t get social. They really, really don’t get it. I’ve come to realize this because of the latest update to Google Places. I’ve been a fairly frequent user of Google Places since it was launched. It used to be great—tap restaurants, get a list of restaurants nearby. Select one, get directions, menus, opening hours. Once there, enter a quick review and rate the place. No more. Today I went to find a restaurant for an impromptu gathering and the Places icon had entirely disappeared from my phone.