Google - Thing 4

Well it appears that we are being asked to become friends with the librarian's Nemesis for Thing 4: GOOGLE. I mean who hasn't used google for one thing or another, and who hasn't come up against that age old phrase 'I just googled it'. But it appears that Google is much more than just a search engine....

I already had a gmail account for various reasons so it wasn't too hard a task to set up a Google+ account. I set up my profile and added a photograph, but again, I was put off about handing over too much personal information, Firstly I'm not sure I want Google to have more insight into my life than I do, and secondly, there is such a thing as identity theft. So my information on Google+ is brief and to the point to say the least. I did run through all the security settings, and I did find it slightly comforting that Google holds your hand every step of the way.

Once I had figured out the difference between circles and communities (only second to my problem understanding companies and groups in Linked In), I added a few people to circles and joined a handful of communities. However, apart from the Rudai 23 community, I have turned off the notifications option. I don't really need another email address to become bogged down in notifications that I don't have time to read, The Rudai 23 one is the one I'm interested in, and the others I'll dip into when I'm that direction. One of my other issues is that a lot of my friends don't have Google+ accounts or have and don't check them very often. I don't want to put a lot of effort into something if no-one is going to see it.

I haven't had a hangout chat yet, and I'm not sure I want to. I'm not a big fan of Facetime and I'm not convinced that I want to have a go at the Google equivalent. For me, this is something that they could definitely drop from the Google suite of products. I mean, what's wrong with picking up the phone?

Google also offer a photos option which is something I'll explore. It would be useful to be able to share photos with family or to store photos for the eventual decline of the photo album. It's something to look into on a rainy day and with plenty of those to choose from in Ireland, I'm sure I'll get to it sooner rather than later.

So Google does have much more to offer than just searching the internet. I'm already using Gmail, Maps and Blogger. I also used Docs on a much more low-key basis, and as I'm an android user, I'm already up to speed on the Play store. Without reaslising, it turns out that Google and I are already friends.

#thing4