Nate Update

Why does Google+ have my head spinning? It’s not that I don’t “get” it. I have been using social media daily for 12+ years, if you include those time-sucking photoshop message boards I used back in the Nate 1.0 era. I attended Ragan Communications’ Google Plus Summit at MGM Grand today. The rockstar presenters were @chrisbrogan, @shelholtz, @maggiefox,and @ScottMonty.

What’s got me stumped is what’s next for Google and when the line blurs between Google as we know it and Google+. (Google+ content already shows up higher than original content. Try it with this blog post if you want. I will). Mostly though, today I was educated on the phenomenon known as Google Search Plus Your World, which Google turned on for you in January, and  now essentially mixes what you know with what you don’t know. Eh? You say. Yeah, I did, too. Let me see if I understand it right – keep me in check if I’m off track on this, for those familiar with SPYW.

Google will mix a cocktail of what’s in your address book, your Google+ posts, your circles’ Google+ posts, your search history and your surfing tendencies to create what it thinks is essentially what you’re searching for.

What’s this mean? Well, potentially, it’s the end of Search Engine Optimization as we know it. Why bother, you know? Everyone’s results will be customized. What else does it mean? Initially, people will probably freak out and squeal big brother stuff like Joe Public does every time Zuckerberg tweaks the big blue 850-million pound gorilla. (Remember, people tripped out about the news feed initially).

Here’s my four initial 6-hour-old -therefore-probably-premature conclusions:

1. It’s Google’s house, so they can essentially do whatever they want. We may think Google is ours because we made it a verb. It’s not. At the end of the day, it’s business, baby. Suck it up.
2. If you don’t like it, use Bing. That’s what Facebook did.
3. If you don’t like it, log out. What a concept! Personal accountability while using the WWW!
4. If you don’t like it, tough. The engineers at Google are smarter than you. Likewise for Facebook. Go along for the ride, and don’t forget you have options if you don’t like what you see.

So, what do you think? Let me know what’s up: Is this a game changer? Are you even using Google+? After today, I sure am. And I’m using Facebook. And Twitter. Follow me, Friend me and Circle me. Or, just Google me. Duh.