When I have something work-related to tell the world, I have a lot of choices: This blog, @timbray, +Tim Bray, or (work-related, remember), the Android Developers’ blog, @androiddev, and as of this week, +Android Developers. That last one, being the newest, has a mere 25K circlers (although probably more by the time you look); the circler/follower/subscriber count of the other channels ranges up to the astounding 195K for @androiddev.
It’s an interesting choice.
The choice of personal-or-official-Google channel is easy to make, and I think would be for anyone. Blog-or-Twitter-or-G+ is trickier. These are moving targets and our understanding is shaky at best. But here, in early 2012, is how I deal them out:
Use Twitter · When there’s a link or a newsflash that you want to get in front of the maximum number of people, including key influencers, in the minimum amount of time.
Use the Blog · When you want to go long-form, which almost always means calls for code samples or graphics or both. Also, when I’m using personal channels, for anything that I want to be long-lived and on my own personal piece of the Web.
Use Google+ · When you want to get a conversation going.
Multichannel Signal · Of course, these days, when you post something substantial on a blog or on G+, you probably want to tweet a link. And if you post something complex for the record on your blog, you might well want to start a conversation about it on G+.
Well, that’s what I think this year.
Contributions
Comment feed for ongoing:
From: Anna (Jan 31 2012, at 22:45)
I think I would use G+ even more for long-form writing if I could have multiple links and images like I can on a blog. I could go just with tiny urls but they still break the flow for me visually.
[link]
From: michael (Feb 01 2012, at 00:02)
You said "key influencers", I think you owe me a beer.
Agree with the rest of the post. My concern is that when you do write something that generates a conversation it's in at least three places - here, twitter & G+ - and none of them is a complete picture.
There's also a question of whether you tweet/G+ all blog articles - possibly a bit spammy - or you make some tough decision about which articles warrant the wider broadcast.
First world problems :)
[link]
From: Bud Gibson (Feb 01 2012, at 14:12)
I'd like to see better back and forth integration between G+ and blogs. When I post to my blog and share on G+, I'd like comments on one to appear on the other. Google could easily start this with blogger draft and go from there.
[link]
From: Anna (Feb 03 2012, at 20:35)
And then I tried to +1 Bud's comment and there was no such button. :(
[link]
From: Mike (Feb 11 2012, at 22:36)
I was just following the comments above about Google+. I understand that the big G is trying to make up some ground in the social media market that was eaten up by Facebook.
However, wouldn't it be better if the big G just created an application that would integrate with Facebook. It obvious that they are to two biggest giants in the industry right now. Wouldn't it help everyone if they merged so you don't have to keep separate profiles. Its just alot of maintenance.
[link]
From: Übersetzung (Mar 06 2012, at 08:11)
Agree with the rest of the post. My concern is that when you do write something that generates a conversation it's in at least three places - here, twitter & G+ - and none of them is a complete picture.
[link]