A few weeks ago, it was announced that search engine giant, Google, would be terminating their consumer version of their social network, Google Plus (G+).
By all accounts, the kill switch won’t be thrown until midsummer 2019, but still, the end was announced – forcing people like me, who actually use it, to think about what our future would be.
Some people are refocusing their effects now on Facebook and (gasp) Twitter, while some are moving to new platforms like MeWe or Diaspora*. And I think everyone, whether they want to admit it or not, is silently wondering if Google might change their collective minds, and allow G+ to live on… I seriously doubt that will happen though…
From my own perspective, I was not so silently pissed off with their decision to pull the plug on it. After all, I have been there since it was brand spanking new, and you needed an “invite” just to sign up. I had devoted a lot of time there cultivating relationships and defending the platform and singing its praises – even when sometimes Google kept shooting themselves in the damn foot with it. (they have always been notorious for fixing things that were never broken to begin with.) But even to this very day, I still think the architecture / platform of G+ is second to none, and by a vast margin too – both feature wise and with ease of use. I am saddened that it’s leaving.
Enter a new platform – Diaspora*
Not satisfied to just sit back and see what happens as the D-day event slowly approaches, fellow plusers decided to look for alternatives to replace G+ when it finally takes its last breath. The leading candidates so far seem to be MeWe and Diaspora*
I signed up for both, but so far have only devoted time to Diaspora* – mainly because it seems to have more plusers already there!
Diaspora* is a social network that does not exist as a single entity like Facebook, Twitter, etc… Rather, it is comprised of various “pods” located worldwide that are separate but interconnected within the Diaspora* federation. The pod that plusers are migrating to is actually called, rather appropriately, Pluspora. Most, if not all, of the pluspora members are plusers – but it doesn’t have to be that way. Anyone can join any pod that they wish, you can even switch pods after you join, but you can only be a member of one pod at a time… You can even start your own pod if you wish, and you have a server available to host it!
Anyway…. Despite the fact that it’s no where near as polished as the established social media networks are, I actually like it. I love the fact that no one entity owns it, it’s owned by all. Hopefully I will enjoy it for many years to come!