Atlanta, Georgia – “Social Media News” is a weird term when you stop to consider that social media produces news. That Twitter tweet about Digital Atlanta, Google Buzz, NFL Football or Cal Bears Sports, or Hope Solo, or President Obama. The blog post about the deep dish pizza you just ate. All of that, and more, is news to someone.
That’s one reason why I’m looking forward to Digital Atlanta from November 7th to November 10th and at various locations in Atlanta. It’s putting the social in social media, by recognizing that Atlantans just want to meet and connect about how they can get involved in using all of these smartphones, tablets, apps, and websites and blogs to do whatever it is the person wants to get done. I talked with one of the producers of the event, Susan Berry about Digital Atlanta and this is what she had to say for my video:
For more info, visit the Digital Atlanta website, and keep in mind, the folks are looking for more sponsors.
While the buzz for Digital Atlanta is just developing, Google Buzz is coming to an end. The first Google challenger to the Facebook Like Button is being phased out and replaced by the Google +1 button, which I was never a fan of anyway, because it seemed to have no meaning. I know what it means to “like” something, but I don’t know what the hell “plus-one-ing” something means. It sounds, well, mechanistic and inhuman.
Still, Google’s Bradley Horowitz (who’s famous in this space for being the architect of a “suggested users list” for Google Plus that sees the World’s interesting black people as just male rappers and athletes) said that Google learned a lot from Buzz that it’s incorporating into its new attempt at social media.
Whatever.
One thing’s clear: Google’s social media efforts is totally lacking in heart and passion. It’s as if Google lost the human touch. It’s one reason Google+ is facing what Mashable calls a “sustained downward trend” in activity. People forget that it’s other people who use these platforms, not machines, so such things as a cold and sterile website design make a difference to people. Facebook is more human-centered in its approach to social networking. Google is cold, and that’s reflective in everything from its “+1” to the afforementioned cold design.
The circles concept is worthy of praise, but it stops there. The problem with the Google approach is simple: too much white space, not enough large photos and places to express the sharing of content. Google+ violates the number one rule (OK, Zennie’s rule) of social media and social networking: people want to see other people, not black on white words and a ton of white space.
People want to connect.
That’s what Web 3.0 is all about. Where Web 2.0 is about websites, blogs, and the Internet, Web 3.0 is about how blogs, websites, smartphones, and apps are used to send and receive information, generally about each other in the forms of social networking, or social media. But note that with Web 3.0, we’re talking about, for example, how to make an app for the iPad and the iPhone that is an extension of our website or blog. It’s a another way to broadcast, but also in some cases a new way to provide an existing service, but better.
Think of people who use mobile apps for all kinds of health care concerns. In the past, one would have had to visit the doctor’s office to get proper billing data, or write a letter. Now, with Cakehealth.com, it’s all online and on mobile apps.
So, with all of this stuff that’s Web 3.0, why have a conference called Web 2.0? I don’t know. Ask Tim O’Reilly.
Stay tuned.
Bill Carroll