In an extensive interview with The Guardian, David Karp talked about Tumblr and his thoughts on competitors. In it, Karp perfectly describes the problem with content creation platforms in the context of Youtube. 

It sucks, but this is a reality for nearly any platform that allows you to upload and distribute content. 

But Karp is unconvinced. YouTube, he says, "was the opportunity to tell every aspiring filmmaker that if they worked really hard and really went for quality they could create great stuff. The stuff YouTube is incentivising is: build a huge subscriber base, put out a lot of videos, do the math and get as big a cheque as possible."

During the course of the weekend, Brad Pitt has only been included in 9,000+ circles. His foundation is suffering even more on G+, with a measly three hundred +1's.

Ouch.

Now, atypically a blogger such as myself would say Google+ is dying! SPYW now SUPER SUCKS. KILL GOOGLE+. If Brad Pitt can't make it prettier, NO ONE can. 

To which I say nay.

Google+ is growing, and I firmly believe that while engagement numbers are probably low, they are no doubt on the rise. What's funny (and sort of demented) is I actually have to believe this; my involvement with Aces Hangout is banking on the belief that Google+ will grow, and be maintained for the forseeable future. Without Google believing Google+ is going to be a success, my bills don't get paid.

In short: I'm a biased blogger... which is a bit of a redundant statement. I know. 

So what other reason could there be to describe Brad Pitt's remarkably unremarkable numbers?

Google+ is supposed to be freedom from Facebook and Twitter. Part of the Facebook and Twitter experience is celebrities... celebrities I atypically don't like seeing in my feed, and many others don't as well. They're EVERWHERE on Facebook and Twitter. 

Facebook and Twitter are well suited for celebrities. They both offer virtual and mentally capable social platforms that allow for public commentation without the expectation to interact. Celebrities blast, people RT and/or comment, life moves on. 

On the other hand, Google+ is about connecting with people who are in your circles. The mental mindset to care about celebrities simply isn't there for Google+... since they don't reciprocate.

Are you really going to connect with Brad Pitt on Google+? Of course not. He doesn't care. The dude has got other things going on... such as being an international superstar.

One day maybe Google+ users will care more about celebrities. As a mainstream audience adopts Google+ (I say this as a fact!), perceptions will change on how Google+ should be used. Until this day comes, Brad Pitt isn't doing much good for anyone involved.

First really negative review I've read of the Nokia Lumia 800. A lot of good points were brought up, even if Stefan seems to more or less dislike the idea of the MS and Nokia partnership in the first place. 

Lately, I have been attempting to go on a healthy kick. I've been doing this slowly; buying healthier foods, and cutting back on my terrible Mtn. Dew habit. But really, I am already skinny, and simply need to stop eating fast food.

True healthy change for me will come if I go to the gym and actually work out. I have been avoiding this for a while, making up excuses along the way (work, college, and friends. Oh my!).

Well no more!

After reading Leo's post on going to the gym, I am reinvigorated to kick ass and work out again. 

Yesterday at 10:59 pm I was in a bit of a pissy mood. I told my friend who just joined Google+ to simply Google my name to circle me. 

My friend circled the wrong me, and it turns out tons of others have as well when I checked out my Gmail account. When I first started my G+ apps account, I knew this was going to be a problem, and I was ok with it. Vic Gundotra wrote that merger tools were going to come out in a few weeks.

I decided since G+ was brought to apps users so quickly, merger tools surely weren't too far off.

It is now almost February, and a solid three months has passed since Vic has mentioned merger tools. 

That's three months with dual Holden's in the search results, and three months of people circling the wrong me.

What's worse is that was three months of silence.

So I took to Google+ to complain, and declared I was going to delete my other account to avoid this issue. Keep in my mind, my Gmail account was one of the first on Google+, and has a much bigger following than my Apps account. Not like this is an easy loss when your character online is judged by the number of people who follow you (whether this is right or not is besides the point). This is especially true now that my profile is prominently displaying in Google search results. 

Then the G+ God, Louis Gray, stepped in and told me to hold out:

Here's communication you can bank on... every single post is read. Every piece of feedback is read. Every post you send you know I read. The team has a lot of work to do, and we're launching new stuff very quickly. Please be patient with us when things don't move as fast as you want, because you know that we want them to go just as fast as you do. On this one? Wait.

So now I am holding out, because at least I know it is still in the works, and Louis is my friend. Still, I can't help but shake the feeling the merger tool is on the back-burner. I will try to get over that though, and keep my mouth shut until the tools are actually released.

That said, if another three months go by without merger tools... I am not going to make any promises. 

T-mobile is in a tight position right now. They are hemorrhaging customers to their iPhone-carrying competitors, spectrum is limited, and the AT&T merger is dead.

Yet, T-mobile is now offering basic support for unlocked iPhones on their network. 

This is a remarkable display of customer service, and is a major encourager of customer loyalty as well. On top of that, T-mobile is allowing themselves to be a dumb pipe for iPhone users.

Could this be a beta test for a new business model by T-mobile? I'm not sure, but this move is intriguing on many levels.

Tac Anderson pointed out that Google is using ads to combat bad privacy press. It is definitely a smart move by Google, and also demonstrates how good Google is at ads. 

Quite stunning, really. 

Bing is claiming that twenty percent of Germany that's online uses Bing regularly.

Sounds to me Bing just wants to look good in the wake of Google's lackluster public image as of late.

For those of you who don't know, being a nice and fun Community Manager on Facebook and Twitter doesn't always translate into a solid ROI. 

This is not to say it isn't necessary to manage such fun stuff. No matter what, you need a community and a platform to distribute your content on. Engagement is important! But if that engagement doesn't turn into quantifiable actions that is beneficial for you or your employer, wtf is the point?

Blogs are a necessary part of any meaningful social media strategy. If the person you hired to manage all this says otherwise, you should probably fire them. They have no idea what they are talking about.

And on that note, let the rainbow filled infographic and list posts rain in 2012!