December 30, 2011

Google+ hits 20 million uniques (country breakdown in graphic) -- story here: http://on.wsj.com/rlOw2a

In 2004 or so, people were really afraid of "social networking." Most had no interest in it, and a standard journalist question was "Aren't sites like MySpace killing 'real' human interaction?" How is talking to someone via a given "technology" (hand-written letters, telegraph, phone, email, IM, social network) any less "real"? To me, that's like saying your ears and your eyes aren't "real." For a deaf person a working "ear" is a pretty awesome piece of technology. It's not how you reach out to another human being that matters -- it's whether a connection is made. It's not the medium that determines the value of the interaction. If there is spark set off in the mind and soul of another, then that's "real" human interaction. Now, with something like 25-50% of all new US relationships (dating) starting online, I think people are getting over this fear. Ok, gotta run, my friends are mad I'm spending too much time on G+