Sharing Ideas

I can't call myself an early adopter of blogging, and with just a post here and there, other than an 18 month splurge of posts - I am hardly a regular poster. The end of the splurge is partly connected to the fact that the only other friend I knew of who blogged quit blogging in December '09. Ideas tend to feed off each other, and I used to find myself always thinking about what I was going to write about next, so it is a slippery slope. Writing every day is much easier than writing when the mood takes you. It is a habit much like anything else.

I have never quite taken to twitter, with just 32 tweets. I did take to Facebook. As Social media has evolved though, they do seem to be slowly ironing out cracks. I am chuffed to see Google really giving Facebook a go with Google+. A little competition goes a long way to inspiring some innovation.

Some random observations...

• It would be cool if you could write blog posts that only selected individuals could see, without them having to sign in - Google+ has this, maybe blogger will soon. You can do private blogs, but the additional layer of having to sign in is irritating.
• Pre-signing in remove anonymity. I think this is a good thing. People say silly things when they think it is anonymous.
• Twitter was the less private - everyone can see version. Google+ added the ability to choose which groups to share status updates with (including public), and I think Facebook will follow. I like the idea that ideas can be shared freely, and private stuff can be kept private.
• Filtering remains a big problem. Google Reader does a decent job, but I still struggle getting through the clutter. Relying on friends 'liking'/sharing things doesn't always help, since if lots of them do it, and only a some of the articles are relevant to you, you still have to filter through that too.
• Of course, sharing ideas takes time. Unless you are Tim Ferris, finding the time is tough. And even if you would love it if certain of your friends were into sharing their ideas, finding your own motivation is tough enough. And then there is the day job.

All being said, I do think watching things progress is exciting. I particularly enjoy the experimental nature of it all. I thought Google Wave was pretty cool, but it never took. Bits of it get incorporated into new ideas, and some code is made open source so others can try use it. Some stuff fails, some stuff like Facebook takes off.

At the end of the day it all comes down to sharing ideas.

Exciting times.