Last week was spent frustratingly holding vigil waiting for the last signatures I needed before submitting my research proposal to the ethics board at the university. It was highly depressing. I did not feel productive at all, just sitting around waiting.
I had been thinking for several weeks about the fact that I have two gmail accounts. I have one that uses my pre-married name that everyone who knew me before I got married contacted me with. I also have one that uses my post-married name and people who I have met since getting married have been using that one since that’s how they know me. Forwarding all the mail from the one to the other and being able to choose how I replied made it super easy to keep both and it wasn’t an issue.
When I got a Goolge+ invite though it quickly became apparent that using two accounts with that platform would be a bit problematic. At some point they’ll probably figure out how to merge two accounts on the platform, but for now, it seemed real redundant. Especially considering how compartmentalized you can make Google+. I particularly love how easy it is to choose who sees what every single time you share something. Want to ask a question about a local restaurant? Ask it of just your local friends rather than everyone you know. Talking about a fun family thing? Share it with just family. No more sharing vomit like on FB. Wired has a pretty basic article about getting started on Google+ if you’re curious.
So what does this have to do with me being frustratingly unproductive last week? I decided that more than just picking which account I would be using Goggle+ with, I should probably switch which account was my main account with all Google platforms. I realized that while right now the balance is clearly in favor of those who knew me before I got married, at some point that balance would shift and more people would know me after getting married than before.
But… I had SO MUCH STUFF set up so perfectly with my email filters and my read feeds, setting that all up from scratch would’ve taken forever! And while I did have a lot of spare time sitting around twiddling my thumbs last week, that was not how I wanted to spend my time.
But… Google makes it so super simple to transfer your information. They figure you own it so you get full control over it. A few quick exports of contact lists, email filters, and feeds from the pre-marriage account. A few more quick imports of the same into the post-marriage account. And I’m set up in the post-marriage account exactly like I was in the pre-marriage account. Could not have been more simple. And helped me feel productive when nothing else seemed to be working for me.
I sent out an email to the people I email from my pre-marriage account, a grand total of 14 people (there are some people I email regularly from the post-marriage account), letting them know that I was changing my default address but still keeping both. And ta-da! I was done.
Except then I got to thinking, if I’m really only emailing a handful of people, why do I have 250+ contacts in my contact list? That, my friends, is a question for another post.
I am an educator and PhD. I quilt, belly dance, run, read, and try to grow things. I am a Mormon. I am infertile. I am a daughter, sister, aunt, grand-daughter, friend, wife, and mom.
Brett L. Dennis
Mama g
Giggles
AmandaStretch
Like many people, I thought that Google+ might be a way to hit the “reset” button on facebook, but honestly, I think it’s quickly going to become even more unmanageable. Also, I’m having a hard time making circles. Or making myself check the Google+ “wall” where people post.
I check the stream about as often as I check into Facebook, if not more. I’m always logged in to Google while I long ago started logging out of Facebook every time I leave the site.
There are well over 200 people listed as my “friends” in Facebook and most of them I don’t even interact with, just occasionally see their stuff, as long as I haven’t hidden them. I’m looking at Google+ as a way to keep it intimate this time around. I’ve got to like you or have a legitimate reason to be in that much contact with you.
As for my circles, I’ve based them around where I met people or on how I know them. I’ve got location circles, a family circle, and a good friends circle (my “inner” circle so to speak).
I guess I haven’t formed a Google+ habit yet… probably because I try to scrape together enough time at my computer to get writing done, and don’t remember to check. Geez… this is how parents get behind the times… I vowed to stay young and cool (is it cool to say cool?) so I better get onto adopting new media.
I think the fact that we both have blogs is enough to make us old. Apparently these young’uns don’t do blogs.
For me it goes something like this – sit down at the computer, check gmail, check google+, check reader, forget what I sat down at the computer to do in the first place.
I also have two accounts — one for family and friends and the other one for junk –for example when a business asks for your email.
With two google accounts it’s super easy to go back and forth between them as well because they have multiple sign-in. I’m constantly signed in to both of my accounts.