masterwordsmith-unplugged

Thousands of Facebook users all over the world have been outraged by the radical changes to the Facebook with completely new profile pages covering years before the site even existed.

Zuckerberg unveiled some of the biggest changes in the site's history with the introduction of the new 'timeline' profile pages at the company's f8 conference in San Francisco.

According to The Daily Mail, the new timeline feature is something like an online scrapbook, with the most important photos and text that users have shared on Facebook over the years.

The timeline can go back to include years before Facebook even existed, so users can add photos and events from, say 1995 when they got married or 1970 when they were born.

You can read more and watch videos of the changes here.

I have switched to Google+ which is open to everyone with a gmail account. I find it safer, less intrusive, more efficient and offers a host of other advantages which FB does not seem to have as yet. If you have not made the switch yet, please do. The new news ticker in FB makes me sooo giddy and I almost feel as though I am in the throes of motion sickness!

I came across this article in PC World which offers NINE reasons why people should switch from Facebook to Google+:

1. Integration with Google Services
The biggest wedge Google has for driving people toward using Google+ is integration. That is, Google will build Google+ social networking features and tools into almost all of its existing online services from Search to Documents to Video (YouTube). Google+ is already integrated into the navigation bar at the top right of almost all Google products; this lets you monitor all Google+ events (updates, messages, etc.) as well as share content with friends without ever leaving the Google service you happen to be using. Millions and millions of people use Google's free services (Gmail, Docs, Search, etc.), and with Google+ bound so tightly to them it may start to seem silly to jump out to some other site (Facebook) to do your social networking.

2. Better Friend Management
Google is right that the “Circles” concept is more in line with the way we make friends in real life. We have many different kinds of friends, and we interact with them and communicate with them in very different ways. Facebook’s Groups feature lets you form ad hoc groups of friends, but compared to the way its done in Google+ it seems cumbersome. After all, Facebook’s Groups feature is pretty new; it was “built on”, while friend "circles" are the bedrock of the Google+ platform.

3. Better Mobile App
If you're an Android user, you may find that getting content from your phone to your social platform is easier, cleaner more functional with the Google+ mobile app. The app is already great, but Google will seek more and more ways to make your Android phone a seemless appendage of your Google+ social platform. Google hopes to use its huge Android user base as a wedge against Facebook, whose mobile app, while nice-looking, is a little clunky to use.


4. Easier to Find Stuff to Share
Google+'s Sparks feature is another important differentiator from Facebook. Spark is Google leveraging its search engine to do something Facebook can’t do—give users an instant wellspring of relevant information to share with friends. Because Facebook has no search engine, its users must leave the site to find shareable data or wait for their friends the share it with them. The question "how do I find stuff to share" is immediately answered with Sparks.


Related Slideshow: Google+ vs. Facebook: See How They Compare

5. You Can Get Your Data Back
Facebook is notorious for its poor stewardship of personal data. You are forced to make certain parts of your personal data "public" for example, and It is very hard to permanently delete your Facebook profile. Google, on the other hand, makes it possible for you to pick up all the data you’ve banked at Google+ and walk away. This is done through a Google+ tool called “Data Liberation.” With just a few clicks you can download data from your Picasa Web Albums, Google profile, Google+ stream, Buzz and contacts.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE.


Make the switch now! Google+!