Google, running a little late to the party on this one, released their version of a social network late last year. Google+ adoption, if you believe Google’s number has been fairly strong, with 170 million users already. Of course that pales in comparison to Facebook at 900 million users.

After a somewhat slow start, Google has decided to put a considerable effort behind Google+. Google looks at Google+ as a backbone of it’s entire company and has been moving to Google Plus-ify everything it can. You will find Google+ wrapped into more and more Google services as we move along.

So with Google banking so much on Google+, this new study should be very troubling. 30% of users who make a pubic post never make a second one. You would think with Google being Google and with a majority of the world using it to search for information daily, it would have a huge leg up on moving users into its social network. I’m sure that’s what they thought to, but while you can lead a horse to water, you can’t make it drink. 170 million users in the short time of Google+ existence is impressive, but users are just not taking to the service. There is nothing inherently wrong with Google+, it’s quite nice technically, but I think we are starting to reach social network fatigue. With Twitter and Facebook and YouTube already so dominant, how much time and energy do people have for yet another social network. The answer, I believe, is little.

So the key question we always want to address here is what does this mean for you and your business? Do you need to put time and attention into Google+ for your business or can you safely ignore it? Unfortunately, this is not as easy question. If it were anything but Google, I would say ignore it for now, but since it is Google, you cannot simply turn a blind eye. Google+  profiles and activity is starting to show up in Google search and that alone is powerful enough for me to say, you should have at least some presence on Google+. Search, as we know is the critical component and anything attached to that is automatically important.

Google+ supports brand/company pages with multiple administrator support and your company should have a Google+ page. Unfortunately, Google+ does not support automatic posting via other applications, so everything you do on Google+ is a manual process. I would try to post at least some content but I wouldn’t put anything but the most limited time into it at this point. Social media is so fluid, however, Connected World Media will be keeping a close eye on things in case conditions shift as they can in a moments notice.

This week Google launched Hangouts On Air for all of it’s Google+ users. Hangouts are online video chats for the Google+ social network. Until now, Hangouts were limited to 10 participants and video chats were not recorded for later viewing. Hangouts On Air provides a true live broadcasting capability with virtually unlimited viewers and in addition, Hangouts are recorded and posted to YouTube for viewing later. This puts Hangouts on par with other broadcasting systems like Ustream and Justin.tv. Of course Ustream.tv has more features, a more mature platform and user base, but whenever a giant fish jumps into a small pond, it’s going to create big splash. Another big advantage for Google, Hangouts On Air are already connected to your growing social network on Google, whereas Ustream.tv does not have nearly the social network features.

What all this means for your business is video continues to grow in new and different ways. It’s a force you will not be able to avoid soon. What kind of video content could your business provide on these platforms?

I used to work for the hard disk manufacturer Quantum Corp many years ago. The folks at Quantum were always obsessed with the mechanics of the drive; the rotation speed, data density per platter and error rate. These are all wonderful things to have in a quality disk drive and when you are selling primarily to computer makers like Dell and Apple I suppose it makes good marketing sense. I always wanted Quantum to do a consumer campaign that centered around what I knew what was truly important, the data that lived on those drives. Much like the Intel inside campaign, this would be an effort to get consumers to specify Quantum for their hard drive. Consumers buy based on emotion and what they are emotionally connected to is their data.

I also love that this ad does not talk about features and specs, but focuses on the utility of Google+ and the automatic upload feature. This is a very Apple thing to do by the way. Look carefully at any Apple and you will see a greater emphasis on the utility than specs and features. This is one of the great secrets of Apple’s marketing, they understand people care a lot more about what a particular product can do for them than they do about specs. Other companies can try to compete on specs, but they never tell or show you how their product can change your life.

What makes LinkedIn so good for job searching is the same thing that makes the Connected Age so powerful, it’s the connections. Personal connections have always been the best way to find a job, Internet or no. Now applicants have a larger pool of connections to call on. In addition, the entire LinkedIn profile, if done correctly, serves as it’s own resume including recommendations. The other thing smart people are doing is climbing the social graph. Find an individual in a company you want to work for and look for those six degrees of separation.

LinkedIn is a great social network because it has locked in on such a great niche market. LinkedIn knows exactly what it is and it’s tireless at fulfilling that mission. It’s the secret to their success.

Topics include:

New Android tablets debut at CES

The new Apple Macbook Air and what it means for the future of mobile computing

The coming flood of Internet connected devices or cloud based computing

App stores in the connected world. Apple vs Google

What do businesses need to do to capitalize on all that’s been discussed on todays show

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In explaining the rationale behind the new system Mark Zuckerburg talked about how high schoolers use messaging which is quite different than older generations. I am firmly myself in the Email Generation meaning I was brought up with email as the primary means of personal communication via computers. I am used to email, I like email and email is what frames my messaging perspective.

The next generation, however, is coming from a completely different place. This generation has been brought up with small, smart cell phones and the explosion of text messaging. Micro messaging systems like Twitter have also been a key part of their experience. For this reason, I call them the 140 Generation after the 140 characters that make up a Twitter message. This generation’s messaging perspective is framed by short, quick hit communications across a variety of devices.

This is exactly the framework Facebook is targeting with their new messaging system. But Facebook is smart and understands there are two generations overlapping, so this new messaging system is a slow play. It will work perfectly well with existing email systems as well as newer systems like SMS. Facebook sees their new shorter, less formal system as the future and it will be up to the 140 Generation to make this come to pass. No technology will in itself kill email, only users will by their habits and needs. Facebook will be there to pick up the pieces.

I actually think this is a great move for MySpace. MySpace was never better than when they were a music and entertainment hub. This is how they started, catering to small indie bands and their dedicated fans. MySpace could never figure out the larger world of social networking, but MySpace are experts in entertainment and music. With this new tight focus on what they do best, I think the future is bright for MySpace, even if they won’t become the next Facebook.

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First of all, every “F” sound on the site is replaced with a “ph” which is incredibly annoying and amateurish. I’m sure it was as cute idea in some board room or living room or where ever this thing was conceived but in practice it just doesn’t fly. Second of all, I don’t know why it was built on a Twitter-like platform. Twitter is the hot technology of the moment but that doesn’t mean it’s the answer for everything. The site wants to be about community, but there are actually very few real community features on it. Twitter, in and of itself, is not a community. If they wanted more of a real community a much better choice would have been Ning, which allows you to build real community based sites easily. Ning sites can have message boards, video, audio and chat.

Another odd thing is the prominent message in the top logo that says the site is “A gift from Kirstie Alley”. Well, thank you Kirstie for your generosity.  Usually it’s classier to be more humble about such things. She didn’t exactly cure cancer or anything.

People are so infatuated with Twitter, microblogging and 140 characters but you must realize, there is nothing magical about 140 characters. It is not the path to enlightenment nor the key to the fountain of youth. It’s just another technology, good for some things, not good for others. I am hearing a little too much Twitter is everything, Twitter is all I need. Blogging and RSS are dead. Please, stop it already. Twitter is great, I love it and use it daily, but some things cannot be expressed in 140 characters. Some things deserve a longer, more thoughtful treatment. If you are not blogging as much because you’re Twittering so much, I would say you have it backward. Blogging should be the main course, Twitter the appetizer. Keep things in perspective and remember when you Twitter your Tweets go into the Twittersphere. When you blog, your posts live on your site, forever. It’s content that helps your SEO and brings perspective customers, partners and employees to you. Never forget, the sale is always made on your site, not on a social network. Your primary objective is to drive traffic to your site and blogging is the most effective way to do that. Twitter, yes, but dont’ forget to blog.