Once again, I’ve discovered that Google is killing off a product that I use on a regular basis. Sigh.
You may remember when they killed Reader, and then killed MyTracks. Now I hear they’re shutting down Google+ and Hangouts, which will get rolled into their corporate product package, or something. Maybe? Either way, it will join the extensive (and constantly growing) list of products in the “Google Graveyard.”
It reminds me that Google/Alphabet is a company aimed at big businesses, and not regular people like you and me. In fact, it never really was for regular people. It was always aimed at making advertising money through monetizing our search data. This shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone. This is how gigantic businesses work.
I’ll eventually have to look for a replacement for Hangouts. And in reality, I need to free myself from Google products in general. Even though they’re embedded in my phones. And I avoid using Facebook Messenger like the plague. Maybe Signal.org?
As with almost all social media apps, Google+ is dying a slow death because nobody uses it. Despite having a good feature set, people just weren’t going to join it unless everybody they knew was on it. It’s a catch-22. Everybody uses Facebook because everybody uses Facebook. It’s reached critical mass, like a black hole sucking in everything around it. All the other social media platforms have been relegated to museum curiosities. Twitter is spambot central. Tumblr is like a house of horrors. Gab.ai is a dumpster fire of litigation brought on by idiots. Diaspora has been around for ages and still has no adoption. I don’t even know what else is out there, because outside of Facebook’s event horizon, nothing else matters.
Well, I guess I shouldn’t just rant, though there is plenty to rant about. Ultimately, we’re complaining about free services, so what should we expect, right?
We’ve become spoiled by instant communication and information. We’ve lost the art of discourse through writing. No thought is required to post anything to social media.
This is largely why I keep blogging, year after year… it requires thought to put together blog posts.
Anyway… I’m looking at options for non-Google phone apps, and am trying out F-Droid on my phone. I don’t think I’ll be able to completely de-Google all my accounts, but I can certainly reduce the impact it has on my life.
In general, though, I am very dependent on technology, and I don’t need to be. It’s a convenience, and I’m not being made a better person with conveniences at my fingertips. I could say much more on that, but for now, I’ve said enough. More wake-up calls for the digitally enslaved.
