From the first day I rolled Play-Doh into a ball and chewed the plastic, purple grapes on our dining room table as I kid I have been fascinated by circles and spheres. Squares are OK, triangles are better, but a circle, in any dimension, grabs my attention like a rogue piece of Velcro in the laundry basket grabbing my socks. I have blogged about circles of influence, doodled them ad infinitum, and painted them repeatedly. So, when I heard about Google+ and their Circle concept, naturally, I was intrigued.
One of the things I loathe about Facebook is the Friends List. Don’t get me wrong, I love my friends, new and old, dull as dirt and flamboyant, even the old curmudgeons. I simply hated the fact that now mater what I wanted to say, everyone of them had to see it on their wall, unless I painstakingly blocked them. When Google+ arrived, and I finally got an invite, I was thrilled beyond measure to have ‘control’ over who I wanted to see what. If I used a curse word, I knew it wouldn’t go out to my ‘mom’s circle’ and if I wanted to share my faith I knew I could make a circle for that too. It was delicious joy at first, being able to ORGANIZE my friends like I would in real life. But very quickly, I realized Google+ Circles had a flaw, or should I say, an unhealthy element, at least for me.
Because Google+ is still not open to the public, and many of my friends are quite happy with the Facebook format for now, most of the friends I have on Google+ are, well, strangers. Within that context, I love Google+ because it gave me an invitation to network with my international peers, find folks who love odd things, like skulls, and even follow the tech geeks that thrive on statistics and analytics. It has been intellectually stimulating and refreshing. Circles were not so much an issue for me over the past two weeks, and I could easily place my new friends in one of 4 circles, Following, Art Friends, Writers, and Tech Geeks. The Circles Concept was brilliant and easy. I was hooked really, that is until this morning.
This morning, a cold dose of reality set in for me…. the problem of Circles. One of my new friends didn’t like something that was posted by someone and a conversation cropped up about unfollowing, uncircling, how to circle, and merging circles. The Circles conundrum began to become organic and thrive, causing the issues that come with Circles to circle in my head, round, and round, and round. At that point, I missed my Play-Doh.
I had to step back a minute, take a deep breath and really evaluate what I was in the middle of, how important this process was for me, and what impact my decisions about Circles would have on my life. My internal dialogue went something like this:
“Most of my posts, so far, have been public so why am I stressing over labeling folks with circles? I have a new platform to share my artwork and am loving the experience. But, what if I want to share my faith, my political opinions, my love of collecting weird doll pieces and parts? What if I simply wanted to rant about the DMV or idiot reality shows and how I hate commercials aimed at an audience with an IQ lower than 70? Would I really want to subject the public to all of that, or will I now police myself even further by grouping everyone into their own little circle of influence? Do I really want to hide parts of who I am from other folks and do I really feel good about choosing to edit my ‘circling’ habits with exclusion rather than inclusion?”
Heavens, it kept going on and on and on and I quickly realized how invasive this Circle issue had become. And then I knew it. I am spending too much time trying to figure out who to put where and why, and a tiny little voice began to whisper, “Just stay on FB, it’s easier and less time consuming.” Sigh. I don’t want to stay there and not here. I don’t want to over obsess about circles to the point where I cave who I am simply to please people and not offend, not that I would intentionally try and offend anyone. And, if I am struggling with these issues, what on Earth will happen when Google+ is open to everyone? Will they find Circles overwhelming and go OCD possibly? Will they arrive on Google+ only to decide that having total control of their Circles is harder than they thought and either default to public like Facebook or simply stay there?
I have no clue. What I do know, at least for me, is that I have given myself a time limit to deal with these matters, because I refuse to allow the simple function of Circles and splitting my interests into structured spaces to take any more time away from what I call “high living!” (Thank you MEK.) Circles are personal choices, I still believe they are what will draw members to Google+ and I don’t resent them at all. I simply need, for my own sanity, to make some prudent choices as to what circles of influence I really want to have on Google+, build those circles, and let go of the fear of losing a follower because I posted something they found mundane, wrong, or offensive.
The Lord of the Rings has a quote, “Fate Has Chosen Him. A Fellowship Will Protect Him. Evil Will Hunt Them.” I think about that often, especially how it applies to my own life and how I impact others. For me, I interpreted it to mean, life has found me, crappy things will happen to all of us, but my circles of friends and family will help protect me and help me get through that crap. Circles are meant to overlap, to impact one another, and to spread if organic. My hope, as I meet new people or old, and add them to a Circle on Google+ is that I choose to impact them with beauty, with humbleness, with support, and with compassion. I feel, that if I approach this social network that way, then I will stay true to who I am, and possibly become part of a fellowship for others and belong in one of their Circles. That would be grand. On the other hand, I am sure I will be lumped into someone’s Circle called ‘Total Weirdos’ or be muted, and that is just fine too. That is why they make Vanilla, Strawberry, Chocolate and Pistachio and the wheels on the bus go round and round……….