Are we still talking about Google plus? Can we, for a second? I’m not advocating the use of it, in fact, I’ll have an arbitrary loyalty to thefacebook.com until the internet dies, but Google Plus does contain one feature that makes my planner-loving-brain tremble with excitement: Circles!
For those unacquainted, Google Plus allows you to take an entire relationship with a person (symbolized by a name and picture) and drag-and-drop it into a fixed circle with a label of your choice. You get to label people! And they have no way of knowing what you’re calling them! This gives YOU the power – gone are the days of worrying about if you fit into someone else’s circle: with Google Plus, the circle forms around YOU. Is your social anxiety dissipating by the second? Mine is! Some suggestions as to how to organize your Google Plus friendships.
People You’re Infatuated With
These are people who have that magnetic energy. They probably treat you like crap, but for whatever reason, you light up in their presence. Or maybe they’re just super nice to everyone yet still respected, and you want to figure out how they do it. In any case, this is a group you want to keep close tabs on. Did you know there’s a “stream” option? Life just got so much easier.
People You Can't Shake
You knew it would happen: that email in your inbox saying “____ has added you on Google +.” They found you on here, just like they found you on Facebook and proceeded to retroactively comment blast all your albums. You were never close with this person; your friendship mainly has come to fruition online – they lovvve to reminisce about the three weeks you spent together at theater camp in ’05. You don’t even live in the same city as these people, but you can bet that if they ever came to visit, you’d get a phone call asking if they can stay with you for four days. And you’ll say yes, because that’s what 'friends' do.
Daytime Friends
These people are usually the best people you know, but for some reason, you can’t breach the 10pm line of friendship. So your plans are relegated to three-hour lunches and Saturday afternoon hikes/spiritual experiences. But if you ever did party together, they’d probably see the real you… and run.
Usually Singles
Good to have a handy virtual Rolodex of these people. You can always return to them after a breakup or in anticipation of a lonely Saturday night. They’ll be there, Fun Machines as always, cursing you behind your back when you run off again to pursue the next possible The One. But whatever, there’s a mutual understanding that you’re both just using each other as someone to walk in with. LOVE YOU!
Co-Friend-Work-ers
Google Plus would have you designate a circle for “Coworkers,” but coworkers can be so much more than that. For those hybrid relationships in which you divulge all your deepest secrets and take bullets for each other (if you are a policeman), I’d suggest a Co-Friend-Work-ers category. Clunky? Yes, but so are those friendships, especially when you start trying to breach that 10pm line.
Family: Short List
Google Plus would also have you designate a circle for “Family,” but let’s be honest, family could mean everyone from your mother to your fourth cousin in Israel who you’ve never met but is apparently very technologically savvy. And it’d be super awkward to start a circle hangout with Aunt Eunice, who anticipates that Aunt Carol is going to do something selfish. Better label it “Family: Short List” and only admit the people you would conceivably call in tears on your way home from work.
Friendsters
At one point, you were really close with these people. But that point is no longer, and you’re left with the confusing remnants of what you thought was something meaningful. There are no hard feelings, just a curiosity as to if you’re supposed to relive those memories or continue to care. Don’t you feel better for even being able to trace this pattern and group them in the same category? Okay, you can continue to cycle between ignoring them and wondering if they still think about you.
Anyone You’ve Ever Hooked Up With
This could be the best or the worst idea ever, but how fun would it be to visualize this group of people in one circle? You know you’ve had that dream in which they were all in the same room. Now you can look at it on your computer screen every day! The world really DOES revolve around you! Just don’t click that group hangout button, or there’ll be some awesomely awkward conversations as to how everyone knows each other. (No one is supposed to remember an orgy).
What do you guys think? How are you labeling your Google Plus circles? Are you using Google Plus? Let us know in the comments section!
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