Byte Me: Please don’t Google me

In my last column, I argued that with people already overwhelmed by the likes of Twitter and Facebook, Google Plus did not offer enough to justify investing even more time in a social network. It didn’t seem like a controversial statement to me.
I was wrong. The morning after the article was posted online, I awoke to a flurry of comments from enraged Google Plus enthusiasts who gaped at the “level of minimal effort” I put into discovering all of the incredible features of the site.
To these converts, it was obvious that I wasn’t singing the praises of Google Plus simply because I did not understand its superiority. Besides my lack of effort and understanding, I was also supposedly not using the site properly.
According to the commenters, I had neither an informative nor public “About Me” section. People would never add me to their circles if they were oblivious to what I was interested in. In addition, I mostly limited my circles to the same people I was friends with on Facebook, a rookie mistake. My posts were private to all but my Friends circle. But the most common suggestion was that I should participate “in discussions with total strangers.”
Aside from the person who posted in a Google Plus discussion that this might have been a conspiracy by Google to generate traffic on the Voice website, all of their complaints were true. I do not share personal information with people I do not know. Nonetheless, several of these people proceeded to add me to their own circles and encouraged me to add them back and share more so that I could see how phenomenal Google Plus really is.
I became increasingly uncomfortable with each new person who added me. While the majority of Google Plus users are most likely well-meaning people hoping to engage in some interesting conversation, the thought of interacting with a stranger online just reminds me of To Catch a Predator.
My previous column was written from the perspective of a college student, with the target audience being other college students. I admit that Google Plus seems to have filled a niche that I did not previously acknowledge, or even know existed, but it is not one in which most college students find themselves.
For the average student at Georgetown, social media is a tool used to enhance their social life, not establish it. And when Georgetown students find themselves looking to have a stimulating conversation about shared interests or current events, they can fortunately talk to people in their classes or clubs instead of opting for online socializing.
If enjoying Google Plus means that I need to start engaging in conversations with people I’ve never met before, then count me out. After growing up with my parents’ constant reminder not to talk to strangers, having an unfamiliar assortment of people tell me I need to start talking to them is as uncomfortable as someone offering me candy from their van.
I really wanted to like Google Plus, but I don’t have the time to make myself use it. At this point, I’m surrounded by enough people offline to keep conversation interesting. Maybe someday I will have to scour the internet for compelling conversation partners, but until then, I think I’m going to delete my Google Plus account.