Today’s internet consists of three main social networks: Google+, Twitter, and Facebook. This means a lot of people have three very different audiences. In the interest of keeping things simple while supporting the newest network, I will tell you how I cross-post to all three networks from Google+.

• Step One: Connecting your Google+ to your Twitter

  In my search, I found a lot of very bad ways to connect these accounts. One was to make a special Google+ circle for just Facebook and another for just Twitter, using special respective email addresses, but there was a ridiculously small character limit. It’s pointless! Another was to use a Chrome Extension, but simplicity is still the goal. It must be easy and universal—any browser; any device.

  The best way I’ve found is by using ManageFlitter. You just fill in your Google+ account URL (the original kind with all the numbers), then sign in using your Twitter account, and it connects them for you. So now when you post from Google+, it also goes to your Twitter.

• Step Two: Connecting your Twitter to your Facebook

  The second and last step is to make your tweets go straight to Facebook. Go to Twitter on Facebook and just follow the simple instructions. If you’ve already been doing this, then you’re done! Be sure to check your Applications in Facebook for anything that might interfere with this new change. You’ll never have to physically post to Facebook again (aside from commenting/Liking, and adding photos to albums).

• You must use the 140 character limit

  Since Twitter has the tiniest character limit of all three of these networks, we have to keep that limit in mind when posting. If you try to send more than 140 characters from Google+ to Twitter, what will appear in your Twitter feed is a few words and a Google link! People without Google+ will not see the content.

  My method (whether on a computer or on my phone) is to perfect my post in Twitter, to make sure it’s under 140 characters, then copy/paste that into Google+. It’s just how it must be done for now, til Google+ gets a character counter.

• Your Google+ post must be Public

  You can have your Twitter & Facebook locked down, but the only way Google+ will let any posts be cross-posted is if you are sharing Publicly. So any posts that are directed to specific Circles will not be cross-posted.

• You have to be a link Nazi

  There are lots of little opportunities for this method to backfire and give nothing but a Google link. Be sure to keep your links super small as often as possible (using TinyURL.com). And no matter what link you use, you must ALWAYS hit the little “X” at the top right of the Preview that appears… Otherwise your post will be Google-ized. :\

• You have to simplify your way of posting photos

  If you don’t mind a Google link coming up for when you post pics from your Google+ albums, then go right ahead. I personally haven’t gotten used to sending people to my Google+, because I think it requires Google+ membership. My one-off mobile pics are posted to TwitPic.com and I just paste that link into Google+ manually. For posting an entire album of photos, I post them to Flickr and paste the set link into Google+ manually.

Current Mood: Awake

So in case no one noticed, I’ve been obsessed with Turntable.fm for a few months now. I’ve made a buncha friends in the chatroom named Orange Bear Party Indie. I feel highly affected by these people. They’re all so interesting and we all share the same love for music and internetz. It’s a great thing! Last night we were video chatting on Google+ simultaneously, and one friend began to sit and make art… So instead of just watching, I suddenly became inspired to create this tribute to my new friends. :)

I haven’t painted in 2 years! Yay inspiration!

Current Mood: Loving

 
Turntable.fm came around at the same time Google+ was introduced as a better alternate and obvious future replacement of Facebook. And perhaps only coincidentally, many Google Chrome extensions were being made to enhance the Turntable.fm experience. So after years of using Firefox and a week of using Turntable.fm, I finally made the switch from Firefox to Chrome. It’s free, has tons of great extensions that are constantly being created and added, and has the same renegade open-source flair of Firefox, but with less of a memory footprint.

As a graphic/web designer who is always at a computer, I am most concerned with satiating my obsession with Turntable.fm while remaining productive at my desk job. The goal is to hide the page at all times, because it’s difficult to justify a cartoon rave that looks like a time-waster game as a legitimate way to listen to music. With these Chrome extensions, you can get work done while enjoying the music, and seem active to other participants:

• Go to a bigger room. It just isn’t possible to chat and be productive. So it would be best to go into a room with 20+ people so you aren’t really expected to chat.
• Get Auto Awesome. It lives in your bookmarklet toolbar. When you go to a room, you right-click your actual Awesome button in the room, select “Inspect Element”, and copy that first quoted portion of the highlighted text. Then paste it into the Auto Awesome field. So now when a song comes on, it hits Awesome for you auto-magically! This lets people know you’re present and digging the music. “But how do I hit Lame, Manda?!” Oh I’ll feed you, baby birds.
• Get Turntabler. This is a little button next to the address field of the browser window. You click it and it offers thumbs up/down, add to queue, mute, and song info; no matter what tab you’re on! So while Auto Awesome is going, and you hear a song you dislike, you just hit the thumbs down and it changes your Awesome vote to a Lame.

Here are other great ways I enhance my Turntable.fm experience:

• Get Turntable Scrobbler. This allows Last.fm to scrobble what you listen to in Turntable.fm. Easy install, just follow the instructions. In case you aren’t aware, Last.fm keeps track of what you listen to and allows you to connect with other people with similar music tastes. It’s also great documentation of your own music growth.
• Get Turntable Extended. This adds a few extra features to Turntable.fm. The most beneficial features to me are Playlists (for organizing your queue into genres), and Room Users (for when you’re in a packed room and want to see who all is in there).

Sooo let’s not talk about how ironic it is that I wrote this at work.

Current Mood: Dorky

(click to zoom)

Last night was my friend Casey’s aforementioned June-O-ween party and I ended up being a unicorn after all! Not a My Little Pony, mind you; but a magical, majestic unicorn! Of course in true proCRAFTstination form, I did all this within three hours before the party. Went to Party City for the rainbow “punk rocker” wig, bunny ears, and feather boa; then to Target for a princess party hat, pipe-cleaners, and white clothes. For the horn I cut up & tightened the party hat and used silver pipe-cleaner for the detail. Cut off the bunny ears from their headband, shortened them, then sewed them back on. Looped the feather boa through the back belt loop of my shorts, and tied the ribbons from the party hat around it. Bam! I will be at Voodoo Fest in New Orleans this Halloween, so I guess this counts as my only Halloween costume of the year. It’s about time I made a unicorn costume though. Seriously.

Current Mood: Dorky

I was thinking I could be a My Little Pony for my friend’s June-O-Ween party (a DIY costume party in the middle of June), but then I found THREE herds of ho-bags with the same idea. Hmph.

Current Mood: Angry