20,000 Words and Thoughts on Google+ Fiasco

I hit 20,000 in the car last night on the way to Ft. Worth and yes, I am behind.  I have all week on vacation to catch up and finish, however, so let me have this.

In other news, Google launched a new program that forces Youtube users to connect to Google+ accounts.  If you'll notice, I've already merged my blogger.  It sounds like a small change that can't really affect anything, right?  Wrong.  It has had a large effect in many areas all over the YouTube community.  It has mussed / will muss several brand names, i.e. Meekakitty, Nerimon, Vlogbrothers, Itswaypastmybedtime, Nanalew, Danisnotonfire, Katytastic, Italktosnakes, and many others.  Google+ requires a first and last name to connect and will no longer allow brand usernames like those listed above.  It also has had an effect on the strength and speed of servers.  The plus side?  (Bah dum tsss) It allows a greater connectivity to everything on Google.  Gmail, Google Drive, Calendars, Planners, Maps, and many tools Google has to offer.  It's a good way to have everything in one place and it's a lot cleaner and easy to deal with than Yahoo.  (I may be biased, I recently had to shut down a Yahoo account because it was hacked and there is no way to get back into my account other than answering a question I answered sarcastically when I was twelve and forgot the answer to.  Still kind of mad at Yahoo.)  So what do you think about Google's marketing?

 #randomrants

Lucy