Authored by Phillip Herndon

Google 360: How Google+ Can Win the Web

Google’s long-rumored, awe-inspiring Facebook-killing social network behemoth was revealed on Tuesday: Google+. And it’s pretty OK. Good even. The suite of tools forms the building blocks by which Google hopes to stitch together a social graph to compete with Facebook’s. Google has managed expectations admirably, and Facebook still existed as of Friday afternoon. But Google+ is more than it seems. The foundation Google is laying has potential to merge the social and static web until they are practically synonymous.

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Gaming the Web: Using Game Mechanics to Motivate Action

In the hyperconnected morass that is South by Southwest Interactive, it’s easy to get stuck in the “did I check-in/update/tweet about this panel/party/handshake” infinite loop. With a slew of new apps and sites to check out and an ABGC mindset – Always be Generating Content they say – it can get overwhelming. But even when it does come time to put the smartphone down, it’s hard. Many have hit on the idea of using game mechanics to motivate action – the gamification of the Web.

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