VOICES IN MY EARBUDS ask about the merit of conversations in circles. These voices often lead into Google Plus.
I have a little routine with Google Plus that involves looking at the white number in the red box above my Gmail account. The number is usually between three and eight. The numbers indicate activity shared by people I follow. Sometimes the numbers indicate someone new has followed me. I glance at the names, locations, and images to decide whether I want to follow someone back.
Most days, a few of the numbers lead to threaded discussion on places I've commented before or on my own stuff where comments have become a threaded discussion.
I'm also using G+ to listen to people talk. Most of that audio is from the Audioboo community. Some of the voices are podcasts that appear both in G+ and my iTouch subscriptions.
In the months ahead, I plan to push out three minute audio clips from art-making sessions in a local primary school. Hearing those young and Irish voices in circles will be one of the most delightful uses of social media that I have ever facilitated.