A lot of people here, from +Brett Crosby to +Erica Joy, +Loic Le Meur and more have noticed the number of people adding to them in circles has caught up to or exceeded their followers on Twitter, despite Google+ being out for just under a month, while Twitter just celebrated its 5th anniversary. Many of us joined Twitter 3-4 years ago. +Liz Gannes of AllThingsD has an analytical post today on just why she and her connections think the counts are the way they are.

My two cents: Adding people to Circles is fun and simple, and you know you can organize people who you might view less often, while with Twitter you put everybody in the same bucket, so you pay a tax for connecting. Also, the engagement here is such that we early users are enthusiastic about following the path forged by other social networks, and finally getting the equation right.


(See: Google+ Really Has the Hang of the Follower Count Game)


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+Clint Boulton of eWeek extends the conversation that +Tom Anderson and I initiated last week regarding Google+ and algorithmic filters. I'm still not used to seeing my name in a headline at such a great publication as eWeek, but I assume it's the result of my talking so openly about a product lots of us are excited about.

Thanks for the post, Clint.

See: Louis Gray Argues for Algorithmic Filtering on Google+

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When I first started working in the Silicon Valley, I held patents in the highest of esteem. I was in awe when I would see inventors' walls speckled with plaques, and believed they reflected true innovation. Later, the companies I worked for went through the somewhat arcane system to have their own discoveries recognized. But in 2003, NetApp acquired a set of patents from Auspex and sued BlueArc (where I worked). Though our products were obviously very different and we were not infringing, the battle took lots of our employees' time, the case was used against us with customers, and millions were spent in legal fees, before it was dismissed in 2007.

Now, the words I think of after patent are either "suit" or "troll". I see how Apple, a company I once held in the very highest esteem, is attacking companies like Samsung, HTC and others with patents made well before the devices in question were created. I see others defining basic elements of Web services and cringe at suits to come. The system is broken. +Chris Sacca talks about one firm, Intellectual Ventures, who will probably be at the center of some of these future fights, in a detailed article on NPR.

(See: When Patents Attack)

Interested to your own thoughts around patents, invention, legalities and innovation, or what experiences you've had.

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Automating the detection and removal of spam accounts, fake profiles and other similar tasks is a tricky one. Assuming you have a 99% detection and response rate, the 1% "false positive" can be a humongous headache. With many people debating the right approach to taking down accounts, flagging spam and the like as this network evolves, check out this great article from the oddly titled "Laughing Meme".

See: Cost of False Positives on Laughing Meme

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