As you’ll have noted from my right column on this blog, I’ve become quite an enthusiastic user of Google+ I’m a bit of a Google fan boy to start with, and I’ve had a bit of a bee in my bonnet about Facebook for quite some time. Instead, I’ve found Google+ to be a useful tool both personally and professionally. Even though there’s a circle for my close friends, none of them are using it really. To quote one friend…

Oh I just signed in to Google Plus after eons. And having to reset my password yet again cos I keep forgetting it cos I never sign in. James, you are the only one who posts!

Instead, I’ve been following interesting people from around the world I’ve never met before, especially with radio, tech, photography, and genealogy interests, to name but a few.

The thing I’ve learned quickly is “it’s not Facebook”. It’s more like Twitter (with more characters) or Tumblr. You don’t have know the people to enjoy the posts. I am on Facebook in a limited way, and that’s purely to interact with some close friends who live interstate. I would hate the thought of following 600 people and getting their “I had breakfast” updates. The culture on Google+ is quite different. It’s around interest circles. So I’m following a bunch of people who like stuff that I like. It’s more like a “filter system” for the web than Facebook. It seems a whole lot self-obsessed also. You’re more likely to find someone saying, “I found this great link” rather than “I did amazing things” (or at least in my experience).

Anyway, I’ve stumbled upon a photographer who lives in Sweden who posts interesting stuff. A couple of days ago on Google+ I responded to his photograph of Helsingborg (which was a sunny, happy scene of the deckhairs,with this photograph of the same deckchairs but on a very grey day. I was somewhat amazed at the response it sparked, and then again today, a colleague mentioned today how much he liked the pic. So I felt inspired to post a few other photographs from my grey day in Helsingborg.

Despite the inclement weather I had when I visited, it’s a great little city which I enjoyed very much thanks to my friend (and tour guide) Tony. Nonetheless, I think you could almost name a whole new colour as “Helsingborg Grey”.