By Mary Beth West, APR

Do I have time for this?!  I mean, @#^&$#%! 

That was my bad attitude this past week as I started trying to set up my Google+ profile. 

I know that this admission flies in the face of who/what I’m supposed to be as a marketing communications professional.  When it comes to all things social media, I’m supposed to be early to the game and quick on the draw.  But this week, I had to lay claim to my humanity.

Perhaps it was the timing.  August 1 was the first day of school for my kids with all the associated chaos, we had several new-business pitches in play, and if I didn’t have enough perspiration issues already, it’s been about 100 degrees outside.  Trying to figure out the Google+ social media interface and where everything fit in just wasn’t jiving for me.

And that’s part of the challenge Google+ may be up against as it continues its launch.  Folks know Facebook.  They know where the buttons are and what they do.  It’s hard to change . . . or at least to give a stab at a new-kid-on-the-block social media presence that may seem like a mere duplication of what Facebook already does quite nicely, thank-you-very-much.

But not so fast.  I’m going to have to give myself an “F” on attitude and remember that I had a similar perception of Facebook back when I was still milling around on MySpace four years ago and someone first sent me a FB friend request. 

Que sera.  It’s almost a new week, so I’ll start taking my own advice: don’t get overwhelmed with analysis-paralysis.  Enjoy the process of discovering this new social media gizmo . . . it should be fun seeing where it leads.