In working to email inbox zero (I am so excited to be working on this habit) one of my intentions is for me to get only the best blog posts. That would mean sharing with you the more highly valuable.
Here is what has come across since I’ve been back from my Europe travels. And yes, I have a blog post simmering for part of those experiences.
Now …
5 Top Weekly Blog posts, week 8, from #Introvert Inspirer
Starting with:
‘Alone time’ is really good for you
(CNN) — Americans have a complicated relationship with alone time. Though we often feel a constant connection because of social media, the fact is, we’re more on our own than ever: More than 50 percent of American adults are single, and some 27 million people live alone. In 1950, just 22 percent of American adults were single, and 4 million lived alone. Combine that with people getting married later in life, and we’re all just having more QT with ourselves.
Alone time, of course, is different than loneliness, which carries some health risks, including increased risk of heart disease and depression. But carving out some “me time,” on the other hand, is a pretty awesome idea. Read more about it…
INTROVERTS, ARE YOU STUCK IN A LONELINESS LOOP? 
Loneliness is a horrible, empty feeling that gnaws at your gut.
Ironically, you can be surrounded by other people and still feel lonely. That’s because loneliness is actually a state of mind, not the state of being alone.
What makes us feel lonely isn’t the fact that there are no people around, but that we can’t connect with those people in the intimate, emotional way that we crave.
* NOTE: This is an older post via a current coming through my blog alerts. Because it was favorited more than ten times, the message must resonate. Continue reading here…
Here’s What Google Teaches Employees In Its ‘Search Inside Yourself’ Course
Every year, thousands of Googlers take one of a dozen company courses on mindfulness meditation, the increasingly prevalent practice of having a “balanced awareness” of what’s happening around you.
The most popular class — titled “Search Inside Yourself” — regularly has a wait list stretching six months.
“I know this sounds melodramatic,” a Google employee reported on an after-course examination, “but I really think this course changed my life.”
Read more and uplift your search…
* NOTE: This one from Seth Godin:
Pretty websites
…are rarely websites that convert as well as unpretty ones.
If the goal of your site is to position you, tell a story, establish your good taste and make it clear what sort of organization you are, then pretty might be the way to go. And you can measure the effectiveness of the site by how it impresses those you seek to impress, by its long-term impact.
But it’s a mistake to also expect your pretty website to generate cash, to have the maximum percentage of clicks, to have the most efficient possible funnel of attention to action.
There’s always been a conflict between the long-term benefits of beauty in commerce (in architecture, in advertising, in transactions) and the short-term brutality of measurement and direct response.
Read to see do you agree it likely applies to blogs?
Google+ Takes on Pinterest With Collections, a New Sharing Feature
Google+ is having a bit of an identity crisis while its Mountain View owner works out exactly what it wants to do with it. Until recently, the most significant news about the struggling social network was that its excellent Photos component was going to get spun out into a standalone project. It turns out Google+ now has a new sharing feature called Collections, and it looks a lot like Pinterest.
First uncovered by DroidLife tipster, the new Collections feature, described as “part Pinterest, part blogging,” enables users to create groups of photos, videos, and links and then share them with other people in their Circles.
Read more about what made me start looking at my Pinterest posts shared most… and this infographic is one of them with 176 shares.
Okay, this is a bonus post making it 6 top posts, which came it that I know we all want to know about. At least we know it’s important, right? I for one can do much better in this particular part of blogging and web presence.
What Makes An Image Go Viral?
Well, that’s a question we spend a lot of time thinking about here. Because, as you know, we see images as more than just padding on a news feed:
We see them as a powerful way to connect.
And one of the best ways to connect with new people? Social shares.
But knowing how to create a shareable image, one that can go viral, for your niche is a lot easier said than done. Or, at least it was. Until now.
In this article I’m going to show you the five parts that make up shareable images, and how you can apply them to your own images today.
How do you find the most valuable blog posts for your work or niche?
Do you have a favorite post here?
Patricia — these are excellent posts. Not only did I read the Google “Search Inside Yourself” post, I watched the 14-minute video of the Google engineer who started the course on compassion and wrote a book. I worked for a CEO many years ago who also claimed the most important characteristic of a leader is compassion. So it rang true for me.
The focus on short-term earnings in most companies, though, trumps compassion. The individual is secondary to the focus on the bottom line. Too many leaders regard people as profit generators and not as human beings to inspire to greatness through compassion. Most companies don’t have a culture that encourages compassion and caring about everyone’s happiness and that’s sad.
Great selection of interesting posts, Patricia!
Can’t help wondering if in many cases what society expects has made people feel lonely if they are not constantly socializing. The same also applies to being alone.
Interesting that Google has come up with a version of Pinterest. Let’s see if it makes Google Plus more successful.
Would love to know how how to make an image go viral if it’s not geared towards the interest of the majority of people in this world? It’s usually a picture of a celebrity or something like that. If it about business it has to feature Richard Branson or someone else super famous.
These were so good Paricia! I loved them all, but my top 2 favs were the first 2 dealing with introverts and loneliness. Very insightful! There were a few spots that made me cringe a little…like staying at home alone being my default! Lordy! Once in a while I DO get lonely, but I never thought more so than the average person. And I never did make the connection to being introverted. LOL
Some really good stuff here Patricia. I really enjoyed the what makes an image go viral. The first thing that comes to mind this year is that darn Grumpy Cat image that we now see EVERYWHERE. Why oh why can’t I find an original (pissed off, smiling, overbite) pet like that at an animal shelter whose image will go viral and make me millions? Lol. Also being a huge Pinterest fan, I find the Google+ Collections interesting.