Weekly Update - January 21, 2017: Google+, YouTube, Presidential Social Media Transition

My top updates this week:

• This week Google+ announced that the Classic web interface will be retired January 24th. They also announced some nice updates: Hide low quality comments, pan and zoom large images on the web, and an improved responsive design for a better screen layout.
• YouTube is rolling out mobile sharing and messaging - starting in Canada
• The transition from the Obama administration to the Trump administration included transfer of the White House and Presidential social media accounts
• And if you use Blogger you should check out the recording of my free webinar with Michael Daniels: Blogger, Beyond Text

Plus there are tips and updates for Google+, YouTube, Blogger, Google Docs, Google Search and more.

Image: My Wife’s Lovers by Carl Kahler (1893) “Dubbed by Cat Magazine as "the world's greatest painting of cats".”

Upcoming

• 23 January: Video Creators: Deadline to enter the Elton John: The Cut contest
• 24 January: Classic Google+ UI retired, Google+ Events return
• 24 January: Google Webmaster Central Office Hours Hangout
• 26 January: #AskAdSense office hours
• 27 January: Google Webmaster Central Office Hours Hangout
• 31 January: YouTube Super Chat launched
• 28 February: YouTube Fan Funding retired
• 25 April: Most Hangouts video call apps will be retired

YouTube and Video Creation

• Canadians first to get new YouTube mobile feature that makes sharing videos more social (Financial Post)
• YouTube correcting inflated lifetime channel view counts (YouTube Help)
• YouTube says thanks, Susan Wojcicki reviews 2016 and looks forward to 2017 (Susan Wojcicki on the YouTube Creators blog)
• More Than 1,000 YouTubers Surpassed 1 Million Subscribers In 2016 (Tubefilter)
• Collaboration, meet efficiency: a new way to review videos (official Vimeo blog)
• Last chance to download your Vines! Plus Twitter starts looping short video (Tech Crunch
• How a music video is (not) made: Young Thug's latest music video is about how they couldn't make the video (Young Thug)

Go Live

• YouTube Live guide (Nick Bacon of Mainstream Media)
• Live streaming to YouTube from my Pixel phone: the best and worst apps (me)
• Go live on Facebook with just your computer and webcam - no special software required (Krishna De)
• Facebook may be shifting emphasis from live video to "longer, premium video content" from publishers (Recode)
• Facebook took 2 weeks to remove livestream suicide video of 12-year-old (The Next Web)

Google+ and Spaces

• Google+ update: hide low quality comments, Events, photo zoom - and goodbye Classic (Google Blog)
• Google+ update: Hiding low quality comments (Luke Wroblewski)
• Google+ Update: Screen Layout Improvements on the web (Luke Wroblewski)
• Zoom and pan images in the new Google+ desktop interface (Luke Wroblewski)
• How to use Google+ image zoom on the web (John Nack)
• Google+ says thanks! Plus a nice article about Google+ users! (Mashable)
• Google+: Over a Year of new web features (Luke Wroblewski)
• Classic G+ is going away on January 24th yet there is still no support for Photospheres (See Comments).(Kyle Salewski)
• Google Spaces Chrome extension update (Luke Wroblewski)

Other social media

• Addressing Fake News in Germany (Facebook Media Blog)
• Like many other celebrities, Mark Zuckerberg has a team managing his Facebook presence (Bloomberg)
• Facebook took 2 weeks to remove livestream suicide video of 12-year-old (The Next Web)
• How the Chinese Government Fabricates Social Media Posts for Strategic Distraction, not Engaged Argument (Gary King)

Google Photos and Mobile Photography

• Tales from the frontlines of viral photography (Sean Bonner)

Google for businesses

• The business calling itself Map Registrations is NOT part of Google (Tim Capper)
• An important update for restaurants on the web - a new schema is being added for restaurant menus, menu sections, and menu items! (David Kutcher)

Bloggers and Webmasters

• Blogger tip: How to insert emoji, symbols and other special characters (video, blog post)
• Free webinar: Blogger, Beyond Text (watch the video featuring me and Michael Daniels)
• Crawl Budget: do you understand the factors that determine how the Google search bot crawls your site? (Google Webmasters)
• Google On Negative SEO: Keeps Competitors Busy While You Get To Move Forward (SEO Roundtable)

AdSense and advertising

• YouTube gains access to Google account data for ad targeting, teases new measurement solution (Marketing Land)
• Farewell, Contributor.by Google (Artem Russakovskii)
• Ads for Google products topped Google search results 91 percent of the time (Recode)
• Profit in fake news: $20,000 in ad revenue for 20 minutes work fabricating a "news" story (Daily Dot)

Hangouts and Messaging

• Allo v5.0 prepares to give personalized sticker packs based on selfies and adds support for Chrome Custom Tabs [APK Teardown + Download] (Android Police)

Nexus, Pixel, Android, Project Fi

• Project Fi update M+ rolling out (Project Fi)
• Google Pixel Mac transfer problems due to ancient Android File Transfer software (Android Authority)
• 9 tips to get more out of your Pixel phone (Computer World, John Skeats)
• Google is rolling out a new feature called 'Instant Tethering' in Play Services 10.2 (Android Police)
• First Android Wear 2.0 devices revealed: Google and LG’s Watch Sport and Watch Style (Venture Beat)

Productivity

• G Suite Update Alerts: Smarter meeting scheduling in Google Calendar on the web (G Suite Updates)
• Legacy versions of Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides mobile apps shutting down on April 3, 2017 (G Suite Updates)
• Explore feature for Docs and Slides (The G Suite Show)
• Have a new Chromebook? These tutorial videos will get you started (Chrome Unboxed, Andrew Hatchett)
• Google remembers your mobile search, even if you lose your internet connection (Google blog)

Privacy and Security

• If your password is 123456 (or any other popular password) change it now! Seriously! (Business Insider)

More around the web

• Google expands their European tech hub in Zurich (Google Blogs)
• Diversity in science: Why it is essential for excellence (Scientific American)
• Say hello to 'Moz://a'! Mozilla just revealed its minimalist new logo, a wink at its internet roots (Aygul Zagidullina)
• UFOs, Psychics, and Spies: The CIA Just Put 12M Pages of Files Online. Start Here (Wired)
• 35 Years of Cyberwar: The Squirrels Are Winning (Ars Technica)
• Ask #GoogleHome to talk to Aeden at #Westworld today (Westworld)
• The Alt-Right’s Meltdown Is Just Like Any Other Message Board Drama (Buzzfeed)

The Digital Transition from the Obama to the Trump Administration

• Former Googler Matt Cutts is staying with the US Digital Service (Matt Cutts)
• The final days of Obama’s tech surge (Steven Levy @ Backchannel)
• The Digital Transition: how the Presidential transition works in the social media age  (Obama Whitehouse blog archives)
• Now playing: 8 years of Obama fully archived (Vimeo)
• President Trump hands over Galaxy phone, receives more secure device (Daily Dot)
• Watch the Trump Inauguration online (no longer live)

Updated March 2019 to remove Google+ links