I pled my case that Facebook would go the way of Friendster and MySpace, but people wouldn't hear it - those were "also-rans" and did so much wrong. Honestly, it was beginning to look like I was wrong. It happens (sometimes). Then, Google+ launched and I finally have the analogy I was looking for - night clubs.

Facebook, MySpace and Google+ are simply environments for socializing. That's it. They build a room, put some stuff in it that you like, and then invite you to come hang out with your friends and meet chicks. That's what a nightclub is too. Facebook is just a nightclub. It's a huge nightclub, but just a nightclub and anyone investing in it should look at it as such.

Now, ask someone who has built successful night clubs what the shelf-life is. How long is a specific club still the place to be? Two years? Five? Inevitably, no matter how cool the club is, or how loose the women, something new opens up and the kids move on.

So, would you buy a night club for $20 Billion?

Today is a fine example, and the final nail in the coffin (of me on facebook). They converted their messaging system into a more chat-like interface, and then forced me to log onto chat over, and over, and over again. No matter how many times I turned it off, five minutes later (with the window hidden) it would log me back on again.

I don't chat. I've never chatted. I don't want to chat. I have a little iChat icon down there that I never use. There's a reason I don't chat, and I certainly don't want Zuckerberg putting a green dot on me and saying, "hey everyone! Al's available to chat! RIGHT NOW!" I'm not. I won't ever be.

Coincidentally today Google+ finally opened up for new members and I joined. The challenge is that after five years there are a ton of photos on Facebook that I don't want to manually move over to Google. After a bit of an adventure I found a relatively painless way to switch and as of this writing my Google+ account looks identical to my Facebook account ... except without a chat window popping up every five minutes, no Mafia or Farmville invites and zero, I repeat ZERO fucking DJs.

HERE'S HOW:

1. Download Google Chrome - you'll need it for now. Don't worry, once everything is moved over you can delete it, n'er to be seen again.

http://chrome.google.com (5 minutes)

2. Install the Contact Exporter Extension - this takes awhile depending on how many Facepage friends you have, so get it started right away.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ficlccidpkaiepnnboobcmafnnfoomga  

Just install it, then log into facebook and you'll see a "export friends!" menu item... click, follow the directions. (5 minutes to set up, leave open for a couple of hours to export).

3. Export Photos: This is the big one; you can export your photos into one, or many zip files, all at once. 

http://www.picknzip.com/ 

Just allow it access to your facebook account by logging in. The app will appear right in the Chrome browser (note: This app did NOT work in Firefox which was the cause of much confusion). It's pretty simple to use, just select the photos you want to download and name your file. You can organize your albums here (into separate folders), download them organized as they are, or organize them into folders once they're on your computer.

(5 minutes)

4. Upload to Google: obviously, once you've downloaded your photos you need to go into Google+ and upload them. Just select "upload from computer" and create as many or as few albums as you like.

5. Stop using Facebook except to tell people to move over to Google+.