It’s only been a bit over 3 weeks since Christmas, yet Christmas seems so long ago, doesn’t it?

I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty happy that it’s already staying (barely) light past 5pm. After surviving the Polar Vortex of 2014, I’m ready for spring.

I’m also pretty happy that it’s time for another Curated Awesome because – you know – it’s Friday.

Here are this week’s reads…

A Man Has Been Having A Hilariously Close Friendship With Applebee’s Facebook Page For Months Now There’s part of me that would L-O-V-E having a Facebook fan *this* in love with a brand I represent. But there’s another part of me that would cringe each time I saw a notification for that fan page, fearing what kind of new comment he posted.

Google+ vs Facebook: Why G+ Should Dominate your 2014 Strategy If you know someone who says Google+ isn’t worth your time or uses the excuse, “But the people aren’t there!”, send them to this post. And if you say that Google+ isn’t worth your time or use the excuse, “But the people aren’t there!”, click through and read this post this very second.

Thoughts on Small Businesses, Marketing, and My Beard Clearly not MY beard, but that of Ken Mueller. His post is a great reality check for marketers as well as small business owners. As Ken brilliantly points out, there’s a difference between “not shaving” and “growing a beard” when it comes to your business.

3 Steps that will Completely Transform the Way You Use Facebook It is so unusual these days that a headline as powerful as that *actually delivers* on what it says. Paul‘s creativity has me wondering if Facebook will roll back its new Following option.

How to Delete EVERYTHING You’ve Ever Done on Facebook Wiping clean your online history is increasingly becoming important and desirable. This post explains how to do this using a native Facebook native feature, and how to do it using a 3rd party tool.