We all know Google.com has become the search engine of choice for many internet users. The "+" in Google stands for all the other Google offerings: Gmail, News, Translate, Drive, Maps, etc. One of the services is a social network that is much like Facebook only much more stream-lined (and with no ads!). Connect with family, friends, and colleagues. Build your business and find clients or customers. Or simply interact with people who share your interests.
Why do you need another
social network?
One website I found states
there are 300
million active users on Google+. That number is backed up by a
blogger for the New York Times. That's a lot of social and business
activity. So instead of asking why I should use Google+, I say, why not?
Let's get started! Sign up
for a Google+ account by going to Google.com and clicking "sign in"
(located in the top right-hand corner). Fill in the information and create a
password. Upload a profile picture and choose your settings. Click here to learn more details. And if you still want to learn more, this site offers a wealth of information.
Once you've signed in, you
can find the social network by clicking the "+[your name]" at the top
right-hand corner of the screen. It looks like this:
Now let's take a look around,
shall we?
Clicking your Home Button
(red arrow #1 on the image below) will bring you back to your main social
networking page. This is where you can actually share posts, pictures, etc with
your friends. Simply click inside the box that says "Share what's
new" and begin to type. Use the icon in the box to share photos, links, videos,
and events. Hover over your Home Button, and you can use it to go to your
profile, people, communities, settings, and more.
Now let's look at the
dashboard of Circles (red arrow #2). When you friend someone on Google+, you
designate a Circle—that you create—to place them in. As you can see, I have
Circles named Friends, Family, and Acquaintances. I have other Circles and
those show up under the More button. Separating people this way makes it easy
to share items of interest with a particular group with just once click.
Now let's talk about
"Communities" for a moment. In the image above, I have clicked on
Explore so you can actually see where to find topics that interest you. Because
I'm a fiction writer, I naturally joined communities that revolve around books.
I found these communities by searching for: #writers, #readers,
#self-publishing, etc. But you can search for any topic that interests you. I
found other communities by searching for: #recipes, #food, #cooking, #travel,
etc. Explore the many Communities Google+ has to offer.
Hangouts (red arrow #3 in the
image above) is a fairly new feature of Google+. It allows real time
conversations with your friends. You can chat, share photos, and even enjoy
group video calls. Simply sign in and begin to hangout.
Google+ has many other
features, but these are the basics. If you're on Google+, let's hook up. You
can find me at: google.com/
Did you find this blog post
helpful? What other information would you like to know about Google+?
4 comments:
Wow! What great info! Thanks for sharing :D
I'm on Google+, and often share things there. But it seems limited. I have over a 200 friends, who get my posts, But what then?
Gerry, join some communities! When you're in Google+ search for communities. Once you do, you'll see some choices across the top: "everything," "people and pages," communities, Google+ posts, "photos," and "more." Click on "communities" and then type your topic of interest in the search box (readers, books, self-publishing, etc). You will find communities of people who share your interests.
I'm trying to find my way around on there, too! Everyone seems to recommend it. I have a profile but haven't done much with it until now: https://plus.google.com/109933675709798946009
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