What is Google+?

Google+ is the new social network from Google. Having previously attempted social networking with the now defunct Google Buzz, Google+ takes all the best bits of Facebook and Twitter and binds them together with Circles (more on them later).

Finding friends

As with any social network, without friends, there’s not a lot to see.

If you already have a Gmail account, Google will suggest people from your contacts on the service, but you can also import contacts from a Yahoo! or Hotmail account. Alternatively, you can upload a .csv of your contacts from an email client like Thunderbird or Outlook.

After that, just try searching for people you know by name.

Circles

Circles are the heart of Google+. Using Circles you can both narrow down whose updates you want to view (only those from family for example) and who you want to see your updates (you might not want your boss to see that hilarious photo of you from last night, but your friends will love it).

Any new friend you add will be listed under one of four default Circles:

• Friends
• Family
• Acquaintances
• Following

Following will be familiar to Twitter users. On Google+, not only can you be friends with people you know, but you can follow interesting people to see their updates on a particular topic (see below).

You can create as many Circles as you like, defined however you want.

Hangouts

Once you’ve created your Circles, you can also create a ‘hangout’. These are webcam conference chats that people can just drop into whenever they feel like. By default anyone in any of your Circles can join, but you can narrow it down however you like.

+1 for Topics

As mentioned above, you’re not confined to people you know on Google+, you can also follow interesting people based on topic. If there’s a company or someone you’re already interested in, just look them up and see if they have a profile.

Otherwise, have a look at ‘areas of interest’ and Google will recommend public figures worth following. Or search for a keyword and be presented with all recent public posts around the topic.

When all your Circles are set up, you will have a customised news feed of everything your friends are up to, as well as the latest music, video games, or knitting chat from around the web.

What do you think of Google+ is it a viable alternative to Facebook and Twitter, or just another social media channel you feel you have to get to grips with?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 26th, 2011 at 10:40 am and is filed under Guides for Beginners, Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.