Getting jiggy with Google+
Jinfo Blog

By James Mullan

Abstract

Are you one of the 100 million individuals that are currently using Google+? Google+ has been described as a cross between LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. It is actually a collection of different social features including a stream (newsfeed), hangouts (video chat service), photos and games.

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Are you one of the 100 million individuals that are currently using Google+? If you aren't and you're thinking why should I join yet another social network, then you might be interested in browsing the slides from a recent webinar called “How to get jiggy with Google+”. The webinar included some interesting tips and tricks on how individuals and organisations can make the most of Google+.

Google+ has been described as a cross between LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Google+ is actually a collection of different social features including a stream (newsfeed), hangouts (video chat service), photos and games. One of the biggest selling points of Google+ is the ability to use "circles" to manage groups of relationships by segmenting them. So instead of posting an update and everyone seeing it you can post an update to different groups of people, for example just colleagues or just friends. If you're interested in reading more about Google+ and potential uses then Martin Belam's article “Investigating the uses for (and usefulness of) Google+” is a good starting point. If you've already joined Google+, then read on for some tips on how to make the most of your Google+ experience.

 The +1 button is one of the easiest ways to engage with your friends on Google+. When you +1 something another user has published on Google+, it will appear on their stream indicating that you have +1ed it. Much the same as you can like posts and photos within Facebook. If you're signed up to Google+ you can also +1 search results from Google. If your Google+ friends find the same results they will see that you have +1ed it and consider it a "good result". Within Google+ you can also use the @ symbol or the + symbol followed by the name of another user to mention them specifically. This is especially useful if you want to share a specific piece of content with another user.

Something that every Google+ user should do is to connect their Google+ account with accounts from other social networks. This is a great way to encourage users who might have added you to the circles they have created to start following you on Twitter, connect with you on LinkedIn or friend you on Facebook. It also demonstrates that an individual is committed to using different social networks.

Much like other social networks it's important to complete your Google+ profile. This ensures that when other users search for people with a similar name to you, or for your job title, they will find you easily. One of the most important fields within a Google+ profile is your "introduction" and should therefore be completed. The introduction appears next to your name in search results so should be personal enough to encourage people to look at your profile and add you to their circles.

An important part of Google+ is using and managing notifications as there are a number of things you can be notified about including when an individual is mentioned in a post, when an individual is added to a circle and when someone comments on content that has been uploaded. There are also multiple ways in which you can receive notifications from Google+, so if you don't want to be inundated with notifications it's important to check these and amend them accordingly.

Privacy settings within Google+ are especially important as there are many different ways in which individuals can interact with each other. Individuals can edit their Google+ account settings via the Google Accounts homepage. It's also important that individuals who use Google+ understand that there are two privacy policies that will affect what they do on Google+.

The first is the Google privacy policy which applies to all products offered by Google. Additionally there is a Google+ privacy policy as there are privacy practices specific to Google+ which affect everyone who uses Google+. The other important thing to note is that the existing Google privacy policy is being replaced on 1 March 2012 with a new privacy policy.

Other resources:

• How to connect your Google+ with accounts from other Social Networks
• 20 Ways to Improve Your Google+ Knowledge

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