Google+ in a Nutshell

We're in a Google mood this week as we posted Google Analytics in a Nutshell earlier this week, and thought we'd post another nutshell article. This time on Google+

Google+ is a fairly new social networking site that was created to compete with Facebook and Twitter. It was launched on the 28^th June this year and yet it already has over 10 million users.

Google+ is available as a desktop and mobile application.

What are the main Google+ features?

The Google+ Button: When it comes to sharing, all social networks have a button associated with it which encourages people to share something they like with their friends and Google+ is no different. The Google+ button is a lot like the Facebook “Like” button. When you find something you particularly like then you can click the Google+ button to let everyone else know that you liked it.

Stream: this is a newsfeed very similar to the “status” function on Facebook and the tweet bar on Twitter. It allows you to share content and see what your “friends” are sharing.

Hangouts: this is a video chat feature, which allows you to chat with friends. You can invite as many as you like, but you can only have 10 people at a time (including yourself!). Nevertheless it’s a great feature that allows you and your friends to literately hang out!

Circles: This is one of the most unique features of Google+ which makes it stand out from other social networks. Circles gives you control over who sees your content depending on which “circle” you add them to. When you make a new “friend” you must allocate them to a specific circle. You’re in charge of creating the circles so it can be anything you like; you can then drag and drop your friends into the different categories. One you have set your circles, you will be able to share different things with different groups without the other circles viewing what you shared.

Sparks: It’s a feature that recommends things that are related to a search you perform. It can be articles, videos or photos. This is a very useful tool which can help you find websites, articles or videos you wouldn’t have necessarily have been able to find otherwise. The Sparks feature appears once you perform a search in the search box.

Photos: Google+ allows you to upload and share photos with your friends. You can tag friends on photos and create albums. You can share it with all your friends or you can limit it to specific circles.

Huddle: This allows you to have a conversation via texting on mobile devices You tap the huddle icon then type in the name of the person you want to text. This feature is not included in the web based version of Google+.

How To Use Google+ To Your Advantage - Live Webinar Training

If you would like to learn more about Google+, we are hosting a series of webinars in the coming weeks. It would be good if you could join us. Space is limited though so register your space now.

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