In its first three weeks Google+ had 10 million users, sharing more than 1 billion pieces of content daily. Some projections say it may surpass Twitter in a year, others say it is collapsing under its own weight. But what is it? Google+ is a collection of several social products: Stream (newsfeed), Sparks (topical recommendation engine), Hangouts (video chat), Huddle (group texting), Circles (friend management), and Photos.G+ combines features of Twitter, anybody can “follow” you, and Facebook, you can define friend relationships, but it allows the user to really customize sharing and privacy.Google+ is still invite-only and you must use a Gmail account to register.Rochester is the 2nd most represented NY city after NYC, with 2403 indexed users - http://findpeopleonplus.com/infographic.html
StreamPulls together all content shared by your circles and posted by you – status updates, links, photos, etc. Main content stream in the middle – limit content to that for a specific stream along the left panel. Left hand panelProfile image and linkWelcome “cheat sheet”Stream and Circles – “Stream” displays all content, click a circle to limit content to posts within that circleIncoming – updates from people who have added you to a circle, but are not in your circlesNotifications – all notificationsSparks – content organized by interest / topic areaChat - GchatRight hand panelContacts in your cirlesStart a HangoutSuggested contactsInvitationsSend feedbackhttp://www.google.com/support/+/bin/static.py?hl=en&page=guide.cs&guide=1257360&rd=1
General layout very similar to Facebook, except less clutter
The foundation of G+Circles allow you to organize your contacts into meaningful groups to make sharing different types of content with different groups of people easy. Create circles for “friends,” “family,” “coworkers,” “professional contacts” – whatever you wantSpecify which circles can see what content – only friends, only coworkers, only friends and family, the whole world, etc.Add a contact to multiple circlesEast drag and drop interface for circle management G+ also uses a model of tracking contacts similar to Twitter – you can add people to your circles but they do not have to add you to theirs, and vice versa. Posts from non-reciprocated contacts appear in different parts of your stream.Move contacts into/out of circles with easy drag and dropUse circles to use to manage bookmarks – create a circle with no contacts (unless you plan to share your bookmarks), share links to the circles only – your bookmarks display in your stream for later review, annotation, etc. They can also be downloaded. http://www.google.com/support/+/bin/static.py?hl=en&page=guide.cs&guide=1257347&rd=1
Sharing content:Public – posts to your profile, visible to anybodyWith specific circles – select one or more – only visible to the people in those circles, use for things to share with friends and family, but not coworkers or professional contactsWith a specific person – like email (may require that the recipient be a G+ contact or have G+ account…)Attach pictures, videos, links, and location (using geolocation)
Manage your postEdit – change the text or formatting of a published potDelete – remove the post from your streamDisable comments – turn off the commenting optionLock this post – the post cannot be resharedShare a post Make a post from one of your contacts available to your other circles – you may get an alert about sharing with a wide group if the original post was shared with a limited group. If you do not wish your own posts to be shared, use the “Lock this post” option.Add your own commentsThat a post has been shared appears in the original poster’s streamCommentsAdd a commentIf you change your mid, you can delete or edit your comment+1sPosts can be +1ed – similar to “liking” Comments can also be +1edPost +1s do not appear in your Profile> +1s list
Your profile:Posts – public posts About – biographical information (add as much or as little information as you want)Photos –shared albums (different than the main Photos area)Videos –uploaded videos+1s – list of websites you have +1ed (“liked”) (this is a option from a search result list)Use the “View profile as…” option to make sure your profile http://www.google.com/support/+/bin/static.py?hl=en&page=guide.cs&guide=1257354&rd=1
General G+ settingsDelivery preferencesNotifications+1HuddlePhotosProfile and PrivacyProfilesProfile in search resultsPublic InformationView as others…SharingCirclesNetwork visibilityIncoming sharesPost sharing Sharing defaultsGoogle+PhotosSparksHangoutsGoogle privacyDashboard – view and manage settings for all Google products (Gmail, calendar, Docs, etc.)Privacy Center – Google privacy policies
View shared photos from your circlesPhotos taken on your phonePhotos of you (where you are tagged in the photo)Your albumsClick on the number in the corner to read comments associated with the photoInstant Upload feature – upload mobile phone pictures to G+ - http://www.google.com/support/+/bin/static.py?page=guide.cs&guide=1257351&answer=1647509&&p=plusone_promo_instantupload
Only available from Google pagesChrome extension (Gtools+) will make the G+ bar persist over all webpages
