Thursday Review—Google Plus, One of My Favorite Social Media Networks

Google Plus has given us more control over how we classify our networks through circles. We don’t simply have to friend someone or follow them. With this network we can decide when, where and how we interact with them.

For me this difference is key and it’s intuitive. At least for me, I already group the people I interact with into categories. True, some fit in multiple categories, but even that is possible with Google Plus Circles.

Also, in the Google search engine, everything you post has extra SEO. (Search Engine Optimization – how high your post ranks when someone searches for that topic or for you).

Another thing I really love about Google Plus is the Hangouts. It’s a place where you can video chat with up to ten people at once—and it’s free. You can even record and broadcast from this feature.

If you don’t have a Google Plus account yet, you can go to www.google.com to sign up, or view your account.

Once there, you need to fill in your profile. Most important—upload a photo. Remember, only spammers and newbies don’t have a profile photo online. You also will need to choose your cover photo. There are several defaults to choose from, or you can upload your own photo.

Now you'll notice a line of seven or eight icons that you’ll need to become familiar with:

• The first looks like a house and it’s your HOME key. 
• The second is a circle with a head inside it. This is your PROFILE button. When you click this you go to your profile. When you want to change your profile you click this button then the EDIT PROFILE button. 
• The third looks like a compass and is a place to explore Google+ 
• The fourth is a calendar and it’s where you can add events. 
• The fifth is a camera and it’s where you can upload photos 
• The sixth is s stylized square and only occurs after you’ve added a professional page. 
• The seventh is two interlocking circles and this represents your CIRCLES. Circles are the way you categorize and organize your friends and acquaintances. It’s what makes Google + different from Facebook. You don’t have to have different accounts to keep everyone separate—you only have to put them in different circles. 
• The eighth icon is a local tab that recommends businesses and things local to you. 

Today we’ll concentrate on your profile.

Click on your PROFILE button and then your EDIT PROFILE.

Upload a photo.

Give a quick introduction about who you are.

Fill in your occupation.

I also recommend you fill in the following fields

• Your email address. 
• Your nickname (if different from your legal name). 
• Profile discovery—if you’re trying to work as a freelance writer or get known as an author you need to make your profile discovery PROFILE VISIBLE IN ANY SEARCH. 
• Website 
• Twitter Link 

Here’s a quick note about circles.

Google Plus comes with several default circles:

• Friends. 
• Family. 
• Acquaintances. 
• Following.

I started with these defaults, but almost immediately began branching out. Now I have fun with it. I have a circle for besties (a complete girl term), buds and even terminally boring. And the greatest part is no one knows the category I’ve put them in.

So let’s back up and I’ll tell you how to operate your circles.

Go to your Google Plus page and click on the Circle Icon.

You’ll see several clickable links under the standard icons:

• People in Your Circles. 
• People Who've Added You. 
• Find People. 

Click on Find People and the list of names below these will increase. You can also include people from other address books.

To add someone to a named circle, just drag and drop them inside the circle. If you want to start a new circle, add them to the unnamed circle. You can click on that circle and name it at any time.

If you click on a circle you can rename it or remove people from it. To remove someone just drag and drop them outside the circle.

Please feel free to add me to your circles! You can find me under Edie Melson. I'd also like to add you. Be sure and leave a comment telling us about your experience with Google Plus, and your Google Plus account name.

Don't forget to join the conversation!

Blessings,

Edie

Learn Google Plus—Part One

I know a lot of you have heard me sing the praises of Google Plus.

Today I’m beginning a tutorial for those of you who aren’t familiar with it. We’re going to take it slow, to give you time to get fully acquainted with it. Feel free to post questions as we go along. We’ll learn together.

So let’s get started!

First, go to https://plus.google.com/ to sign up, or view your account.

Once there, you need to fill in your profile. Most important—upload a photo. Remember, only spammers and newbies don’t have a profile photo online.

Now you'll notice a line with five icons that you’ll need to become familiar with.

• The first looks like a house and it’s your HOME key.
• The second looks like an old fashioned Polaroid photo and it’s the PHOTO tab. This is where you can upload or view photos.
• The third is a circle with a head inside it. This is your PROFILE button. When you click this you go to your profile. When you want to change your profile you click this button then the EDIT PROFILE button.
• The fourth is three interlocking circles and this represents your CIRCLES. Circles are the way you categorize and organize your friends and acquaintances. It’s what makes Google + different from Facebook. You don’t have to have different accounts to keep everyone separate—you only have to put them in different circles.
• The fifth icon is a GAMES icon and, unless you’re a game player, I don’t recommend you bother with this tab.

Today we’ll concentrate on your profile.

I’m going to share a trick to upload a full bio that shows up when someone hovers over your avatar (your picture). This is important because it gives others more information about you than just a quick description.

Click on your PROFILE button and then your EDIT PROFILE.

• Upload a photo.
• Give a quick introduction about who you are.
• Fill in your occupation.

Now here’s the cool trick. 

Click on the first box under employment. Copy and paste an abbreviated bio into that box (about 150 – 200 words). Make sure the CURRENT box is checked. This allows anyone who hovers over your avatar to see your entire bio. This cool trick is courtesy of Mashable (http://mashable.com/2011/07/26/google-plus-tips-tricks/#214431-Add-More-Info-to-Your-Profile-PopUp-Window)

I also recommend you fill in the following fields

• Your email address.
• Your nickname (if different from your legal name).
• Profile discovery—if you’re trying to work as a freelance writer or get known as an author you need to make your profile discovery PROFILE VISIBLE IN ANY SEARCH.

Here’s a quick note about circles.

Google + comes with several default circles:

• Friends.
• Family.
• Acquaintances.
• Following. 

You can also create any custom circles you wish.

And...you can add people to more than one circle.

And…you don’t have to let anyone know what circle they’ve been assigned to!

Okay, that’s enough for one session. I recommend you take the plunge and begin to get familiar with Google +. Use the comment section of this blog to post any questions and we’ll continue this later this week.

And be sure to add me to one of your circles!

Don’t forget to join the conversation!

Blessings,

Edie