Currently Google+ is in a limited field trial. You can ask for an invite here or just wait for it to open to the public.
Don't want to read anything? Watch this video playlist.
Google+ is a new social network from Google. Boasting cool new features, it's hoping to take a bite of the social networking scene (feature descriptions from Google).
Circles Video
Google+ Circles helps you organize everyone according to your real-life social connections--say, 'family,' 'work friends,' 'music buddies,' and 'alumni'. Then, you can share relevant content with the right people, and follow content posted by people you find interesting. For example, you might post an announcement about your engagement and show it only to people in your friends and family circles, or maybe you see a post from the circle you created for your book club that there's a recent article on your favorite author.
You can also decide to customize your personal profile information for your circles. For example, your contact details, location, and relationship information would be visible to your friends circle, while your employment history and education would be visible to your alumni association circle.
If you don't add someone to a circle, they will never get to see any post you make unless if it's public. It doesn't matter if they've added you.
Sparks Video
Sparks brings you stories on the things you love from all across the Web, so it's easy to strike up meaningful conversations with your friends.
When you first arrive in Sparks, you'll see a collection of featured interests. If nothing strikes your fancy, search for a different interest.
Let's say you're learning to juggle. You can search for 'juggling,' then add it as an interest so you can always be kept up to date on the world of object manipulation. And if you get tired of people calling you a clown all the time, you can remove this interest.
Hangouts Video
Hangouts are the best way for you to say, Im online and want to hangout! Hangouts lets you:
- Chill with friends that are scrolling through the web, just like you!
- Use live video chat that puts you in the same room together!
- Coordinate plans, whether it's working on a project or meeting up for coffee.
- Maybe youre bored. Start a hangout, invite your circles, see whos around!
More Features and Details
While functionally Google Plus and Facebook have similar abilities to handle the "Privacy" of the information you post on their services, Google has designed all of Plus around the idea that you will share most information with a target subset of your "friends". They have also provided a greater degree of flexibility on what details you show and to whom.
Facebook has a similar feature to 'Circles' called 'Lists'. However, unlike Facebook, Google+ is built around Circles and you categorise your friends in them when you first add them.
Apart from the privacy aspect, you have a new simple design with fewer colours and buttons. Some may find this a better look than that of Facebook. You also have the hangout feature that isn't available in Facebook. Facebook has recently added 1 on 1 video chat but G+ trumps this with group video chat.
You can get news from joining Facebook groups but Sparks offers greater flexibility in that you can choose any topic you want and you only get serious news articles. This feature is yet to be fully developed and is bare bones right now. Google is also offering a great feedback mechanism that allows you to highlight certain aspects you would like changed. This is completely different to how Facebook has been operating and might mean faster fixes and more frequent updates.
Currently Google+ is in a limited field trial. You can ask for an invite here or just wait for it to open to the public.
Mashable has been told to expect the public debut of Google+ on or before July 31.
If you're in and invites are open, you will see an invite button on the bottom right of your home screen.
From engadget.
1. If someone adds you to a circle and you don't add them, you can still see their posts in a separate section called 'Incoming'. Their posts wont appear in your main stream
2. If you can't see posts from someone, it's because they don't want to share with you. Not because Google+ is broken
3. You can see who your friends are friends with. This feature is enabled by default. You can hide all your friends or choose to only show some circles. Plenty of flexibility
4. There is an option to make public posts that any Google+ member can see. This makes the service behave like twitter as people who are following you (put you in a circle) can then easily see the post
5. Google+ enables search engine indexing by default so you may want to turn that off. Also, be sure to go through all the settings to make sure they're set to what you want. The default settings beat those of Facebook by far but you should still double check
6. You can tag people in posts by adding a + sign in front of their names in a post
7. Slightly less related to G+ but in order to achieve unity, Google will be re branding Picasa and Blogger
Q: How do I see if my friends have added me?
A: When a friend adds you, you receive a notification. You can also go to Circles > People who've added you, and see if they are there.
Q: How can I see which group someone has added me to?
A: You can't. That's part of the privacy settings on Google+. You can only see if someone has added you. Not to which group. You will see everything that the person wants to share with you so if everybody gets a party invite except you, start questioning your friendship with that person!
Q: What if I wanna share something with someone that hasn't added me?
A: If he's on Google+, he will receive the messages from people who have added him in the 'Incoming' section (left sidebar). The same goes for you. If you haven't added someone but someone has added you, you can see their messages in the 'Incoming' section. This allows people to contact you without you having to worry about adding them. If he's not on Google+, he will receive an email with whatever you're sharing.
Q: What are circle and how do they work??
A: Think of them as social labels. They allow you to easily identify social groups and you can then choose what you want to share with each group. This allows for great flexibility so you're not sharing everything with everyone. You can choose to share your party pictures with your 'Friends' or maybe your family reunion pictures with your 'Family'.
Q: How does re-sharing work?
A: If you like what someone as posted, you can re-share it. Think re-tweeting like in twitter. When you share something, you're only sharing the original post and not the comments. Don't worry though, you can disable sharing so no one can share your posts. It's also impossible to share a private post publicly.
Q: Are there communities or groups that I can join?
A: Nope. Currently there are no groups but Google has talked about how they want to incorporate public circles which should act the same.
Q: I can't see a way to private message someone. What do I do?
A: There is no official way to send someone a private message. You can use the 'Email Me' button on someone's profile if they have it enabled or you can just make a post and share it with that one person. You can also tag the person in the post by adding a + sign in front of their name. This means that only that one person can see it and reply.
Q: The email button sucks! I don't want people to see my email!
A: By enabling the 'Email Me' button, people will only get a subject box and a body box. They will never get to see your email so it's completely private (until you reply obviously).
Q: How can I find and add other GAF members?
A: https://plus.google.com/105251028773238389520/posts/BTpM3ekbbcp
Q: I WANT A VANITY URL! WHERE CAN I GET ONE?
A: http://gplus.to/ or http://plus.ly/
Q: Can I access G+ through my mobile?
A: You can use a mobile version of the site on any mobile device. There is also an app for both android and iPhone available. An iPad app isn't officially confirmed but may also be coming. Click here for more info.
Q: I want a more in depth quide.
A: Go here.
Thanks to Mik2121 for starting the FAQ.
Don't want to read anything? Watch this video playlist.
Google+ is a new social network from Google. Boasting cool new features, it's hoping to take a bite of the social networking scene (feature descriptions from Google).
Circles Video
Google+ Circles helps you organize everyone according to your real-life social connections--say, 'family,' 'work friends,' 'music buddies,' and 'alumni'. Then, you can share relevant content with the right people, and follow content posted by people you find interesting. For example, you might post an announcement about your engagement and show it only to people in your friends and family circles, or maybe you see a post from the circle you created for your book club that there's a recent article on your favorite author.
You can also decide to customize your personal profile information for your circles. For example, your contact details, location, and relationship information would be visible to your friends circle, while your employment history and education would be visible to your alumni association circle.
If you don't add someone to a circle, they will never get to see any post you make unless if it's public. It doesn't matter if they've added you.
Sparks Video
Sparks brings you stories on the things you love from all across the Web, so it's easy to strike up meaningful conversations with your friends.
When you first arrive in Sparks, you'll see a collection of featured interests. If nothing strikes your fancy, search for a different interest.
Let's say you're learning to juggle. You can search for 'juggling,' then add it as an interest so you can always be kept up to date on the world of object manipulation. And if you get tired of people calling you a clown all the time, you can remove this interest.
Hangouts Video
Hangouts are the best way for you to say, Im online and want to hangout! Hangouts lets you:
- Chill with friends that are scrolling through the web, just like you!
- Use live video chat that puts you in the same room together!
- Coordinate plans, whether it's working on a project or meeting up for coffee.
- Maybe youre bored. Start a hangout, invite your circles, see whos around!
More Features and Details
While functionally Google Plus and Facebook have similar abilities to handle the "Privacy" of the information you post on their services, Google has designed all of Plus around the idea that you will share most information with a target subset of your "friends". They have also provided a greater degree of flexibility on what details you show and to whom.
Facebook has a similar feature to 'Circles' called 'Lists'. However, unlike Facebook, Google+ is built around Circles and you categorise your friends in them when you first add them.
Apart from the privacy aspect, you have a new simple design with fewer colours and buttons. Some may find this a better look than that of Facebook. You also have the hangout feature that isn't available in Facebook. Facebook has recently added 1 on 1 video chat but G+ trumps this with group video chat.
You can get news from joining Facebook groups but Sparks offers greater flexibility in that you can choose any topic you want and you only get serious news articles. This feature is yet to be fully developed and is bare bones right now. Google is also offering a great feedback mechanism that allows you to highlight certain aspects you would like changed. This is completely different to how Facebook has been operating and might mean faster fixes and more frequent updates.
Currently Google+ is in a limited field trial. You can ask for an invite here or just wait for it to open to the public.
Mashable has been told to expect the public debut of Google+ on or before July 31.
If you're in and invites are open, you will see an invite button on the bottom right of your home screen.
From engadget.
1. If someone adds you to a circle and you don't add them, you can still see their posts in a separate section called 'Incoming'. Their posts wont appear in your main stream
2. If you can't see posts from someone, it's because they don't want to share with you. Not because Google+ is broken
3. You can see who your friends are friends with. This feature is enabled by default. You can hide all your friends or choose to only show some circles. Plenty of flexibility
4. There is an option to make public posts that any Google+ member can see. This makes the service behave like twitter as people who are following you (put you in a circle) can then easily see the post
5. Google+ enables search engine indexing by default so you may want to turn that off. Also, be sure to go through all the settings to make sure they're set to what you want. The default settings beat those of Facebook by far but you should still double check
6. You can tag people in posts by adding a + sign in front of their names in a post
7. Slightly less related to G+ but in order to achieve unity, Google will be re branding Picasa and Blogger
Q: How do I see if my friends have added me?
A: When a friend adds you, you receive a notification. You can also go to Circles > People who've added you, and see if they are there.
Q: How can I see which group someone has added me to?
A: You can't. That's part of the privacy settings on Google+. You can only see if someone has added you. Not to which group. You will see everything that the person wants to share with you so if everybody gets a party invite except you, start questioning your friendship with that person!
Q: What if I wanna share something with someone that hasn't added me?
A: If he's on Google+, he will receive the messages from people who have added him in the 'Incoming' section (left sidebar). The same goes for you. If you haven't added someone but someone has added you, you can see their messages in the 'Incoming' section. This allows people to contact you without you having to worry about adding them. If he's not on Google+, he will receive an email with whatever you're sharing.
Q: What are circle and how do they work??
A: Think of them as social labels. They allow you to easily identify social groups and you can then choose what you want to share with each group. This allows for great flexibility so you're not sharing everything with everyone. You can choose to share your party pictures with your 'Friends' or maybe your family reunion pictures with your 'Family'.
Q: How does re-sharing work?
A: If you like what someone as posted, you can re-share it. Think re-tweeting like in twitter. When you share something, you're only sharing the original post and not the comments. Don't worry though, you can disable sharing so no one can share your posts. It's also impossible to share a private post publicly.
Q: Are there communities or groups that I can join?
A: Nope. Currently there are no groups but Google has talked about how they want to incorporate public circles which should act the same.
Q: I can't see a way to private message someone. What do I do?
A: There is no official way to send someone a private message. You can use the 'Email Me' button on someone's profile if they have it enabled or you can just make a post and share it with that one person. You can also tag the person in the post by adding a + sign in front of their name. This means that only that one person can see it and reply.
Q: The email button sucks! I don't want people to see my email!
A: By enabling the 'Email Me' button, people will only get a subject box and a body box. They will never get to see your email so it's completely private (until you reply obviously).
Q: How can I find and add other GAF members?
A: https://plus.google.com/105251028773238389520/posts/BTpM3ekbbcp
Q: I WANT A VANITY URL! WHERE CAN I GET ONE?
A: http://gplus.to/ or http://plus.ly/
Q: Can I access G+ through my mobile?
A: You can use a mobile version of the site on any mobile device. There is also an app for both android and iPhone available. An iPad app isn't officially confirmed but may also be coming. Click here for more info.
Q: I want a more in depth quide.
A: Go here.
Thanks to Mik2121 for starting the FAQ.
