Google made a ‘buzz’ in June with the release of their new service Google+ (or Google Plus, if you wish). This direct competitor to social media giant Facebook was released in Beta form to existing Google members, with only a few accounts made available. If you weren’t one of the few to receive access to the site directly from Google, you could gain access by an invite. Even with this limited access, Google+ (Beta) membership spiked to 20 Million within three weeks.
Google+ is the second attempt by the internet search engine giant to break into the social media world (currently dominated by Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook). Their first attempt (Google Wave) was met with initial interest, but soon died off – Google eventually transferred control of Wave over to Apache Software Foundation – and their second attempt (Google Buzz) failed to make a buzz. Both services had promise, but neither lived up to their expectations. Will Google+ succeed with the others failed? Let’s take a moment to explore the major features available in the Beta version of Google+.
Circles: Circles is a way for you to manage your contacts. You can easily create groups for friends, family, business, and more by simply using your mouse to “drag” your contacts into the different categories. Why would you want to organize your contacts in such a fashion? When you go to post a new message, link, or other media on your Stream (Google’s version of the Wall), Google+ requires you to identify who is able to see the post. In the field below your message, you will see default text reading “+Add circles or people to share with.” Clicking on that text will bring up a menu listing all of your circles for you to identify by whom you want your post to be shared.
Images: Photos are a way for us to communicate to viewers in a way that words sometimes can’t. How can you describe a particular sunset in a way to create a clear image in the minds of your audience? Google+, like other social media sites, solves this problem for you by allowing you to upload and organize your photos into albums. Just like in posting text, you can choose who can and cannot view your images as you upload them to your profile. However, unlike other sites, Google allows you to add effects to your images without needing to process your photo initially through a secondary graphic-editing program.
Hangouts: This is an area where Google can take on Skype. With Hangouts, you can identify that you are online to chat (or “hang out”) with your friends in a video chat. When a session is established, up to 10 of your friends in your circles can log in and join in the fun. The interface has one large video screen and 9 smaller video screens below it – all live. As the participants talk, the software recognizes who is talking and displays their video in the large video screen area. When the next person talks, the prior speaker has his or her video moved to the bottom bar, and the new speaker is elevated to the large viewing area.
Sparks: To me, this is one of the more interesting features within Google+. With Sparks, any article or subject that you “like” is received by Google and returns articles or websites that contain related content for your viewing. So, if you were to like a site like SeededBuzz, Sparks might return to you other sites about social networking, blogging, or writing (for example).
There are other differences between Google+ and Facebook as well. For example, Google+ is an “overlay” on the existing Google platform. Once you have a Google+ account and are logged in, a black navigation bar appears at the top of any Google page notifying you if you have any new messages, as well as provides you quick access to your account. However, unlike Facebook, Google+ lacks the private messaging functions as well as the “page” concept that existing Facebook users enjoy.
For SeededBuzz users, I feel that you can benefit from using Google+ for a few reasons. IF (and I say “if” because of Google’s past record) Google+ continues to grow in popularity:
1) It is safe to say that Google will weigh articles and websites linked within Google+ higher than those from Facebook. So while you are informing your viewers and your friends about your latest article, you are also giving your site that additional bump in popularity within Google’s algorithm.
2) With the “+1” option built into Google/Google+, the more pluses your articles and website receives, the higher your articles and site will rank in Google search results. By sharing those articles within Google+, the odds are your readers and followers will be more likely to plus up your content.
3) By creating Circles for your targeted audience, you can better inform your readers and viewers about your latest articles or website updates.
4) When sharing links to your own site through Google+, your odds increase that your content will be shared with others through Sparks. Also, you can track who is commenting or referencing your brand name by searching for it through Sparks as well.
I encourage any of you who have started using Google+ to share your experiences with others within the community. Any tips you can provide to help your fellow bloggers to maximize their viewership will be appreciated. I do have an account with the site if you are interested in being invited so you can explore the features listed above. Simply leave a comment below and I will use your provided e-mail address to send you an invite.
