My thoughts on Google+

A friend of mine recently invited me to Google+.  Here are some of the things that I like about it compared to the other social networks:

1.  Circles – Circles are categories that you put the people you are sharing/reading with in.  It’s very easy to separate people and you can add one person to more than one.  Organizing as you add people is very beneficial to help keep things straight. You can also click on someone new and see if you have people in common. By hovering over your shared friends, you can see what circles that they are in. This aids in deciding which circle you want to put your new friend. This sounds complicated, but it really isn’t. It’s very easy.  Editing the circles is also very easy once you find the setting feature. You can also decide what people/circles you want the network to be able to view when they click your profile. Google has stated that the names of your circles will never be revealed.

2. Comments – one feature I absolutely love is editing comments feature. This is very useful, especially when posting to business associates.

3.  Hangouts – I have not personally tried hangouts. But I do know quite a few people who have and love them.  They are limited to 10 people. The ability for multi person video/audio chat is fantastic. I see some many avenues people can take with this. Here is a creative way a group of musicians used this feature.

4.  Sharing – The ease and control of sharing is a plus to me. You can click on your post which circle you would like see your post and also if you would like it shared. This has been beneficial to me as I have many people in my circles from different interests of mine. It has been very easy to keep straight as I don’t think my homeschool circle wants to see my kidlit posts, etc.  I am still uncertain about the ability to reshare. As it seems that the person who shares your post has the ability to reshare however they see fit. This could cause problems, but I guess you just have to have the philosophy that once you put it out there, it can be shared. If you don’t want that to happen, click the no share feature.

5.  Master Lists – People are organizing master lists of areas of interest. By posting a comment on the list, you get your name added. This has been a great way to connect with people I had never connected with on previous platforms.  I hope this continues, or Google implements a way that is in the actually formatting of the site.

All in all, so far so good on Google +. I am finding myself addicted to it already.