Google+ Info
(This post was written for me to share with personal friends I gave invites to. There a tons of tips/shortcut links now, but for me, this was a pretty easy starting point to share.)
Here are a few tips and hints for my friends curious enough to try out Google+:
1. It is in a trial phase, not open to the public. You might feel a bit lonely without your friends list, this is normal, welcome to the club.
2. I began by updating my profile. Key words in my profile allow folks to find me, like “artist”, “collage” etc. Describe yourself well, but don’t give a life history.
3. When we joined FB it was up an running, we had a support team to walk us through it, people we know. Google+ is brand new, we actually are part of its birth, so sharing what you learn with others and being open to conversation is oh, so important.
4. Send out invites when you can, gmail or google accounts get in faster it appears, and as your friends come on board, gently walk them through a few things.
5. Build your cirlces. This is what I LOVE about Google +. I can choose who goes where. I even have my own circle where I post things I don’t want to forget! When you update your status, YOU get to choose who sees it. If you click “public” everyone sees it, if you choose only one circle, like family, ONLY they will see that post. To me, this customizes privacy issues and far outweighs what FB offers.
6. While you are waiting and feeling lonely, 
, start searching for people using those key words, like “visual artist”, “educator”, or “Chef”. Poke around on the profiles that pop up and begin to follow those who peek your interest, just like Twitter. Start conversing with them in their posts. Learn from them or just read from the edge, you get to choose. They will not see any of YOUR posts unless they follow you and are placed in your ‘following’ circle. The more you follow, the more you engage in conversations, the more you share, the more Google + becomes alive and grows.
, start searching for people using those key words, like “visual artist”, “educator”, or “Chef”. Poke around on the profiles that pop up and begin to follow those who peek your interest, just like Twitter. Start conversing with them in their posts. Learn from them or just read from the edge, you get to choose. They will not see any of YOUR posts unless they follow you and are placed in your ‘following’ circle. The more you follow, the more you engage in conversations, the more you share, the more Google + becomes alive and grows.7. If you have blogger or picassa, joining Google + automatically puts your images in your albums, no uploading to start with, Yay!
8. Explore the settings tab. Decide what notifications you want and how much privacy who want. You can’t make up a fake name to join either, you will be deleted.
9. Businesses are not on board yet, they are devoloping the network for that.
10. Be willing to step outside your comfort zone and play around with this. For me, I am frustrated with FB a bit, its lack of privacy, the trash that gets through the feeds. So far, Google+ is an alternative. How it evolves, I have no clue, but so far, I love its simplicity and its privacy settings.
Feel free to message me here or there. On my feed, there is an extension that loads FB within Google+ so you can have the best of both worlds. I find that hilarious! FB won’t allow the flip of this. Please share on your feed what you learn, any new tips that work for you, and what you hate.
Google has asked for feedback, so be willing to give them some. I have already shared my opinion with them of the monumental task of luring the average Joe or Jane over from FB. It will be interesting for sure.
Here are some helpful blogs/links for those of you who wish to delve further:
Look forward to sharing with you there, and here, for a while.
ardithgoodwin@gmail.com
Google+ https://plus.google.com/108112557629934458248/posts?tab=XX (this is my link)