On Tuesday, I noticed a small plea amongst the posts on my 'fellow
bloggers' circle over at G+. What the heck were
the numbers at the top of the Google Plus posts and how the heck did one work
out circles? There was a response from another which admitted that
commenter was also confused. I answered the question in a basic fashion, but
realised there was scope to expand and explore this a bit further.
I know that not everyone in Blogville has converted to a G+
profile, or even if they have, make little or no use of the facility provided
there. I have written bits and bobs about Google in earlier "etherwobblies" posts and I also know
that several of you have good tech skills...or someone on hand to help if not.
However, this was interesting enough for me to go ahead with the post. You may
need to get a cuppa before we begin...😶
Firstly, let's be clear; whilst G+ can be considered in the 'social
media' family of online services, it is not in the same realm as the Phizzog,
Chitter, Snaparoo etc., although it does share some cursory similarities. If
what you want is to be able to keep up with the gossip and nitter-natter back
and for'ard with all and sundry, then continue with those other packages. As
bloggers, though, particularly if on the Blogger platform per se, you would do
well to update to G+ if you haven't already done so, and familiarise yourself
with its main features. "Why?",
you are asking… Well, in the settings of your blogs (the 'ratchet' symbol on
the left of the dashboard), then again in 'posts, comments and sharing' tab,
you will find at the bottom of the page the question as to whether you wish to
share the blog to G+ profile, or not… provided you have converted to G+, of
course. The main reason you would do this is to improve traffic to the blog.
Using the automatic G+ post makes the post Public. Here's where it gets interesting though; if you select 'no' and
opt, instead, to post to G+ at your time of choosing, it also means that you
can choose whether it is on the Public area of your profile, or only available
to one or more of your 'circles'. This is great for those who have sensitivity
to security and privacy issues and are shy of 'strangers'.
Once you are on G+, whenever anyone 'plusses' or shares a post, you
will be notified and know that they have visited, even if they haven't left a
comment. You will see that notification alert on the top right corner of your
screen, beside your profile mugshot. (This is assuming you are signed into
Google, either on the dashboard or Gmail.) I use the G+ a lot when I don't have
time to comment - but if you are not on G+, you may not know I have been
sniffing around!
Enough of that, what are the key features YAM?!
PROFILE; if you are on G+ and elect to use it for Blogger, when folk
click on your name in a comment you may leave, they will be directed to this
page. It is important that you have, at the very least, got the links to your
blog listed in the 'About' section, even if you don't wish to share much info
about yourself. The reason folk clicked in the first place is that something in
your comment interested them and they want to know more, so a little bio is
useful and finding your bloggy ought to be easy. There is a LOT of privacy
control in G+, so don't be afraid to explore it… but also don't hold back
completely, or folk just turn and go away.
On the profile page, all the posts linked to your blogs will appear,
plus any that you have shared from elsewhere. It is here, too, that you can
make a ...
POST directly into G+, such as a photo of the party you are at, or a
comment on something topical… or ask a question such as the one in the link
above! The figure top right on posts tells you how long since the post was
made. It's shown in "h(ours)" until it hits 24 then becomes
"d(ays)" until it hits the 7 and then becomes "w(eeks)". If
you hover the cursor over the post, you will see that time figure change into
two symbols; the square box/arrow will pop out a post to a single page so that
you can obtain the URL; the three dots, will bring this drop-down menu of
functions. Pinning a post to the top of the page can be useful if you want
maximum exposure of a particular post for a while.
COLLECTIONS; you may have a hobby, or pet topic, or a side-line you
wish to promote… do this through collections. Possibly you have a regular post
on your bloggy ("Flower Friday" for example) which warrants some
extra special attention. When you make a collection, it will then go onto the
main stream of Collections (see the second tab on the left of the G+ page)
where folk who are interested in flower photography may see it and decide to
'follow' you…
Now this post is getting lengthy. Let me leave it there for now and
we'll pick this up again next week, discussing circles and whether to follow or
not to follow etc. As an exercise, work on your G+ profiles, click through to
the Google privacy settings page (at the bottom of the 'about' editing
sub-page) and be comfy with that. Click on the 'Home' tab top left of the G+
page and find lots of posts to explore from folk you have followed; check out
the Collections tab and see if any catch your interest. Click through to
others' profiles and see what they are doing… here's mine for starters… what you see will
be what that person has given permission to be seen.
This is impawtant information. Thank you and I would like to know more. Mimi has no clue.
ReplyDeleteYur Furend
Louis Dog Armstrong
You are soooo clever Aunty Yam
ReplyDeleteButt, I haf to confess it are waaaaay over my head!
Loves and licky kisses
Princess Leah xxx
YaYa we quadruple what Princess Leah said. You are extra super duper clever.
ReplyDeleteHugs madi your bfff
I really need to spend more time sorting out this G+ stuff.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great info. I feel I've been rather "unsocial" on G mail as I just didn't understand how it works.
ReplyDeleteWent to my profile. I have not interests : D janice xx
ReplyDeleteyou are probably the only one who can tame google....bravo!!!
ReplyDeleteLike K10..I really need to find the time to devote to G+. Thanks so much for the how to's!
ReplyDeleteWell it sure sounds like we need to get over there and get more comfortable with it! Thanks for the answer and tips!
ReplyDeleteYour Pals,
Murphy & Stanley
I got off Google+ as it was too intrusive, Yam! Strangers were 'friending' me and adding me to their cirlces. Mostly European men!
ReplyDelete