Summify - The Google+ Guide For Educators Home » Education, Social Media Written by Grace2 August 2011 Unless you've been living under a rock the last month, undoubtedly you've heard of the new social networking site everyone has been raving about: Google+. All this buzz has generated some great articles (my to-read pile just keeps growing!) Here's my Google+ Guide for Educators: So what do you think about Google+? Share this post with your friends and colleagues:
Google+ Building (or Re-Building) your PLN Twitter just became 5 years old and many of us can remember the first time: we heard of twitter… the first time we experienced powerful collaboration on twitter… some of us can even remember our first tweet (not me, though I can imagine it was something like: “I just don’t understand this…” So, for many it feels like a shock when after 5 years, thousands of tweets, hours of growing and grooming our personal learning network we look at Google+ and say, “I just don’t understand this…” or “Struggling to understand how this is going to fit in…” or “It just doesn’t do what Facebook or twitter does… or doesn’t do it as WELL…” Here are some other things that we are struggling with: “I have “spoken” with a person for years on twitter… but I only know them by his or her handle… – We are shocked that someone we really know so well: children, ailments, dreams, hopes, personal challenges… and we don’t even know his or her name. If you are feeling this way, know that you are not alone.
Google and Facebook get personal in battle for social networking rewards | Media | The Observer Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has positioned the company as a money-spinning gateway to the web. Photograph: Mike Kepka/San Francisco Chronicle/Corbis It is one month since the launch of Google+, a belated attempt at a social networking tool that invites users to follow friends' activities in their news feed and share favourite content by marking it "+1". If this sounds familiar, it shows the extent to which Google is playing catchup with Facebook, which is brewing a public offering next year that could value the firm at $100bn and, critically, has positioned itself as the gateway to the web for many of its 750 million users. Much of this pressure is down to the abrasive ambition of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Ben Gomes has worked on every aspect of Google's core search product and is leading exploration into the social navigation of search. With data from so many consumers informing so many Google products, why isn't there more personalisation?
Google +: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly [a guest post by Aaron Strout] If you have a pulse, there is a good chance that you've heard the buzz about Google's latest foray into the world of social networking. Their new offering is called Google + (that's pronounced "Google Plus") and at first blush, it seems to have hit the mark. Although the new social network is still in closed beta (invite only), It has already amassed north of 10 million users. As someone that has spent time personally and professionally with social media for six plus years, I've been intrigued with the possibilities that Google + offers. The Good One of the main reasons that Google + is taking off the way it is is because they seem to have gotten the friending/privacy/social graph right via a convention called Circles. The circles come pre-set (although you can customize) so right out of the gate you can start adding people to buckets titled, "Family, Friends, Acquaintances, Following and Work." Lack of business pages also falls into the "bad" category.
So what is Google+ all about then? I've seen lots of blog posts and articles and discussions on what G+ is about, and how it is a this killer or that killer. If I had a penny for each of them I'd be quite rich. Does that stop me writing my own? Of course it doesn't. G+ isn't an anything killer. The problem that Google has always had is that its main method of making money - search - is at absolute odds with the end goal. Google has a bunch of different and interesting products - some of which directly provide you with adverts, such as Gmail, and others that don't, but even in that case, they're all part of the Google family. and at the other end of the screen, this: Wherever I go in the Google world I'm now seeing this. G+ is going to be adding new functionality in the coming weeks, and I'm guessing that just about every single major change that they make is going to be to embrace more of their resources. Do libraries/librarians really need to know this stuff? In my opinion, it's absolutely vital that they do.
My Google+ Class @ the Library Two days ago I taught the first of two public classes about Google+ at my library. Three days after the private beta opened on June 28th, I scheduled the classes…figuring that by the time the class dates rolled around, I’d have something to say. They became part of our library’s summer Tech Boot Camp class series–20 tech classes from July to September. I didn’t realize that I was the first librarian teaching a Google+ class until people started pointing it out to me and asking for my class outline, learning plan, slides, etc. The class was a one-hour true introduction to the social network, giving people a tour of the profile set-up, privacy options, and many features. So here’s how I did the class. I distributed two printed handouts to the class: a graphic from Patrick Beja describing the differences between Google+, Facebook, and Twitter with the analogy of different kinds of parties.the Google Cheat Sheet created by Simon Laustsen (available in a dozen languages)
Google+ for iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and iPhone 4 on the iTunes App Store Preview: Google+ Mobile The Google+ Mobile App for Android is surprisingly mature at this stage of the game. BYTE -- It's bad form to roll out a new service without some kind of mobile app available. As expected, Google rolled out a mobile app with its beta of the Google+ social network -- an app for the Android platform. BYTE took a long look. Google was wise to launch this app along with its limited-use service. The service will need debugging from every direction before a mass rollout. Excepting an issue with photos I'll discuss below, the app ran smoothly on both phones. On launch, the app presents your choice of Stream, Huddle, Photos, Circles or User Profile -- each selectable via a large icon. The Stream view is a miniaturized version of the full website. Here's a stream view with posts and comments. Notifications are confined to notification-only pages. The mobile app aims to allow sharing of photos you take with the device. The pencil icon brings up a text box for sharing posts, location data or photos.
The top 10 features missing from Google Plus Google+ has captured the attention and the imagination of the technology world. But, it's easy to forget that it's still in closed beta. Here are the top 10 things that need to be fixed or added. There's a lot to like about Google+ and it has the potential to make a major impact on the future of the Internet. After just two weeks in closed beta, it already has 10 million users. Still, it's far from perfect. 1. On Google+ it is a lot easier to find friends and people to follow than any social network that has been built so far. 2. The +1 button allows you to give the thumbs up to really good Google+ posts and updates. 3. One of the stickiest issues Google needs to figure out is the Share functionality. 4. By default, the big Stream (and the Circle streams as well) are sorted by relevance and popularity, based on the number of +1 votes and shares, so that the most interesting stuff rises to the top of the Stream. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Also read
Google+ Approaches 18 Million Users [REPORT] Using Google+? Add Mashable to your circles. You'll get the latest about new Google+ features and tips and tricks for using the platform as well as top social media and technology news. continues to set records as the fastest-growing social network in history, but Google's social juggernaut is beginning to show signs that it's losing steam. Ancestry.com co-founder Paul Allen (not to be confused with the Microsoft co-founder of the same name) posted his most recent analysis of Google+'s growth on his Google+ account Tuesday. "Last week we saw two days where more than 2 million signed up in a single day," Allen said in his post. Why is Google+'s growth slowing down? Allen estimated that Google+ hit the 10 million user mark sometime on July 12 or 13. Graph via Paul Allen's Google+ page
Google+ Now Lets You Upload Address Books From Outlook, Your Mac, And More Googler Paul Linder just pointed out that there’s now an option in Google+ for users to upload address books in order to find and invite more friends to join the company’s brand new social networking service. As Vic Gundotra added shortly thereafter, this is a fairly big deal. We heard the address book importing feature was coming, but it looks like it was just added a few hours ago. Look for a link that says “Upload address book” (because why complicate things) here. To be clear, this is different from the one-click contact importer for Windows Live Hotmail and Yahoo users. Also, there appear to be some bugs, but I’ve noticed that the Google+ team is following all feedback closely and aims to quickly finetune the new feature.
Summify - 40 Google Plus Tips for Newbies Ok, so at this point, we are all newbies at Google Plus, right? At least if you got in recently via a Google Plus invite. At this point I’ve spent a decent amount of time with it and have concluded that Google has finally made a positive mark in social networking. It’s still early, but there is a lot of excitement around Google+ by those who have jumped on early, and for good reason. Google has launched a social network with several features designed to leapfrog its competition. 40 Google Plus Tips for Newbies Last Updated August 18th, 2011: Replaced tip #22 (old) with a fresh resource on changes on Google plus. July 20, 2011: Added a video in the advanced tips section informing readers how to share a link on Google Plus as their currently isn’t an easy way for website owners to offer that option for readers. *A word about updates to this post. [/unordered_list] [/toggle] Friends First thing you’ll likely want to do is add some friends right? Tip #1: Adding Friends from Suggestions. Circles
Google+ Chrome Extension Brings Tweets Into Your Stream If you’re both a Twitter and a Google+ user, you know that sometimes you want to post things in the same place. Or while you’re using one service, you think of something to post on the other. Switching tabs isn’t exactly strenuous, but it can take up a few minutes of your day if you add it up.