I've got a Google+ Account, now what?

Google's Facebook killer launched recently and has set the techie world into a frenzy. Some liken it to the ill-fated and oft-despised Buzz service, but I think Google has a winner with Plus. After using Facebook for these past few years there are a couple differences between the two services but I'm here to help you set up your Plus account to get maximum enjoyment.

Privacy and Profile

First things first, edit your privacy settings and setup your profile. You can get there by clicking the Gear icon in the top left of your screen, choosing Google+ Settings. The first thing you may want to do is unsubscribe from email notifications for some/all events, you can do this from the main settings page. Another option you want to look at is the +1 on non-Google sites option, if you click it gives a good explanation, basically it allows Google to personalize ads and other content on third party sites using your +1s. Next click Profile and Privacy (direct link: https://plus.google.com/settings/privacy .) Once there click on the Edit visibility on profile button under Public Profile Information. From here you can add your information while adjusting the privacy settings. The Privacy setting is the last drop down box that appears when you click on each section. Here's how I see each setting:

• Anyone on the web: Public information, any one who searches your name will have this information. Good choice for your name and maybe your tagline.
• Extended Circles: Similiar to the Friends of Friends setting on Facebook, people in circles of the people in your circles will be able to see this information. I see this as a sensible setting for the Introduction section as well as general information like relationship status, gender, looking for.
• Your Circles: Only people you have in your circles will see this, I choose this for everything else.
• Only you: This is what to choose if you don't want it to visible to anyone else.
• Custom: If you want only certain people/circles to have access to some information you can set that up here.

When you're done click Save then use your back arrow to go back to the Privacy page. Next click on Edit Network Visibility. This controls who appears listed as a friend on your profile and who has access to that list. I recommend just changing the Who can see this? option to be Your Circles.

Getting the Full Benefit

The first step to getting the most out of Plus is people's ability to easily locate you. The best way I've found is to create a short link to your profile page so people already in Plus can easily add you to their circles. I use a free no frills service called gplus.to which translates your Profile ID ( a long string of numbers ) into a shortend url of your choosing. It's really easy to do this, all you need is your Profile ID and to choose a user name. To obtain your Profile ID from the main page of Plus click on your name next to your profile picture. Your Profile ID is the string of numbers here: plus.google.com/ProfileIDhere/posts, just copy the number and paste it into the page at gplus.to, enter your desired user name and click add. You can now give people your shortened link to visit your profile.

Now a social network isn't a network without people. Luckily with Google+ it is super easy to get your friends onto the service even though it is invite-only at this point. To invite someone to Google+ you will need their email address, armed with that information click the Invite People to join Google+ link on the right side of the page. Now click Add people to invite, enter their email address, click on the email it pops up and then lather rinse and repeat for as many people as you want to add. When you've got everyone listed there then you can click on Invite. Now comes one of Plus' best features. You have a confirmation page listing everyone you just invited, what you want to do is hover over the Add to circles button on the right for each address and sort them into appropriate categories or create relevant categories for them. You are not limited to choosing just one, choose as many circles as are approriate. Circles are a granular way for you to share information only with select groups of people and it's not that hard to do!

When you click the Share what's new... box to create a new post it will expand giving you options for pictures, links, check-ins and sharing. The sharing option is the big green box that says Public, to change who can see the post simple click the x in Public then click Add more people and choose the circles or specific people you want to share that post with.

Next Steps...

Staying connected when you're not at your computer becomes more and more important every single day and Plus will not leave you hanging.

Android

If you own an Android powered phone you're in luck as it is the only platform with a native application at the time of writing this article. For Android it's as simple as downloading the application Market Link and signing in to your account. You then will get access to your stream and notifications on the go. An awesome feature you may want to activate in the app is the Instant Upload feature. Instant Upload uploads all photos taken to a private folder so you can easily share them or just simple have a backup incase your phone is lost or stolen. You can activate Instant Upload by opening the app, pushing the MENU button on your phone, going to Settings and making sure Instant Upload is checked (it's at the bottom). You may also want to adjust the settings to determine when photos are uploaded and you can also upload existing photos as well.

Other Mobile Devices

The Get Plus on my Mobile page lists the iPhone / iPad as getting their app soon so in the mean time you will need to use the mobile page. You can get there by going to google.com/+ on your device. I would recommend bookmarking the page and maybe putting a shortcut on your homescreen until the app is released. All other platforms will have to use the mobile page as no app is listed as being worked on at this point. On a phone with a modern browser it will be a decent experience but with older phones your mileage may vary.

On your computer

+1 is Google's answer to the ubiquitous Like button. You can see a list of all the pages you have +1'd by clicking the +1 tab on your profile. Some websites already have integrated the +1 button so you can easily like a page and share it with your friends but there is a bookmarkelet you can drag to your bookmarks bar to support it on any site. You will need to go to http://www.labnol.org/internet/google-plus-one-bookmarklet/19474/ for the details and the bookmarklet.

What else is there?

There is a lot more to Google+ than what I have covered here. I invite you to dig around and explore. I will be covering more features in future posts. So get out there and enjoy a refreshing take on the social network!