Google+ Social Network – Profiles, Circles, Hangouts and Photos

Yet another social networking site is introduced to the world of Internet. After much speculation over the past year, Google introduced its much awaited and highly anticipated social networking platform, Google +(Plus) which rumors to be Google’s answer to Facebook.

The Google+ project is in limited field trial, which will initially be available only to a selected group of Google users who will soon be able to invite others. You need a Google Profile to use this Facebook killer. There is no sign up required for anyone with an active Google account.

Google+ has features called circle, hangouts, streams and sparks. Circle will allow users to create different groups of friends or relatives. This will make sure that the information you share with one set of group doesn’t reaches the other group. Sparks will allow users to access the content in which they are interested from across the web through Google while Hangout will allow them to video or text chat with anyone.

Getting started with your profile in Google+

[advt]Your profile is the way you represent yourself on Google products and across the web. With your profile, you can manage the information that people see – such as your bio, contact details, and links to other sites about you or created by you. While your profile is public, your full name and gender are the only required information that will be displayed on your profile; you’ll be able to edit or remove any other information that you don’t want to share. Your profile is all about you, and you deserve to be in control of your information.

The Google+ project: A quick look

Features of Google Plus

Circles

You share different things with different people. But sharing the right things with the right people shouldn’t be a hassle. Circles makes it easy to put your friends from Saturday night in one circle, your parents in another and your boss in a circle all on his own – just like in real life.

Google+ Circles helps you organize everyone according to your real-life social connections–say, ‘family,’ ‘work friends,’ ‘music buddies,’ and ‘alumni’. Then, you can share relevant content with the right people, and follow content posted by people you find interesting. You can also decide to customize your personal profile information for your circles. For example, your contact details, location, and relationship information would be visible to your friends circle, while your employment history and education would be visible to your alumni association circle.

Sparks

Sparks brings you stories on the things you love from all across the Web, so it’s easy to strike up meaningful conversations with your friends. Remember when your Grandpa used to cut articles out of the paper and send them to you? That was nice. That’s kind of what Sparks does: It looks for videos and articles that it thinks you’ll like, so that when you’re free there’s always something to watch, read and share.

Hangouts

With Hangouts, the unplanned meet-up comes to the web for the first time. Let your mates know that you’re hanging out and see who drops by for a face-to-face-to-face chat. Hangouts are the best way for you to say, “I’m online and want to hangout!”

Hangouts lets you:

• Chill with friends that are scrolling through the web, just like you!
• Use live video chat that puts you in the same room together!
• Coordinate plans, whether it’s working on a project or meeting up for coffee.
• Maybe you’re bored. Start a hangout, invite your circles, see who’s around!

Stream

The stream is the place to have meaningful conversations with the people you care about. It centralizes all the content people have shared with you, as well as the people who are trying to share with you, but who aren’t yet in your circles. You might see text posts, pictures, videos, links, or location markers. When you share with people either individually or through a circle, your content will appear in their stream.

Mobile

• Instant Upload

Taking photos is fun. Sharing photos is fun. Getting photos off your phone and on to the web is pretty much the opposite of fun. That’s why google plus have Instant Upload: So that from now on, your photos upload themselves. You don’t even have to say ‘cheese’.

• Huddle

Texting is great, but not when you’re trying to get six different people to decide on a movie. Huddle takes care of it by turning all those different conversations into one simple group chat, so that everyone gets on the same page long before thumbs get sore.

Google+ bar

The Google+ bar, which appears at the top of Google products, is your connection to Google+ . You can share what’s on your mind, view your Google+ notifications, access your profile, or jump to a variety of other Google products. For instance, to get to Google+, all you have to do is click +[your first name]. When you’re signed in and look at the Google+ bar, you’ll see your full name or email address displayed with a photo or avatar next to it. This helps you identify which account you’re currently signed in to. You can sign in to multiple accounts at once and switch between them using the Google+ bar.

+1 Button

Use the +1 button to publicly show what you like, agree with, or recommend on the web. The +1 button can appear in a variety of places, both on Google and on sites across the web. For example, you might see a +1 button for a Google search result, Google ad, or next to an article you’re reading on your favorite news site. Your +1’s and your social connections also help improve the content you see in Google Search.

Photos

There are several ways to upload and share photos in Google+:

• Create a new post from the stream or the Google+ bar.
• Upload photos from your Google+ Photos homepage or from the Photos tab on your Google profile.
• Share directly from your mobile device.

Chat

Your Chat roster will only appear while you’re in the stream. To chat with one person in the stream find the person you want to chat with in your chat roster. Click their name and a chat window will appear. You can start a group chat by clicking the person icon at the top of the chat window. You can also make a computer-to-computer voice or video call by clicking on the phone icon at the top of the chat window.

Google + Notifications

To make sure you know when something happens that involves you, Google+ creates notifications when events occur, such as when you’re tagged in a photo, have a post shared with you, or are added to a circle. You can receive notifications via email, SMS, and in the Google+ bar. You can also view all your notifications from the Notifications page in Google+. Click the Stream icon , then click Notifications on the side of the page.

In order to get the best possible Google+ experience, you may want to upgrade your browser to the latest version.

Let us hope that google plus will not be a flop like google’s previous social networks, Google Buzz and Orkut.[source]