Social Media Marketing For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Grasping the Google+ Fundamentals

Google+ is a social network for anyone and everyone on the Internet. Launched in June 2011, on its surface, the social network seems very similar to Facebook. However, it does indeed have some architectural differences that have served to attract users to it.

Following are the core features of Google+, as shown in Figure 12-2:

Figure 12-2: The core Google+ features.

Google Stream: This is the home page you see when you log in to Google+. It shows you all the posts by people in your circles. Just as with Facebook, you can post a message to your stream. This can be from your personal account or from a brand page. But better still, after you type the text (or upload the photograph or video), you can choose which circles or which people in those circles to share content with. In this fashion, you can tightly manage who gets to see what pieces of your content.

Google+ Photos: Finally, Google has integrated photos more meaningfully into its web ecosystem. Clicking the Google+ photos icon takes you to a photo page that is compelling and valuable both for users and brands. The Google+ Photos philosophy is that the lens from which you view other people’s ...