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Allyson Kapin 7 min read

Everything You Need to Know About Google+

 If you do a Google search for Google+ over 26M search results will come up. Since Google rolled out their new platform to compete with Facebook and Twitter, the online world has gone Google+ bonkers exploring its new features, deciding which people should go into their BFF circles, and asking good questions around functionality.

What kind of impact will Google+ have on nonprofits and campaigners? Will Google+ wipe out FB and Twitter? I haven’t yet developed a talent for reading crystal balls, but Google+ has lots of the “influencers” and early adopters excited. Like other tools and platforms on the horizon, I recommend that you experiment with Google+ and monitor its adoption rates by your constituents.

Looking for a round up of resources to help you better navigate Google+? I’ve got you covered below.

 

Can organizations set up profiles on Google+?

Not yet. Google+ is being rolled out to individual users first. And don’t plan on trying to work around their policy because they are quickly shutting down accounts that don’t follow their terms of service. The good news though is that Google plans on opening the Google+ platform to organizations shortly.

Fill out Google+'s form to apply for consideration in their program allowing a limited number of organizations to use the platform. They plan on doing this as a small experiment to see the effect of including brands in the Google+ experience. One source I spoke with said Google plans on launching this in about two weeks.

Here’s a good article on Google+ and organizations.

 

Google+ tips and tricks

There are several articles that discuss Google+ tips and tricks that explain lingo, how to "hangout" (aka video chat with people), privacy settings, etc. Janet Fouts has an in depth overview on her blog. It's definitely worth the read if you are just getting started.

 

How diverse is Google+?

There are two ways to answer this question.

1)   How diverse is your own network?  Google+ allows users to pull contacts from Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc. The more diverse your networks are, the more diverse your Google+ network will be. Of course there are caveats, not everyone in your network has been given access to Google+ yet so the diversity of your network can certainly vary.

2)   According to Daryl Lang, of Google+'s top 50 users, only about 7 are women. Lang also says that according to socialstatistics.com, a program that monitors Google+ demographics, the site’s users are 88% male. July 15, 2010 Update: According to Digital Trends, Google+ now has over 10 million users and 9 out of 10 users are men.

In comparison, Facebook and Twitter skew more female--though neither is as heavily skewed towards one gender as Google+. 58% of Facebook users are women and 64% of Twitter users are women, according to a study by Pew.

In Lang’s post on the subject of diversity and Google+, he says “So far, mostly men love Google+. Women are staying away.”

Hmmm. Are women really “staying away” from Google+? If they are purposely staying away, is it because they don’t want to be on yet on another social network? Or is it because women have not been invited as much as men during the first wave of invites?

What articles or resources have you found useful that have helped you navigate Google+?


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Allyson Kapin

Allyson has been named one of "Top Tech Titans" by the Washingtonian, one of the Most Influential Women In Tech by Fast Company, and one of the top 30 women entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter by Forbes for her leadership role in technology and social media. As Founding Partner of Rad Campaign, she leads the firm's client and online strategic services. For over a decade Allyson has helped non-profit organizations and political campaigns create dynamic and award-winning websites and online marketing and recruitment campaigns. She works side-by-side with her clients to meet their web needs and maximize their online effectiveness to create real world impact.

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