Ok folks, many of you are now on G+ and actually few of them are very confused and i see a lot of n00b questions as they have not watched introductory videos of G+.
Here is my attempt to slove those commonly asked questions, esp about privacy , messaging and circles.
for gods sake read the entire post before asking any questions.
Circle in Google+ is for your convinence. Its private and thus only visible to you. Once you login to G+ , you will have “Friends” , “Family”, “Accquantances ” and “Following” circles to get started. You can create your own circles and name it whatever you want.
Circle is the simple way to group/list your contacts or people you might know ( in real or friends made via Internet) . You can add a person to one or more than one circle. This way you can post your status update to desired circle rather than making it visible to all. Below is the best example which explains how Google+ aims to kill Facebook and twitter.
When you update your status on G+ or Google+ or Google Pus , its either “Public” or “Limited”
Eg. I have created 3 cirlces
Cricle named “All friends” : in which i have added all my friends i know in real and virtual.
Circle named “Android” : in which i have added all my friends using Android device.
Circle “Microsoft Developers” : in which i have added all my friends made via forums and my
company friends working with me and using MS technologies.
Now if i have to share something realted to Android then i will post only in “Android” circle. This way it will be only visible to people i have added in my “Android” circle and not to people present in “Microsoft Developers” because they wont care about it anyways.
However , it might happen that you have a friend who is using “Android” and also working on MS technologies. In this case just add such contacts to both circles.
Now if i have to post something which i wish to share with everyone ,then i will post my status update and choose “All friends” Now its visible to all persons i have added in my “All friends” circle.
If you choose “Public” while updating your status , its visible to everyone irespective of your circle.
You share different things with different people. So sharing the right stuff 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 by himself - just like real life.
How do i add anyone as friend on Circle ?
Just add them to any of your circle as you see it fit.
When someone adds you in anyone of their circle and you dont add them to your any of your circle, its equivalent of “Follow” on twitter. Because you wont see their updates in your stream but they can see all your PUBLIC updates only. They wont be able to see your updates posted to “All friends” or “Android” as you have not added them in any of those cirlces of yours.
If you still need to view their updates , click on “INCOMING” from left menu. It will show updates from their circle in which they added you. Eg. If those strangers have added you in their cricle named “people i like on Internet” then you will see their updates which they post in “people i like on Internet” circle and not from their circle called “Family”.Because they hav added you in “people i like on Internet” circle and not “Family”
How do i send Message to my friends?
You need to update your status message and hit + button. Now type person name instead of choosing circle name. This way its limited to that single person not public to others. From here you can have your private conversation which is not visible to anyone.
This eliminates need to have Message or Wall like thing we have on Facebook.
Small things you need to know about G+
Use + instead of @ to mention people on G+. It shows names of people from current comment thread (those people which you have not added to your circle) and also your friends.
Your profile by default shows , list of people you have in your circles and list of people those who have added you to their circles. You can edit your profile and can change it to hide either both or anyone option of your choice. This gives you total control of privacy. You dont want strangers to know who you have in your friend list.
If are logged in any of Google service , you always get unobstructive notifications. Click on top right side of black bar you see. It shows all notifications. Click on any of the red icon and you can reply from there without logging to G+ website.
If you have Android phone , install Android app. Its simply the best and as expected from Google.
google+ is on web(desktop an mobile web page) , phone and SMS as of now
It allows you to EDIT your post after posting
In future , Orkut communities might be exported to G+. This is yet to be confirmed. It wont be a direct copy paste. Might be done in some other way.
Google wont waste data in communities.
a lot of random people are adding me , WTF , where is the privacy ?
1. when someone adds you to their circles AND you have not added them to yours, its like twitter follow.
2. That stranger will ONLY see your PUBLIC posts and not your posts to circles.
3. If at all you wish to see what he is posting (you will only see his public post and posts to the circle he has added you), just click on INCOMING on left side.
Why should i join G+ anyways ?
Its the choice you need to make.
I am sick of FB spam and games. I need change , G+ gave it to me.
Its always good to have choice than to accept something forcefully.
Here is my attempt to slove those commonly asked questions, esp about privacy , messaging and circles.
for gods sake read the entire post before asking any questions.
Circle in Google+ is for your convinence. Its private and thus only visible to you. Once you login to G+ , you will have “Friends” , “Family”, “Accquantances ” and “Following” circles to get started. You can create your own circles and name it whatever you want.
Circle is the simple way to group/list your contacts or people you might know ( in real or friends made via Internet) . You can add a person to one or more than one circle. This way you can post your status update to desired circle rather than making it visible to all. Below is the best example which explains how Google+ aims to kill Facebook and twitter.
When you update your status on G+ or Google+ or Google Pus , its either “Public” or “Limited”
Eg. I have created 3 cirlces
Cricle named “All friends” : in which i have added all my friends i know in real and virtual.
Circle named “Android” : in which i have added all my friends using Android device.
Circle “Microsoft Developers” : in which i have added all my friends made via forums and my
company friends working with me and using MS technologies.
Now if i have to share something realted to Android then i will post only in “Android” circle. This way it will be only visible to people i have added in my “Android” circle and not to people present in “Microsoft Developers” because they wont care about it anyways.
However , it might happen that you have a friend who is using “Android” and also working on MS technologies. In this case just add such contacts to both circles.
Now if i have to post something which i wish to share with everyone ,then i will post my status update and choose “All friends” Now its visible to all persons i have added in my “All friends” circle.
If you choose “Public” while updating your status , its visible to everyone irespective of your circle.
You share different things with different people. So sharing the right stuff 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 by himself - just like real life.
How do i add anyone as friend on Circle ?
Just add them to any of your circle as you see it fit.
When someone adds you in anyone of their circle and you dont add them to your any of your circle, its equivalent of “Follow” on twitter. Because you wont see their updates in your stream but they can see all your PUBLIC updates only. They wont be able to see your updates posted to “All friends” or “Android” as you have not added them in any of those cirlces of yours.
If you still need to view their updates , click on “INCOMING” from left menu. It will show updates from their circle in which they added you. Eg. If those strangers have added you in their cricle named “people i like on Internet” then you will see their updates which they post in “people i like on Internet” circle and not from their circle called “Family”.Because they hav added you in “people i like on Internet” circle and not “Family”
How do i send Message to my friends?
You need to update your status message and hit + button. Now type person name instead of choosing circle name. This way its limited to that single person not public to others. From here you can have your private conversation which is not visible to anyone.
This eliminates need to have Message or Wall like thing we have on Facebook.
Small things you need to know about G+
Use + instead of @ to mention people on G+. It shows names of people from current comment thread (those people which you have not added to your circle) and also your friends.
Your profile by default shows , list of people you have in your circles and list of people those who have added you to their circles. You can edit your profile and can change it to hide either both or anyone option of your choice. This gives you total control of privacy. You dont want strangers to know who you have in your friend list.
If are logged in any of Google service , you always get unobstructive notifications. Click on top right side of black bar you see. It shows all notifications. Click on any of the red icon and you can reply from there without logging to G+ website.
If you have Android phone , install Android app. Its simply the best and as expected from Google.
google+ is on web(desktop an mobile web page) , phone and SMS as of now
It allows you to EDIT your post after posting
In future , Orkut communities might be exported to G+. This is yet to be confirmed. It wont be a direct copy paste. Might be done in some other way.
Google wont waste data in communities.
a lot of random people are adding me , WTF , where is the privacy ?
1. when someone adds you to their circles AND you have not added them to yours, its like twitter follow.
2. That stranger will ONLY see your PUBLIC posts and not your posts to circles.
3. If at all you wish to see what he is posting (you will only see his public post and posts to the circle he has added you), just click on INCOMING on left side.
Why should i join G+ anyways ?
Its the choice you need to make.
I am sick of FB spam and games. I need change , G+ gave it to me.
Its always good to have choice than to accept something forcefully.
