Google+ Communities Are Here!

It's hot! It's here! It's Google+'s  newest  product -  Communities. Google+ is now capturing people by their interest. It gives users the ability to create interest groups, organize interest groups,  join interest groups communicate in interest groups, and make friends in interest groups with likeminded people on their new community page.  

In this article we will guide you through why you may want to want join a G+ Community, what types of G+ Communities there are, how do you find a G+ Community or organize a G+ Community., and keep up-to-date with Community news.  

It doesn't matter where you live or work. You are brought together in a social media online interest hub from all over the world because you have the same interests. Members of these interest communities can communicate about their about their interest topics through text or graphic posts, online chats, visual Google+  Hangouts, or sharing blog posts.

This is similar to Facebook's  forums, but by Google+ adding their Hangout feature, it is taken to a whole new real time level. Google+ is still updating and tweaking this new product as I write this.

How Do You Find A Community?

When you join Google+ you are not automatically in any of their communities. If you want to join one, go to their main community's page. Communities are on the left side of your browser under home and profile. If you don’t see it at first, check under, the “More” tab to see if it may be hidden. It should show you a selection of communities that now exist. You can search for a community to join or create your own. Communities can be private or public. If it's private you click the "ask to join" at the bottom of the page and the administrator of that community will have to approve your request to allow you to join them. Private communities have a lock icon on them.

Why Would You Want To Join A Community?

Communities are just like forums that you may have been a member of on Facebook. Their purpose is to allow you to meet and network like minded people that share the same interest or vocation.  Your new friends can help you with questions and answers, hold discussions on subjects that you are interested in, and share blogs. You benefit from it from what you put into it. You will be able to meet, network and talk with likeminded people on subjects and areas in which you have knowledge and are able to converse more readily. This is great business tool and networking. Conversations center on hobbies, interests, organizations, business etc.

Notifications

Just like Facebook you can turn off notifications so you are not spammed all day long from these communities. Go to the community page’s profile picture and use the bell control to turn off notifications.

Activity In The Community

When you join a few communities you forget which ones you signed up for and it is hard to know when someone has posted or updated something in the community. Here this is not a problem! Go the main Communities page and it will display with a red counter icon with a number on it. This number lets you know how much activity has taken place since your last visit. It goes up to 99 and after that it will show 99+.  

There Are 4 Modes Of Communities - 2 Public and 2 Private Public Indexed

A. Open

•  FOR? - Anyone.
•  POSTS SEEN BY?- Everyone.

•  FOUND BY SEARCHING? - Yes.

•  FOR? - Meeting people of similar interests on Google+.

•  EXAMPLES: Graphics, clubs, events, blogging, meet-ups, or politics, etc.

B. Moderator Approval Needed To Join 

•  FOR? - Anyone can request to join, but moderators approve members.

•  POSTS SEEN BY? - Everyone.

•  FOUND BY SEARCHING? - Yes.

•  FOR? - Sharing publicly, but limiting who can create it.

•  EXAMPLES: Club members, local neighborhood businesses, or a classes.

Private 

A. Found Through Searches And Request To Join.

•  FOR? Anyone can request to join, but moderators approve members. 

•  POSTS SEEN BY? - Just members.

•  FOUND BY SEARCHING? - Yes.

•  FOR? - Creating private communities for specific organizations.

• Examples: Teaching a class, a committee meeting, or an association meeting.

B. Hidden Community From Searches.

•  For? Invited people.

•  Posts seen by? Just members.

•  Found by searching? No.

•  For? Private conversations.

•  Examples: The Smith family, an meet-up group,  a committee meeting, or a tutoring session.

Back to you...

Please share your experiences, thoughts, and feelings about communities on Google+!

• Have you started a Google+ Community?

• Have you joined a Google+ Community?

• Do you like them or hate it?

We hope you enjoyed this post! If social media marketing sounds like something your business needs, or if you have questions on how to take advantage of social media marketing for your business, contact us today, St. Paul Marketing Team, at 651-731-0768 or Email us at info@StPaulMarketingTeam.com.

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