I SPENT TWO HOURS inside Google+ on my laptop today and after adding 100 people to various circles, I walked away to watch what happened on my mobile phone browser. It was like watching a context-aware mailing list on steroids.
I'm enthused about Google Plus because I like threaded conversations more than I like throwaway 140-character tweets. I know I'm biased because I've easily understood how Jaiku worked and I'm probably one of a dozen people in Ireland who liked Friendfeed. It's really easy to dismiss G+ with the thought that "Google really doesn't get social." But this latest offering by Google is sweet on the desktop and very functional when viewed through a four-year-old Nokia web browser. If you're a regular reader of my blog, I'd like to add you to one of my circles during this field test. Drop me a comment on my post with your gmail address as your email address on the comment. And below the break, keyboard shortcuts from Matt Cutts.
1. Press 'j' for navigate down to the next item or press 'k' for navigate up when checking stream using keyboard shortcut.
2. Stream text format:
*)bold(*): Add * before and after message.
(_)italics(_): Add _ before and after message.
(-)strike-through(-): Add – before and after message.
3. Click on “Limited” word next to the timestamp of Stream to find out actual list of persons sharing a particular post.
4. Add “+” or “@” signal to mention someone in Stream.
5. Click on Timestamp in the Stream to get permalink of any post.
6. Share Stream with Public, Circles only or individual on by typing in name or email address.
7. Edit uploaded photos with rotate and other smart effects such as cross process, orton, black and white, auto color and contrast. Select Actions > Edit photo after upload photos.
8. Resize Chat Box with drag Chat box by its corner or sides.
9. More privacy control with Mute this post, Block this person, Disable comment and Disable reshare feature.
10. Share post or check notifications on Google+ directly from Gmail account.
11. See how your profile appears to others by input his/her username > Edit profile, make the alterations to your profile only for that specific person.
12. Double press “Q” to search and add people to your chat list.
13. Hitting Enter when focused on Post to open comment box.
14. Set delivery preferences and tick mark desired entries under “Receive Notifications”. Visit this link to edit the settings: https://plus.google.com/settings/plus
15. For how to invite anyone to Google+, just make Stream post, share it with that person using his email address. Then ask him to click “Learn more about Google+” in received email. On opening it, page will ask to Join Google+.
What I look like on Google Plus.