Google+

Google+ is a social networking and identity service owned and operated by Google Inc. It is the second-largest social networking site in the world after Facebook, and 500 million people had created Google Plus accounts as of December 2012. Google+ has a lot of potential uses for the education space including uses like, virtual professional development for your staff, bringing in experts into your classroom, collaborating with our classrooms across the globe, conducting tutorials, reviews, or help desk assistance, and more.

Note that Google+ is NOT a part of the core suite of G Suite tools, and therefore not subject to the rules that apply to other core products like Gmail and Drive. This means that students under 13 cannot legally use it (and Google will suspend their accounts if they do).

How is G+ Different from other Social Networks?

  • Asymmetry (I follow you, but you don't have to follow me)
  • Circles (I share with this group of friends, but not that group of friends)
  • Long form posts and comments (no 140 character limit)
  • Communities (connecting with people by areas of interest)
  • Events (invite and manage events, and aggregate all related photos and videos in a single place)
  • Photo galleries (with spectacular photo editing tools and easy sharing options)
  • Pages ( for managing non-personal identities such as organizations and clubs, etc)
  • Hangouts (realtime multiparty video conferencing)
  • Hangouts on Air (same as above, but with the ability to broadcast live, and save on YouTube)

Google+ Communities are Google's version of a group or forum, built to bring people together around particular topics.

Communities are places where users can share specific questions, comments or content relating to a particular topic with other users who are just as interested in the conversation. For example, if you're a member of a cooking community, it's likely each post will contain something related to food. And if there is a user who is posting content unrelated to the chosen topic, a moderator could step in and police that person.

Activity

Create a Google+ Community

Change the permissions to a private community

Invite two other people to join your community

How do you create a community on Google Plus?

  1. Open Google+.
  2. From the drop-down menu in the upper left corner, select Communities .
  3. Click on the + Create a community.
  4. Choose whether your community is public or private.
  5. How will people join your community?
  6. Type a name (it doesn't need to be unique to your group) > Create community.

How do you post to a community on Google Plus?

  1. Open Google+ and find your community.
  2. Near the bottom right corner, click on the green pencil icon.
  3. Start typing (What do you want to share?)
  4. Click the blue square (post).

How do I delete a community on Google Plus?

  1. Open Google+.
  2. In the upper left corner, click the drop-down menu > Communities.
  3. Click the name of your community.
  4. Near the top left corner, click the skinny snowman icon (3 dots).
  5. Click Delete this community.

What happens if a post is not showing up in the feed?

1. Click on the green box, MANAGE.

2. On each post you will need to click the checkmark (approve) or X (remove).