Why join Google Plus?
The rationale for beginning any new activity fall in two categories, and social media's no exception.
First, we have the technical. How does this benefit me? Is it easy to upload photos and videos? To make comments? To control which people I interact with? Does it make live chats with my friends easier? And so on and so forth.
The good news is that the answer to all of the above questions is 'yes'. The preceding section introduced us to that and throughout the rest of this book we will be learning and using all those neat features on Google Plus.
However, as exciting and interesting as Plus makes them, technical goodies are not enough. We need the second category to close the deal.
These are of the heart reasons, because life is so much more than just colorful graphics on a computer screen.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Is using Plus exciting?
- Do I find satisfaction and enjoyment in the ways it allows me to interact with people?
- Will my friends enjoy it and want to be on it with me?
- Above all, is it a satisfying activity I enjoy and which meets my needs on many levels—some of which I may not even know exist or that I've been missing input on?
That answer is also a resounding yes! We will see and experience examples throughout, but here are a few examples of how social media in general, and Plus in particular, fulfills human needs. These can be, and I hope will be, benefits received from joining and participating on Google Plus. While the same applies to other social media (hence their great popularity), Plus makes these things even easier.
Here are a few of those reasons to get us started:
- Social contacts: You could hang out at a local bar, meet three drunks and eat stale peanuts. Or from your own comfy chair, in the warm light of your own computer screen, you can eat fresh peanuts while meeting dozens or even hundreds of interesting people from all over the world every evening. Seriously, the more people we interact with, the more interesting life becomes. Being social generates warmth and a sense of wellbeing in our lives.
- Groups: Broaden your horizons. Be a part of all sorts of groups and meet all levels of folks. Control what groups you're conversing with and when. That's what the Circles feature is all about.
- Cheap: Did I mention it was free? Well, it's free.
- Entertaining: When you get right down to it, people (all of us) like people. Interesting characters, wise cracks, kindred spirits, tellers of truly funny jokes and wise sayings, and ever so many more, all of which Plus streams by for our enjoyment.
- Community: A community is a (large or small) grouping of people with a common interest. Perhaps they live in the same geographic location, or share the same political viewpoint, or love the same sports team. Plus lets you join together with like-minded friends for discussion, to follow events, entertainment, and all the other good stuff members of communities give each other.
- Connection: Keep in touch daily, weekly, or whatever interval pleases you with friends, acquaintances, family, and more. They could live down the street or on another continent, but you can remain close to them on your computer or smartphone.
- Sharing: Photos, videos, recipes, what Junior did and how darn cute it was, and a million other things can all be shared with friends, fellow workers, and many others, in any mix of your Circles.
- Family: Communicating, supporting, and loving our family and other relatives keeps us together, and is one of the most rewarding things we can do. Post a message to mom tonight.
- Career: Keeping up with co-workers, others in your vocation or profession, or even finding employment if you're between jobs, all of it is possible on Plus.
- Promotion: Marketing your company, your talents, and more is another great way to use social media like Plus (and we'll show you how to do it the right way).
- Hobbies and Interests: Groups of folks and individual friends who share your hobby and other interests are easy to find and communicate with on Plus.
- Personal Improvement: Above all, as we interact and learn, we grow. Plus keeps your mind agile and interested.
To sum up this sampling of reasons to join this great social media network, consider the following screenshot from the Plus site:
See the red circle with all the arrows pointing to it? Yes, this network might very well be named +You instead of Google+.