Overview of Google+ Collections

Google launched Google+ Collections in May 2015. It’s a new feature in Google’s social network to help organize posts.

With Collections, users can group their posts, including pictures and videos, based on topic. Doing so, will help you keep your posts organized and help your users find relevant posts more efficiently.

Also, given that each Collection has a separate URL, users can follow a particular Collection if they wish. By default, anyone following you on Google+ will automatically be following all your Collections.

Google+ launched in June 2011 and hasn’t garnered as much popularity like Facebook has. Based on stats that I’ve seen online, currently Facebook is estimated as having over a billion users. Comparatively, Google+ has approximately 300 million users.

I was among the first to test out Google+ when it first launched by invite-only. Ever since, I’ve been using Google+ fairly actively and I would say, much more than I use Facebook. Anyway, I’m sure this doesn’t apply to everyone. However, if you are a business owner, including being self-employed, you would definitely benefit from using Google Plus.

Well, getting back to Google+ Collections, given that they are fairly new, I’m sure they will evolve, so we can expect changes as we go along. But for now, you can create Collections around topical posts; you can customize them with a relevant name and personalized cover photo, as well as apply different colors to them. The recommended size for the cover photo is 1080x608 pixels. The maximum photo size is 2120x1192. And the picture should not be smaller than 480x270.

You can also control who sees your Collections. That is, you set the privacy settings to private or public. However, note that at this point, you cannot edit the “private/public” settings of your Collections once you create them. Though, if you wish, you can delete a particular Collection.

Once you create a Collection, you can add previously shared Google+ posts to the Collection. Also, you can share Collections with those following you, just like you would a regular Google+ post. Personally, I like this new feature that Google has introduced because I like to keep things organized.

Google+ Collections is available on Android for smartphone users. You will have to update your Google+ app to be able to access this new feature. Apple iOS users will have to wait to use Collections.

I’ve created several video tutorials on Google+ Collections, so feel free to check them out. You will find videos on: what are Google+ Collections; how to create, edit and customize Collections, and others.

Learn to use Google+ Collections, I think you will find them useful. Google also has a Featured Collections page, you never know when your Collections will get featured and give you that little bit of extra exposure.

Bubblews Review

Bubblews is an online community which was introduced in mid-2012. It is a combination of a social network and blogging platform put together. I came across this online writing community in early May 2013, via a Google+ post, and was intrigued by this growing online website. 

I checked out the website and read many of the articles or bubbles (as they call them) posted by various Bubblews' members to get a sense of what the website was about. I have to admit that, initially, I was not too impressed with many of the post because I saw a good deal of plagiarism and copyright issues on many of the bubbles. However, I also found many serious online writers who were posting good quality content. Also, I saw many familiar faces from other online communities like Squidoo, Wizzley, and people from my social networks. So skeptical as I was, I decided to join.

On May 2, 2013, I joined Bubblews and started posting articles or blog posts, mainly from a "testing the waters" perspective. According to Bubblews' TOS (Terms of Service), you are allowed to post up to 10 bubblews or posts in a 24 period, and each post should include a minimum of 400 characters.

So what makes Bubblews different from other social networks and blogging platforms? Well, Bubblews shares 50% of its advertising revenue with its members. When members' account reach the $25 threshold, they are allowed to cash out via their PayPal account. So is Bubblews legitimate? Well, I've seen my Bubblews account being credited with money, however, I've not been active enough and have not posted enough to reach the redemption yet. However, I've come across many members who have cashed out and have received their payments.

My goal is not to just publish as many articles as I can, but rather to do so at a pace I'm comfortable at, since I'm busy working on other projects. On average, I've posted less than one bubble per day and I'm ok with that. At some point, I may increase my postings on Bubblews as I go along and find more time. 

Overall, I think that this new online community has a lot of potential to grow, but more importantly, I'm impressed by the commitment of the CEO, Arvind, to improve the site, as well as take care of the plagiarism and copyright issues. You can take a look at the Bubblews' Video Review I posted on YouTube and see how easy it is to create a Bubblews article:

Google+ Social Network Takes on Facebook

Google+ (Google Plus) is a brand new social network that I'm sure you've already heard of by now. Looks like the big G is ready to take on Facebook now, but it's too early to say how it will shape up.

The overall "look and feel" of Google+ is quite similar to Facebook, but it has unique features like Google Hangouts, Google Sparks, Google Huddle, Instant Upload and of course, Google Circles.

Google+ is still in its basic state at the moment because it's being back-tested with limited number of users. I've used Google+ for a few days now and one of the main features that I like is Google Circles which allows you to create your own cliques of friends. Circles are unique because they allow you to maintain privacy of your status updates, newsfeeds, etc. with only those cliques.

The other neat and unique Google+ feature is Google Hangouts which allows you to video chat with up to 10 of your friends from different Circles. I've created a Squidoo web page which provides a more detailed coverage of the key Google+ features with video overviews of each.

At the moment the social networking platform is not open to the public and is by invite-only. If you know a friend who is on Google+, you can request an invite. Though, I believe Google is still monitoring the influx of invites and rationing them out.

If you'd like a Google+ invite feel free to Contact Me and request an invite. Beware not to leave your email addresses on public forums and comment sections because unscrupulous people could harvest your email address and spam or scam you.

PeopleString: An Alternative to Facebook

PeopleString is the next generation social network!

It is similar to Facebook, except that you get paid to do the things you already do like use the social network to interact with friends, check email, play games, shop online, etc.

Unlike Facebook, PeopleString shares 70% of its advertising revenue with its members so everyone benefits from it.

You not only earn income from your activity, but also from people that you refer. PeopleString has a multi-tiered affiliate program that pays you through 6 levels.

PeopleString is a publicly-traded company and its parent company BigString Corporation has been around since 2003.

Membership to PeopleString is FREE, so JOIN IN and be part of the new evolution of social network.