Posts Tagged ‘YouTube’

 

The New Google+ Feature and Youtube Facelift

Monday, December 10th, 2012

Google quietly launched two new features in the last few days.

The first improvement is one that, we imagine, will slowly integrate into our social experience much like Facebook and Twitter have.

New Google+ Feature

It’s called Google+ Communities, and here’s how it works. You’re interested in graphic design, baking bread or nuclear physics and want to connect to a more specific group of people who share similar interests. Google+ Communities exists for you.

Think of it as a Facebook group…because that’s what it is: the Google+ version of a Facebook group, but with a few twists that might pull you over to the Google+ side. After all, it’s growing at a faster rate than Facebook and Twitter (read more about that here).

So how does Google+ Communities differ from Facebook or Facebook Pages? Here’s what Google had to say in a recent update:

“With Google+ Communities there’s now a gathering place for your passions, including: 1. Public or private membership to support all kinds of groups—from topics and interests to local neighborhoods to regular poker night. 2. Discussion categories to find the conversations you care about most. 3. The option to start hangouts and plan events with community members. 4. The ability to share with your community from any +1 button across the web.”

Granted, though many features overlap in both the Facebook and Google+ platform, the ability to start video hangouts which record directly to Youtube is an immese differentiator.

Which bring us to Youtube’s.

Youtube Facelife

Youtube underwent the designer’s knife this past week and came out much sleeker and cleaner.

According to this post in a Google help forum, the new design intends to increase subscription rates, focus more on video than previous designs and increase exposure to various Youtube channels. But not everyone is happy with the updates.

And if you really don’t like the updates, there’s always this option:

Question: What do you think about the new design on Youtube or the addition of Google+ Communities? Let us know in the comments below!

6 Ways to Engage Your Audience On Google+

Sunday, September 2nd, 2012

1. Build Your Circles (and Privacy Settings)

Though Facebook eventually caught up with the ability to share content with some while hiding it from others, Google+ developed a simpler, cleaner interface for their privacy settings. Whenever you connect with a person simply add them to a circle of your choice. Circles labeled ‘business contacts,’ ‘acquaintances,’ ‘close friends’ or ‘social media experts’ will prove helpful when you decide to share (or hide) content from your followers.

2. Share Appropriate Content

Just as in any other social media platform, your content must engage your followers. By categorizing your users into the circles mentioned above, you’ll be able to share appropriate content with a variety of followers while hiding that same content from others.

3. +1 A Post

 You’re no longer hitting a “Like” button, you’re now choosing to “+1” a post you like. Just like other social media platforms, show some love by engaging with people in your Google+ circles by hitting the “+1” button.

4. Hangouts

“Hangouts” really shine in Google+. Hangouts allows you to, yes you guessed it, hangout with people in your Google+ circles in a video chat. Think a hipper, cleaner version of GoToMeeting/GoToWebinar. Up to 9 other people can video chat at once, and Google even developed some snappy little hats, spectacles, beards and even scuba gear to make your Google+ Hangouts even more fun. Many people using the Google+ Hangout feature have completely abandoned Skype and other video chat platforms.

5. Broadcast Live

Want to take Hangouts one step further? Google+ allows you seamless integration with your YouTube account allowing you to do two tasks simultaneously: broadcast your video live to anyone on Google+ as well as record the live broadcast and automatically post it to YouTube. This feature is one of my favorite features as the interface and usability is second to none.

6. Customize Your Account

As Google+ continues to develop and grow, a variety of add-ons enable users to customize their account colors and designs to fit their personal or business brand. A favorite of ours is the Hangout Lower Third add-on that superimposes a news-style banner across the lower third of your screen while on a Hangout or live broadcast.

Question: What do you think of Google+?