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There has been a lot of buzz about the new(ish) Google+ communities. The always-sharp Heather Mansfield, in particular, has been their champion. Recently, she shared this Mashable piece (one of several) in her newsletter.
I love the concept (it's a tried-and-true one that has worked for years). I especially liked this bit from the article:
Google+ Communities are for users who are more interested in vibrant conversations around topics than they are about self-promotion. Quality community members are those who share relevant content that sparks conversation or debate, and who participate in conversations by leaving comments and +1'ing posts. Users whose intentions are to promote themselves or spam the community will most likely be removed by a moderator, so be careful how you approach your communities.
Music to my ears, to be sure.
I haven't had too much luck with the communities, however. I've joined a few, browsed a lot of others. And there just doesn't seem to be a lot going on there. Maybe it will just take time.
What do you think? Have you found Google+ communities useful? For your org? For personal use? I'd love to hear more.
Michael DeLong | Online Community Manager
Michael,
I'm not sure about Google+ and that is the opinion that I hear in the social media discussions I participate in. There have been some really interesting comments in responses to Hugh Briss/Social Identities facebook posts on Google+ recenty. Do you follow those? Hugh is a social media expert and I like his approach to sharing about it a lot. One of his recent posts initiated a conversation where many people commented that G+ wasn't living up to expectations. At the time I read the thread, only one person had something positive to say about their G+ engagement, and that one person did love it. I conversations I'm referring to happened in the last week or two, so you can check them out on the Social Identities facebook page.
________________________ Sasha Daucus www.FundRaiserSoftware.com www.FundRaiserBasic.comVolunteer TechSoup Moderator
Hmmm. Second Google + thread within the span of a few days - perhaps it really is gaining popularity?
I have heard from no nonprofits first hand, at all, about the joys of using Google +. That said, I'm always willing to revisit something - Twitter did nothing for me for the first six months I was on it.
I've been invited to two "hang outs" - neither of which were happening at a time I could participate. But I'd still be willing to give such a try.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Jayne Cravens TechSoup Community Forum Manager
I've tried just about everything "Google" and have not yet had that "a-ha" moment. I even worked with a Google engineer directly for a few months to promote hangouts and Groups and to try and have some of our community partners use it for collaboration on projects. Didn't go anywhere. I've used the Chrome Desktop sharing feature and Hangouts and both are great utilities. I think Google needs to pull it all together and come up with a more unified and compelling platform that offers obvious value and doesn't have a learning curve like + does. I'm a Google fan that is still waiting.