How to join Plus
First, you need a Google account, which is free, gives you Gmail (Google's e-mail service), and access to a growing number of Google applications on the web. Having Gmail is essential because of the integration between it and Plus for sending you notifications of posts and other events.
Here's the way you get all that.
Getting a Google Account
If you do not have a Google account yet, it's simple enough to get one. Free, of course.
Tip
Google currently encourages you to use your real name on Plus, so you'll need to register that way (they have been deleting Plus accounts which do not meet this criteria). We'll discuss privacy concerns and this controversial policy later in this chapter and explain more about real names, pro and con.
To register, carry out the following steps:
- Browse to https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount (the sign-up page is as shown in the following screenshot).
- Fill out the form to create your account and you are good to go. Again, it's free.
Here's how the registration page looks:
Complete the application (using your real name). For example, my Gmail address is <ralph.roberts@gmail.com>. If your name is Bob Smith, you might wind up with <BobSmith426@gmail.com> or something similar. Don't worry. The Plus application system guides you through choosing your real name (which is required).
Once you have a Google account, which includes a Gmail account (like mine, as follows) take a little time to explore Gmail and the other Google apps that are now yours (some of which we see listed on the top line in the following screenshot):
Calendar, for example, is a sophisticated appointments calendar easily shared with others. My wife and I use this daily. All our appointments are available not only on our computers, but also on our Droids. If one of us makes a change, then it shows up on the other's phone; a great and convenient way to sync our lives and activities. The other apps are quite useful too.
Of course, our book is not about Gmail or the many Google apps opened to us by having a Google account.
However, Gmail is important as it serves as one of our gateways into Google Plus. Note the +Ralph menu item in the extreme upper-left corner, as shown in the preceding screenshot. Once you've joined Plus, your Gmail will have that too. Clicking on it takes you to your Plus home page, and there is a small box over on the far right of the menu bar that is red, if you have notifications, with the numbers of items to look. If there are no pending notifications, the box is gray.
However, more than just a handy link, Gmail lets us interact with Plus right in our e-mails. Let's take, as an example, the notification I just received, as shown in the following screenshot:
Plus notifies me via e-mail that two people have added me to their circles, meaning I see whatever they post that's tagged as Public.
Now comes an important difference between Plus and Facebook, as well as other social media networks. Instead of one big blob of hundreds of friends, we can control where or even if we add folks to our circles.
In the preceding case, I can click on the thumbnails because not everyone has a profile picture and some use graphics like Gilberto's. In checking, I find Gilberto is already in my Interesting Folks circle (a custom circle I created just for keeping up with posts that appear of people worth following). I know who Brenda is and she went into my App Inventor circle because we share that interest.
Again, all the ways of setting up and maintaining Circles are in the next chapter. Please let me emphasize again that the concept of Circles, which is a stroke of Google genius, sets Plus apart from all other social networks to date, giving us the ability of categorizing and thus, controlling our contacts.
To summarize this section, you need a Google account and you need to use Gmail, all of which is free.
Getting a Plus Membership
When I started writing this book, Google Plus membership was Limited to By invitation only. It is now open to the public.
If you have a Gmail account, you can start using Plus immediately. Just log in to Gmail and click on the Plus button on the upper-left of the screen (the + symbol followed by your first name).
If you do not have a Gmail account, see the preceding section on how to create one.
Now, we move on to the real names requirement.