What is Google+? For those who don’t know, Google+ is Google’s very own social network. And if you’re a gardening, garden design or horticulture enthusiast, it’s another important place on the internet for you to hang out and learn more, meet people, and absorb nuggets of gardening gold. Oh no another social network I hear you cry. Well yes it is, but here’s why it might be of interest.
The service is now among the most attractive and engaging web apps and is growing as fast as a good bamboo in a wet summer. It’s actually growing faster than twitter and facebook combined.
Google+ can now auto-hashtag your items, a feature which is useful because you can click on any hashtag and then flip through related items shared by other people, without leaving the page you’re on. When it figures out a hashtag based on words in your post, it’s pretty cool. But in some cases, it can also analyze a photo to determine a relevant hashtag, a feat which can be superb.
Why Join Google+ for Gardening
Overall, Google+ doesn’t do anywhere near as many things as Facebook, but the things it does, it does extremely well. Once a me-too service that seemed to exist solely because Facebook posed a potentially existential threat to Google’s dominance of the web, it now has its own style and signature features. Where Facebook is rather stolid – it has its own beautification initiative going on, but feels hamstrung by its need to retain some visual consistency with its past self — Google+ is exuberant. It’s fun to use.
It’s up to you of course to figure out which social network suits your needs best. Whether you are a gardening enthusiast through to a fully fledged google+ garden design or horticulture professional, here’s some thoughts on which network is best for which purpose. Feel free to disagree by the way – we’d love to hear your experiences too.
Twitter = perspectives. Twitter is great for getting immediate perspectives on news and events. In other words, if you want to learn that there was an earthquake in Chile before CNN, and you like getting updates from people at ground zero, then Twitter is for you. In short, Twitter is for real-time perspectives.
Facebook = people. Facebook is the way to learn what’s going on in the lives of people that you already know (friends, relatives and colleagues). It’s great for learning that their cats rolled over, they went to a great party or they had sex, children or grandchildren. In short, Facebook is for people.
Google Plus = passions. Google Plus enables you to pursue your passions with people who you don’t know. Your 50 close friends and family on Facebook may not share your passion for photography, but on Google+ you can have a blast with gardeners that you didn’t know. In short, Google+ is for passions.
If none of this makes any sense to you, or you're already on Google+ Gardening and have some good circle, hangout and network knowledge - please share! Or equally we're very happy to answer questions on Google+ Garden communities for you on the blog - just type a question in the comments box and we'll get back to you.
Subjects Covered: Google+ Gardening, Google+ Horticulture, Google+ Garden Design
