Google+ Circles

Circles are not the same as friends and followers on other social media sites. With other social media there is an approval process. With Circles there is not. It is similar (but different) to Instagram, where you can accept followers without following them, and follow people without allowing them to follow you. It is unlike Facebook, where Friendship is mutual.

Here's a haiku about Google+ Circles 

Circles: they let you 

control whose posts you see, and 

who sees what you post.

You can edit your Circle privacy here.

1. You can control which circles are public and which circles are private. Follow the link above, or click on Profile, About, and Edit in the People box. 
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2. You can hide everyone in your circles by deselecting the tick box next to Show people in... 
   
3. You can share some circles, just tick the Show people in... box and click on the down arrow next to it and deselect circles you would like to hide. You can see that I have made Grade 9 hidden, to protect the privacy of Grade 9. For the rest of my circles, I have left them public, so that people in my professional network can find each other and connect.
4. You can also control whether your circles (the ones you have not hidden) can be seen by the public, or only by people in your circles.  
   
   
   
5. You can also control whether people can see who has you in circles. If people in a circle you have hidden have added you in their circles, they will also be hidden from the list of people who 'Have you in circles'. So Grade 9 students who have added me to their circles DO NOT appear in my list of people who have me in circles. 
   
6. People who have set their circle privacy so that people cannot see who has them in circles or who they have added to circles will not appear in your public circles list.

What happens when someone adds you?
Not as much as you might fear :)

1. They will see your public posts
2. They will see any aspects of your profile you have set to public
3. If you have made "Have you in circles" public, people who can see your profile will see people that have added you. *UNLESS you have added them to a circle that you have made private... those people are hidden!

How do you create, edit, and delete circles?

By default, Google makes 4 circles for you. Friends, Family, Acquaintances, and Following. Not so useful for school and work! You can take control :)

1. I know it doesn't make sense, but to edit your CIRCLES you need to go to PEOPLE from the top left drop down list. 
   
2. To edit your circles, click on Your Circles from the top center menu bar when you are in People. 
   
3. To edit, share, or delete a circle, click on a circle, and it will turn black. You then have edit, share, and delete buttons. 
   
4. To add a circle, you can click on the circular + sign in the 'Your circles' view.  It changes when you hover.
    
5. You can also add circles by hovering over 'Add to circles' or 'in x circles' near a person's name and scrolling down to 'Create new Circle.' 
   

Choose which circles to peruse.

1. Go to Home at the top left selection menu. 
   
2. Choose which circle you want to see posts from by selecting the circle in the center menu bar. 
   

Choose which circles can see your posts.

1. Begin creating a post. 
   
2. Click in the To: box to get a list of circles and communities. Select and remove as needed. Note: You can post to multiple Circles or multiple Communities, but you cannot share to Circles and Communities at the same time.
   
3. Note that you can also send an email to people in that circle. Be considerate. Our inboxes are overflowing. 
   

Which circles should you create?

Think about what circles do: they control your input (who's posts you see) and your output (who sees your posts). When you are in your 'Home' view, you can click on a circle to see only posts from that circle. When you are posting, you can choose to share only with specific circles. It's a good idea to make circles that will help you filter information.

I recommend that you create circles based on interest groups. People who are into music will appreciate interesting music posts, and share interesting music posts. 

Do not limit yourself to your core interest groups, think learning areas! Even if you have no interest in Art or Math, you need to learn in Art and Math. So making a circle of Art enthusiasts and Math enthusiasts should help you when you are learning in those subjects, and maybe even spark your interest in your challenge areas.

Think about the purpose of school Google+. IT's about learning.