Social Media Networking SIte

When I first started this assignment, I did not know that Google Plus and Google Hangouts were two separate apps. Google Hangouts is a great social media networking and video conference app. The great thing about Google hangouts is that you can use your computer, tablet, android and iphone to video chat, have a conversation or to do a live video call. You can also record yourself and upload it onto Youtube! You download the app to get started. You can use Hangouts along with your Gmail account. If you have email addresses of your friends in Gmail, or Google Plus, you can click on their photo icons and start chatting or video conferencing if you have their phone numbers.

When I first started Google Plus I was lead to believe that it was like Facebook. Google Plus is like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, but at the same time, it is not.  With Google Plus, you can place friends in Circles. (Figure 1.0). I was not prepared for all of the things that Google Plus has to offer and I didn't realize how many options it gives you. In my opinion, Google Plus is better than Facebook because it has all of these different ways that you can communicate.  Within Google Plus, there are Google Plus Posts, Google Circles, Google Local, Google Plus with Adwords, Google Plus Communities, etc. It also ties into Google Hangouts which is another completely separate app that I will also discuss in this blog post. A great introduction to Google Plus and everything else that it has to offer can be watched here or by clicking https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FSOhJCio-M#t=21 . There are so many different features and I want this blog post to be about Google Plus and Google Hangouts.

One of the features that I really like about Google Hangouts is that it easily ties into my Google Plus account. All I have to do in go into my Google Plus on my laptop and click the Google Hangouts app to start a conversation. I really love it. I’m so used to using Face Book that I did not realize that there were something else out there that is better. Yes, Google Plus I better than Facebook.

One of the features that I really like about Google Plus is that you get to choose what everyone sees. I can have my friends, family and acquaintances all see something different. If I want to post something that I do not want my work friends to view, I can designate that I only want my family and friends to see it only. You can easily click and drag who you want to whichever circle that you want to place them. (Figure 1.1).

The ability to access Google Plus and Google Hangouts on your phone and tablet ensues that you are always connected to the internet. You can connect to friends, acquaintances friends and family members anytime that you want by clicking a button. As Lee Raine and Barry Wellman stated, “hyperconnectivity means that people do not have to walk—or sit—alone. They are networked individuals, (95).  

“What makes social network sites unique is not that they allow individuals to meet strangers, but rather that they enable users to articulate and make visible their social networks. This can result in connections between individuals that would not otherwise be made, but that is often not the goal, and these meetings are frequently between ‘‘latent ties’’ (Haythornthwaite, 2005) who share some offline connection,” (211).

According to the Pew Research Center, “Americans have more close friends than they did two years ago.” Google Plus and Google hangouts has certainly seemed to help with this because of the many ways that you can connect with friends all over the globe.

In conclusion, Google Plus and Google Hangouts are a both really good social networking sites and apps. Users can easily video chat and talk to their friends, family and acquaintances. I would definitely recommend using this site due to the way that you can separate people in circles. When you make a post, not everyone will be able to view it if you don’t want them to.

References

Rainie, Lee & Wellman, Barry. (2014). Networked. The New Social Operating System. MIT Press Book. 

Boyd, Danah M., &Ellison, Nicole B. (2008). Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13. 210-230. International Communication Association.

Hampton, Keith N. & Goulet, Lauren. (2011). Social Networking Sites and Our Lives.  Pew’s Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project.

  

Figure 1.0

Figure 1.1