Category Archives: Google +

Google +

Facebook Without Ads? Try Google +

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The big news this week had to do with  Google using Google + user’s profile photos and names in their various promotions. On the one hand that seems tacky and somewhat dangerous, at least as far as privacy and security goes but, on the other hand, you won’t find ads on Google +. If you are concerned about the myriad of privacy issues with Facebook, maybe it’s time to take a closer look at Google +  (just say Google Plus and people will know what you mean.)

We think you’ll be surprised at how open and fresh Google + is. Here’s a screenshot:

Photo of Google + 1
A bit of Pinterest, a bit of Tumblr but nothing like Facebook.

 

Notice anything different? A whole page of stuff but no ads, right? The look is refreshingly clean and, to us anyway, more professional and fun. Each post is bigger and there are three rows of information, not just one. Another fun feature on Google + is the presence of action gifs. As you probably know, gifs are not allowed on Facebook. That’s always been a shortcoming for us since gifs can be a lot of fun when you’re looking for something to share. There’s no delay like there is when you’re waiting for a video to load and, quite often anyway, the gif gives you just as much info as a video would.

Signing up for Google + is much like the process for Facebook but with one main difference. All Google + accounts are linked to a Gmail account. Since the two are tied together, it makes jumping from one to the other a breeze. The link for Google + is right there as soon as you log in to your Gmail account.

There are the same personal questions; where do you live, where did you go to school, exactly like Facebook. (Remember that you don’t have to tell the truth on Google + or on Facebook. Be anyone you care to be as long as you don’t impersonate a popular personality.) Unlike Facebook, Google + suggests dozens of pages, people and personalities to get you started. That way, your page doesn’t look empty. Once you start adding people,places and things to your account, you can delete the things that Google suggested.

Just as you start to feel comfortable with Google +, there’s a bump in the road. First you get a notice that their terms of service have changed:

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Uh oh, something seems to be changing.

Wait, we just joined and you’re changing the rules?

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Because they want our experience to be extra special, Google will use your profile name and photo in ‘reviews’ and ‘advertising’.

At least Google is up front about all of this. As with most tech companies, cell phone providers are the worst for this, they try to talk down to you, making their aims and objectives as simple as possible, dumbing down the experience as if we are either uneducated or children. Going past that, you can see why we suggest that you keep your profile photo private. We’ve written about that in the past about keeping your profile pic semi-hidden. If Google and Facebook are going to use that photo in their ads, make sure people can’t identify you from it.  But wait! Hold your horses. Here is where you can opt out of this whole thing, click on the “Shared Endorsement setting” link to see this:

Photo of Google Plus 4
Google, unlike Facebook, lets you opt out of this. Cool huh?

Since you can say yes or not to the use of your photo and name in ads and reviews, we’re thinking Google + just might be a better choice than Facebook as far as privacy goes.

We will do more on Google + and Twitter, which we haven’t mentioned in a long time, as time goes by. There are alternatives to Facebook, you just have to expand your horizons a bit. While we still use Facebook every day, we’re gradually increasing our time on other sites.

Thanks for reading. Today’s post was a general discussion of Google + but we’ll get more into the settings in another post or two. We’ve pretty much exhausted Facebook topics but if there’s something you can’t figure out, we’re always open to comments, questions and suggestions. Keep in touch, OK?

(Our Facebook page is the easiest way to contact us. Here’s the link: Computers Made Simple on Facebook 

 

Computers, Google +, Stop Email

Limit Google + Emails

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Both Google + and Facebook want to be in your face as much as possible. The more time you spend on your profile, the more money they make from their ads. This doesn’t mean that you have to live on their sites nor does it mean that they can send you massive amounts of email every day. Here’s how to cut down or eliminate  those emails. We’ll do a post for Facebook next, don’t worry.

1. Once you have opened your Google + profile, look up on the top right and click on your profile photo or the little arrow just to its right:

 

Photo of Google Google + Email 1
Click on Account to open the settings page.

 

2. You may have to sign in again to access this page. That’s for security reasons, don’t worry. Once you click on Account, this page opens. Look for Google + on the left side:

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Left side, Google +, click on it.

 

3. In the middle of the next page, look for the words ‘Receive notifications’. You’ll see a long list of things that Google + thinks they should notify you about, either by email or, god forbid, SMS. We’ve unchecked everything. Your settings may be different but we really don’t see why Google + has to clutter our inbox with this stuff:

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Uncheck what you want, leave checks where you want. It’s all up to you.

 

4. Google + will notify you of these activities anyway, same as Facebook. You will see the notices in red at the top right of your profile:

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Here’s a list of notifications. If you have any, they are numbered in red up at the top, same as Facebook.

 

If you are even fairly active and popular on Google +, the amount of email they send every day is staggering. We’d advise you to cut some or all of it out but that’s up to you. At least you’ll know how to do it, right?

Thanks for reading!

 

Google +

Getting Started with Google +

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Since our most popular posts deal with Facebook and WeChat, we decided to add another social networking site to the mix. Sure, there are many other networking sites but we like to offer complete and comprehensive advice, not a mish-mash of useless information. This post is a first look at Google +. even though we’ve had an account for a couple of years. Why? Because we never used it!

When Google + started out in 2011, it seemed to be on the verge of something great, a real contender to Facebook. For most Facebook users, however, it didn’t feel quite right. The interface was too different. Well, that was then and this is now. Facebook has changed its look so many times that we’ve pretty much forgotten what it looked like back in the beginning. To us, and this is just our opinion, Facebook is now dark and dreary. Google + on the other hand is as bright and shiny as a new nickel. (We don’t have pennies any more up here in Canada.)

Here’s a snapshot of our Google + home page:

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Bright, open, complete with two different layouts.

 

Compared to Facebook’s confusion, this page looks pretty clean and neat to us. Additionally, there are two different layouts. Here’s how you find them. Look for the word More up on top:

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Change how your page looks with the click of a button.

 

The left layout is the one you see above. The right one is like this:

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This might be the mobile layout, long and narrow.

 

The layout at the top looks good to us on our widescreen monitor. Actually, it looks a lot like a Pinterest page, right? We’ve always felt that the Pinterest design simply worked. Tumblr seems too vertical but Pinterest has a nicely-busy look. Your tastes may vary from ours, of course.

One area where Google + isn’t any different from Facebook is in how it uses your personal data. Here’s what we mean:

Photo of Google + 4
Read this carefully.

 

This is an opt-out, of course, but it seems to suggest that it’s mandatory. The wording is suggestive, as if Google might use your stuff or might not. Who uses the word ‘may’ anymore? It sounds very polite but it’s aimed at making you leave the selection as it is. Google wants you to sign in to your account and keep it open as you surf the Web. Why? Read the notice. They want to tune their ads to ‘personalize’ your experience. Sounds nice, doesn’t it? We would suggest opting out of this ‘gentle suggestion’.

Lots more to come with Google +. We haven’t forgotten about Facebook or WeChat, so don’t worry. Questions? Comments? Use the form below. We’re open to suggestions, too.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

Adjust Default Privacy Settings, Controlled sharing, Facebook, Facebook Secrets, Facebook Tricks, facepiles, Google +

How to Stalk on Facebook and Google +

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Warning: This post is NOT a guide to stalking. It’s a warning to everyone who doesn’t take the time to adjust their privacy settings. Facebook and Google +, thanks to their interest in making a buck for their shareholders, don’t care about your privacy. The more you reveal, the more they know. Both can adjust their ads specifically to your particular demographic, your pattern if you will, hoping you will buy something from one of those ads. If you click on something, they know about it and they remember it. As you travel around the Internet with your accounts open, they will know everywhere you go and, to a certain extent, everything you do. You’ve been warned.

Here is a step by step, do-it-yourself, stalking manual.

1. Pick a magazine, any magazine. Better yet, pick a magazine that appeals to the type of person you are looking for. Here are a couple of examples, straight from the Internet:

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This is from Google + but the idea is the same.

 

In the above example from Seventeen Magazine, hovering over the Google + icon brings up the ‘Follow’ button. Clicking on any profile photo brings up their Google + profile. Believe it or not, and this is the scary part, Google + seems worse than Facebook on this issue because we do not have a Google + account yet we were still able to view the profiles. It gets worse. On one of the profiles we clicked on, we were able to see two important maps. One was of the school that the person attended, the other was a map to their home, complete with street name and number,  believe it or not.

Here’s another:

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This is a Facebook facepile.

 

We weren’t able to find a facepile on a North American magazine site in time for this post but a magazine from Singapore had one. If you hover your mouse over a photo, the person’s name pops up. If you click on any profile photo, you are taken to that person’s Facebook page. Depending on your privacy settings, a complete stranger, even one who does not have a Facebook account, can see everything that you haven’t bothered to hide. Here is an example of someone who didn’t hide very much at all. (We were able to see this without being logged into Facebook):

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It’s all there, isn’t it?

 

Her school, her city, lots of photos…it’s all here. Remember, this information is available to anyone,whether they have a Facebook account or not, simply by clicking on a tiny profile photo.  Here’s what we think a stranger should see when they click on a link in a facepile:

 

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Still some information but not much.

 

In the example above, we can see this person’s school but not much else, other than her name. We are not signed into Facebook, by the way. This person’s profile photo is good, too. It does not reveal too much about the person. Think about your profile photo. What does it show about you? What information are you revealing to the public?

We don’t use Google + (we are in the process of figuring it out) so we can’t advise you on your privacy settings yet. With Facebook, remember that you can hide everything except your profile photo, your timeline covers and any mutual friends you have with the person who is viewing your profile, provided that you have any and that the person is signed into Facebook. There is no need to make any information public, it’s not a requirement. Choose your own level of privacy, one that you feel is secure and, most important, make sure your young friends and relatives have their privacy set to reveal the absolute minimum.

We hope this post has made you think about what information you are putting out for the world to see. What information are your children sharing with the world? What about your friends who are less comfortable with computers and/or social networking? Maybe you can refer them to us or, better yet, help them lock down their privacy using our guides.

Thanks for reading!