How To Be Friendly And Stop Annoying People On Google+

I recently started getting dashboard notifications from a woman on Google+. Every time she posted something, the little bell at the top of my gmail would change colors. I was unusually lazy about it, clearing the notification without muting her. Day after day I received a notification from her. Finally I took the time to remove her from my circles. It seemed more drastic than muting, and I was ready for drastic.

Surely uncircling her would make the notifications stop. But, no, they continued. And they got worse. I started getting notifications each time she posted something. This woman shared her blog post? I got a notification. This woman reshared a stupid video? I got a notification. This woman reshared a picture of a cute baby that wasn't even hers? I got a notification.

Why was this happening? Because I usually mute people after the second notification infraction, I had never encountered this problem. I thought that uncircling her would protect me. It didn't. She was sharing her posts with extended circles, probably thinking she would get the benefit of not only the people she had connected with, but also the people with whom they had connected. But that isn't how life works, and it certainly isn't how social media works. Just because someone I know has decided to connect with you, it doesn't mean you now have free access to me anytime you want it.

I realize there are a lot of people who feel overwhelmed by Google+, and aren't sure how to share things to their best advantage. I have a few tips to help you be friendly and stop annoying people on Google+. Because annoying people is never a good way to make friends or grow your social media following.

Share Your Posts Publicly On Google+

I don't get on Google+ to pour out my deepest darkest secrets (that's what a blog is for, right?), so there is no reason to limit who sees my posts. Unless your blog is private, you want it to be seen by everyone, so it makes sense that you share your links and updates with the public on Google+.

Sharing your posts publicly ensures that anyone can see them, and it enables people to reshare them with their circles. There is another benefit to public sharing: it gives your posts more opportunity to show up in search results. Don't give up one of the most important features of Google+, the SEO benefits, by sharing your post privately.

One more thing about sharing publicly. When I look at your Google+ profile, and don't see any publicly shared posts, I can't tell if you are active on the platform, or if you are sharing things that interest me. Why would I add your to my circles?

It is always a good idea to see how your profile looks to people who do not have you in circles yet. This is easy to do. Go to your profile.

At the top of the page, the default is "View profile as: Yourself." If you click on the drop-down arrow, you will be able to switch to Public. This will enable you to see your profile as someone who is not yet connected with you.

Look at your profile objectively, and see if it is a profile that you would want to connect with. If not, make the necessary changes.

Do Not Share With Extended Circles

What exactly is an extended circle? People who you have circled are "your circles." People who are in the circles of those you have circled are "extended circles." 

Just like the story I shared above, if you share your posts with extended circles, you may be sending unwanted dashboard notifications to people who don't even know you. This is a good way to get muted or even blocked.

Just say no to extended circle sharing. There is no benefit to sharing with extended circles that outweighs the possibility of annoying people.

Do Not Be An Email Spammer

When you share with just your circles (which I hope after reading this you will do less - sharing publicly on Google+ is your friend), there is an option to "Also send email to your circles." For the love of people everywhere, do not use this feature.

If you force your way into people's email inbox, they will not be happy or amused. Especially if you do it for every little update or reshare. It will get you muted, blocked, and sent away.

I don't care if you are my best friend, an author I admire, someone I want to connect with for business purposes, or the most interesting person in the world - if you send me unwanted notifications or emails, I will always remember you as the annoying person who crossed boundaries and didn't use Google+ correctly.

Comment, +1, Reshare, and CONNECT

No one has time to add yet anther social media platform to your schedule. I understand this. But Google+ is worth the time. You know those SEO benefits you get from sharing posts there? The more interaction, comments and +1's, you get on your posts, the higher Google ranks them.

Remember: You get out of social media what you put into it.
Social media is only social when you make it that way. If you stop by Google+, throw out a link and run away, you will not make friends. Spend a little time there each day (or a few days a week), and interact with people. This is how you will really see a benefit from Google+ and make friends.

Do not be intimidated by Google+

Start sharing over there, and more importantly, interacting with other people's shares. You will find that it is easier to use than you thought. And as long as you aren't spamming people with notifications or emails, you will find most everyone friendly and ready to help answer any questions you have.

Bonus Tip:

Do you want to make sure those annoying notifications that have nothing to do with you do not pop up on your dashboard?
After figuring out that the unwanted post notifications were coming from someone who was not even in my circles, I went to my settings to figure out how to make her go away and keep other people from showing up in the same annoying way. It was an easy fix.

Go to settings.

The first option is "Who can send you notifications?" Make sure you do not have it set to Extended Circles or Anyone. Either of those options leave you open to have annoying notifications pop up all day long.

If you set it to Your Circles, you will still get notifications when someone who is not in your circles comments on your post or mentions you in a post or comment, but you will not get notifications when they post something.

Further down the page you have the ability to choose your email notification settings. I have turned off almost all email notifications, because I do not need a deluge of emails coming into my inbox all day long.

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If you want more information about how best to share posts on Google+, check out this post from The Strategic Mama: Are You Hurting Your Blog Traffic When Sharing On Google+?

If you want to connect with people on Google+, check out the Fabulous Blogging Community (think of Google+ communities like groups on facebook), you will find people who are new and learning, as well as people who are willing to answer your questions. They are a supportive group.

Are you on Google+? I am! Let's be circley friends --> +Tracie Nall.

Do you have a question about Google+? Share it in the comments and I will try to help you with answers. Or share your best Google+ tip.

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