One of the newest Google+ features is called Communities. A Google+ Community is an online forum where people can discuss and post about interests they share. Communities can be private or public, moderated or unmoderated. Google+ users can even create their own Communities and invite people to join!
We'll get started by learning how to join an existing Community. In future tips, we'll learn how to manage Notifications from Communities and how to create your own Community.
Click the "Home" icon on the left side of the page and click "Communities"
You will see a list of Communities that are "Recommended" for you, based upon the people you follow and your interactions on Google+. You can also search for Communities based upon a certain topic using the Search box
Just click to view (and decide whether you want to join) a Community
You can view the latest Community posts and discussions. If you want to Join the Community, click the button at the top
If a Community is private, you will need to request to join before you can post or comment
Once you've successfully joined, you can invite your Google+ friends to join. This is certainly optional
You can invite individual people to join, as well as entire Circles
The Communities you have joined will always be listed at the top of the Communities page under "Your communities", making it easy to find and view them in the future. You will also see a red numerical icon on each Community indicating how many posts there have been since the last time you viewed the Community. Do NOT feel like you need to read EVERY post in each Community!
Paul Barrette is the Director of Technology of Burrillville School Department and past president of the Rhode Island Society of Technology Educators.
