Google is pushing to get more celebrities, politicians, nonprofits, and other organizations onto Google+ by providing "community guides." These free guides showcase successful profiles, give free advice, and link to additional community resources.
Steve Grove, head of community partnerships at Google, stated that "we want to help more organizations, politicians, artists, celebrities, athletes, media companies and nonprofits use Google+ to share and interact with each other – and with Google+ users."
Google is doing so by educating organizations on the effective use of the platform. The six core community guides (one each for celebs, media, nonprofits, politics, sports, and universities) highlight examples, tactics, and further learning resources; each has resources customized to the category.
In the nonprofit category, for instance, Google shows how the organization and its actions can be shown off via a Google+ profile, shows how the organization can "tailor [its] message with Circles," and shows how the +1 button can help promote the organization's content. Readers are then linked to a PDF guide for nonprofits, a "10 tips" article for community building, a nonprofit toolkit, and more.
It's clear that Google is reaching out to organizations across the world with the addition of these guides. Whether the guides cause a major stir, they're a telling move; Google seems to be positioning itself for a full-fledged battle with Facebook.
Google+ may not yet be a threat to Facebook, but Plus's current figures of 40 to 60 million users foreshadows a future where Google could directly compete for the top spot in the world of social networking. As such, the recent addition of pages for organizations is a huge step; it matches the Facebook Page, a crucial resource for businesses reaching into the world of social media. These community guides then seek to one-up Facebook's educational resources, making Google the more accessible option.
Are the guides effective and helpful for you? What should Google change? What else does Google need to do to win over your organization and clients? Do you think Google will ever overtake Facebook? What should Facebook be doing in response to Google's efforts? Leave your thoughts in the comments, below.
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