So your library is all about the social networks. Your staff twitters, they blog, they tumbr...ize... they got it all down. Well, now the great and mighty Google has opened the curtain on Google+ and the Page feature behind it is a nice guy looking to give you circles and connectivity. We at the Banned Library (if you add us to your circles, we will come... eww, sorry) have played around with it for a day or so and have come up with a couple of great ways to use it in the library. Most of them can be replicated with a variety of tools and other social networks, but Google+ puts them all in one nice, if not clinical looking, package.
The entire reason to use social networks with your library is to connect to your patrons. Google Plus does this great, allowing the same wall posts (called stream), photos, and other uploadables that you used on that blue network. Sharing content and reader advisory is easy as a cut and paste link. This leads to the best thing that Google+ can do better than the other networks: Circles.
Circles are an enhancement of the "share with your friends" feature. By dividing your fan base into groups, you can give each of them the news or information they are most interested in. We started by creating several circles, such as "Friends of the Library" and "Bookclub" that we knew would need specialty information every once in a while. If everyone needs to know, simply throw it out as "public."
Hangouts are another cool feature in Google+. Back to the bookclub option, if a member can not make it, they can still be around via voice chat. Since they got the same information as everyone else through circle updates, everyone is on the same page (pun intended).
Now this might seem like a Google fanboy rant, and that is because I kind of am. Google+ Pages do have their problems, though. Some, like only one admin account at a time, may be fixed in the future. Others, like having to wait for people to add you to their circles before you can interact with them, are understandable if not frustrating design features. The major complaint I have is I could not find integration with Google Books as of this writing, which would really help create content for readers advisory.
The most problematic element of Google+ Pages is that its new. Early adopters will be right on it but it may take some time for the network to take ground. Do not worry, though, simply create content just like you would for the Blue Network and people will come.
