Social networking has gone Google.

Google Plus (Google +) is the newest social networking site brought to us by the monster company Google. Google Plus, however, is a bit different from the other social networking sites to which we have become accustomed.

Although you may have had your share of social networking and social networking sites, Google Plus may be actually worth your while, especially when it comes to building your real estate business.

Here are some of the features of Google Plus that have the brains from Google saying they’ve “revolutionized” social networking:

• Sharing – Like other social networking sites, Google Plus has a feature that allows users to share articles on other sites. Called the “+1” button, users simply press it to store under your +1 tab.

• Circle – A Google Circle is essentially a group of your favorite people. Google Plus allows you to create as many circles as you’d like, which is a great feature. For example, you can have a circle for your friends, one for your family, and one for your real estate clients. We like this feature because you can choose with whom you want to share information. If you want to send a message to your real estate clients, for example, you can do so without sharing this information with your other circles. Plus, you can drop and drag people in and out of circles as you please.

• Hangouts – We think the Google Plus Hangouts feature is a great new tool available for Google Plus users. This feature allows users to use the group video chats. You can ask a friend to join your Google Plus group chat through Google Plus Hangouts and you can use a cool new feature called “camera switching” to change the view of the camera based on who is talking at any given time.

• Huddle – Huddle is a cool new feature for smart phone users. This feature, which is available for Android, iPhone, and other smart phones, allows mobile users to communicate, within their desired circles, through instant messaging.

• Sparks – Sparks allows users to identify subjects they want to share with others. People may also share information with each other on a global scale using “featured interests” sparks. If you want to keep your followers interested on the latest topics in the real estate field, you must try the Google Plus Sparks feature.

• Stream – Within Google Circles you can stream updates. In other words, if you have a circle of real estate clients, you can see updates from others in the same circle. You can filter your Google Plus to show only those posts from specific circles, thereby further narrowing your options.

• Mute – If you don’t want to view a conversation any longer, Google Plus allows you to mute the conversation. If someone adds a comment to a post you earlier commented on, the conversation can be brought back to the top of your stream.

• Integration – Google Plus can communicate with your other Google applications, thereby facilitating your real estate marketing efforts. Considering integrating your Google Plus with your Gmail, calendar, documents, etc.

Tags: Google Plus