Google+. It’s still very young, but the user growth is amazing. The latest data says that there are already more than 18 million Google+ users out there.
While most people are busy comparing Google+ with Facebook, and trying to figure out which one they should choose and use, there are those who have built tools to combine all of these social networks together and have the best of all worlds. One of these tools is G++, a browser extension for Chrome and Firefox which will help you put your Facebook and Twitter stream into your Google+ interface.
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People have put time and effort into building their Facebook universe, so most Facebook users might reject the thought of switching to another social network and rebuilding their universe from scratch. Keeping and updating two social networks simultaneously might also be a tedious effort for some. With G++, you don’t have to make the choice.
To put your Facebook and Twitter streams in your Google+, visit the G++ site using either Chrome or Firefox (or both), and click the “Add” button to download and install the extension.
Your browser will ask for your permission to do the installation, click “Install” to confirm it. Then sign in to your Google+ account to see the extension in action.
After your Google+ stream page is loaded, you will see three checkboxes at the top of the page: Google+, Facebook and Twitter. All you have to do to enable or disable the stream is to check or uncheck the boxes according to your preferences. You can even disable Google+ and view only the Facebook or Twitter stream via the Google+ interface if you want to.
The first time you enable Facebook and Twitter, you will be asked to authorize G++ to access your accounts. First time users have to go through one activation process before they can continue with the second account.
To activate Facebook, you have to disable the pop-up window blocker. To allow the pop-up window only for this one time activation process, click the “Log In | Facebook” link in the warning window.
After the authorization process, you will be brought back to the stream page. Make sure the boxes are checked, then click the “Refresh Stream” button to fetch your streams from Facebook and Twitter.
You can quickly distinguish the entries by the color and the small logo at the top right corner of every entry. Aside from viewing the streams, G++ also allows users to retweet Twitter entries, as well as Like and comment on entries from Facebook.
The advantage of combining Google+ with Facebook and Twitter is the ability to post to all these accounts at once. All you have to do is type what you want to share (along with images, videos, links, and location tags), check the Facebook and Twitter boxes next to the “Click to Post to FB/Twitter” button, then click the button.
To check whether the extension is functional or not, I immediately went to my Facebook wall and I saw that the post was already sitting there.
The post also appeared in my Google+ stream page – both the Twitter and Facebook version. I saw a comment to my post from one of my friends. I clicked the “Comment” link, typed my reply, then clicked the “Submit” button. A moment later, my reply appeared under the comment, as if I was using Facebook in its native environment.
You can easily disable G++ if you want to by checking one of the on/off boxes at the top right corner of the web interface.
After playing with G++ for a while, I think that this is a very useful tool. But, if I could request one thing to the developer, it would be the ability to connect to other popular social networks.
Are you a social network freak? Do you think you need G++ to help you keep up with your Google+, Facebook, and Twitter account? Do you know of other similar alternatives? If so, please share your thoughts using the comments below.
