Jul 09
2011How to Post on a Friend’s Wall on Google+
Filed Under: Google, Google Products, Tutorials/How-Tos
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Since Google+ launched last week, I’ve been inviting many friends to join. (If you want an invite, send me your email address via the Contact Me form.) One of the most frequently asked questions people ask is how to post a message on a friend’s wall. In Google+, it seems that you can post only on your own “wall” (the Home tab in Google+, also called Stream), but not on your friends’.
This question, of course, is asked by people who are so used to using Facebook that going to another friend’s page (or wall) is the natural way to send him/her a message (which is public for all to see). However, in Google+, instead of going to different friends’ pages to post a message, you post on your own page! Doesn’t sound very intuitive, but that’s only because people are creatures of habits and think they have to go somewhere else.
In Google+, you share all kinds of content (messages, links, photos, videos, check-ins) from one location –> your own page. There are two ways you can send/share a message with a friend.
Private message seen only by your friend
- In the Stream box on your Home page, type your message.
- Click the Add circles or people to share with… link and enter your friend’s name or email address.
- Click the Share button to publish/send your message (also known as a ‘post’).
This message will appear in your stream. It will also appear in your friend’s stream if s/he added you to a circle already. If s/he didn’t add you to a circle yet, s/he’ll get a notification that you shared a post/message and will be able to see your message via a link.
Message to a friend seen also by other friends
At times, you might want to send a semi-public greeting to a friend, for example wishing a friend happy birthday but also wanting mutual friends see the greeting.
- In the Stream box on your Home page, type your message.
- Add a ‘+’ or ‘@’ infront of your friend’s name to mention him/her
- Click the Add circles or people to share with… link and select or enter all the circles and friends you want to share the message with.
- Click the Share button to publish/send your message.
This message will appear in your stream. It will also appear in the streams of all the people you shared the message with. The person whom you added a ‘+’ or ‘@’ will get a notification that you mentioned him/her in your message.
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Can I have a Google+ invite, please? I’m a Google app devotee, I have a Nexus S (android) phone, I receive your blog updates in Google Reader, and I’m a technical writer!
But that it’s not the same thing as on twitter or facebook, your friend friends don’t see what you published for your friend in your stream.
But can you send private messages? Or set up groups?
So far, I really like Google+. This however, is stupid. Every social networking site ever has the ability to 1. Write on someones page and 2. Send someone a private message in a simple way. I can understand Google+ trying to be “Very simple” but a “message” on somones page would not be difficult. Also, theres times when you want to write something on someones page and everyone else to see too. A funny video for example or a question about say: homework. This whole “write on your own page to write on someone elses” is deeply flawed.
Yasin, you need to forget everything you know about how FB works… This is a new and more efficient way to communicate. You don’t need to go to someone’s wall to communicate with them. You choose who to share those communications with and the recipient gets to choose who can see your communications with them.
I think there is something to both Yasin’s and Susan’s comments here.
Google’s way forces you to actively manage who sees what about you. It means people can mention you to your mutual friends, or you can re-share a message sent to you. But the idea is that your friend can’t accidentally post something about you that your your boss will see, and if you decide to pass on information (making it visible to more people via your page) it’s an active decision, where you’ve actively considered both your own and your friend’s privacy. Sounds like a good idea to me.
The ability to message one person directly does not infringe on the principle behind Google+
If someone could post a video on your wall or to you directly then by default nobody else would be able to see it. This seems pretty logical as it means you don’t have to create a circle each time you want to send an individual a message.
You could then lock or unlock the message to decide whether the recipient can or can not share the post
hey folks, sorry i’m getting to this discussion so late, but i’ve been using g+ lately & i can’t believe they have surpassed the facebookies in making something complicated that is so common & used so often!
are u kidding?
I have to jump thru 3 or 4 hoops just to tell someone hello? seriously?
please tell me this has been fixed–
This feature is NOT a “new innovation in social media” but rather a simple mistake.
I used to work in the content-production wing of the software industry, and this reminds me of something Mikro$oft would design: make users jump thru hoops to do something that should only take 1 click;
honestly…it is as if i have to click 3 or 4 icons/buttons *and* i have to remember a number of annoying details & settings-of-circles JUST to say, for example, “hi Dave, did ur girlfriend win that tennis match?”
It makes me wonder if this is google’s attempt to
force me to jump-over to gmail so that i’m constantly using their various warez? or what?
oi. ~;-(
please tell me Sergey &
the guys have fixed this.
it is so good,very good,thank you
This information is useful to us.That is very kind of you to write this share for us, thanks a lot.
Thanks for the info on how to share a message to just a single person. Helped a lot.
this post was useful, thanks i appreciated it. its also annoying that g+ limits a common cultural convention out there. efficiency or not, i would like to post to my friends page and have others see it, that action has been around for a while and people are use to it. some times i see what others have posted on other’s pages and find cool things. doesnt seem efficient to go a direction where people have to figure things out. i dont want to forget everything i know about how FB (myspace, friendsters, etc.) works, its cultural now and that action is a common action, not about efficiency.
kible
Thank you for this useful info, I want to know how can I get more friends on google+