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Shared circles just became available for Google+. Here’s how they work.

First, go to your Circles tab and hover over any circle.

Circles - Google+

You’ll get the option to share the circle to your timeline. Give it some flavor text and hit the Share button. You’ll note that shared circles have a limit of 250 people.

Circles - Google+

Note something useful: you can restrict the sharing of circles as you would any other post. Thus, if you wanted to share a circle of influencers with your coworkers, for example, you can do so without the shared circle becoming public knowledge.

Here’s what folks will see in your timeline:

Google+

Clicking on it will let them add those people to their own circles.

Google

What are some of the applications of this?

  • People who are currently hiring: a nice idea for a shared circle of folks who have jobs posted. If they’re using Google+ to post those jobs, you’ll see them aggregated.
  • Webinar co-presenters: doing a hangout or webinar? Create a circle of the panelists so that people can follow them.
  • Conferences: got fewer than 250 attendees? Toss ’em all in a shared circle and you have an instant ad-hoc group. (or break up a larger registration list into a couple of circles)
  • Coworkers: get everyone in the company linked up by sharing your company list with your team.

One final thing to keep in mind: shared circles are effectively posts in your timeline, not persistent links like a Facebook Group. That means if you want to promote a circle, you should either bookmark your original share post or re-share your circle on a regular basis. Want some longevity on your circles? Consider putting a collection of them on your blog so they’re findable over the long term!

What will you be sharing from your collection of circles?


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