Google Plus (Google’s new social network scene) has really exploded overnight. Google has attempted to snag a piece of the social networking pie before, but the search giant never succeeded. Now, Google Plus is promising a different kind of social network. Why kind? It’s too early to tell, though people are joining Google+ at a steady rate.

Google+ is still in beta mode, which means that many kinks have yet to be worked out. If you have been granted an invite, you can mosey on over to Google Plus to check out the site’s interface. You’ll find that using Google Plus is a bit confusing at first. If you find yourself lost and confused, this short guide will help.

First Things First

First, you’ll want to create a profile. Go ahead and fill in the necessary school, name, and photo boxes. You can also add links to your profile by clicking on the “links” section toward the left-hand side of the profile screen. If you have a website or a company site, here’s where you want to drop that link.

Once you’ve create a profile, you’ll have to add friends to your profile. Now, Google has tried to copy Facebook by suggesting friends for you to add. Find friends who you want to add to your Google Plus account (you can invite up to eight different people), and drop them into the corresponding circles. What? Circles?

Google Plus Circles

You will have to place each friend you add into different circles. You can create your own circle names or you can use the pre-selected circle names. Don’t worry about offending anyone though, your friends can’t see what circle you’ve placed them in.

So, if you want to add that annoying coworker to the “Annoying Coworkers” circle, nobody is stopping you.
Once you’ve created a number of circles, you can then choose to follow the update streams from each circle. Say, for example, you want to follow the “Best Friends” feed. Just click on this feed (on the right-hand side of your homepage), and you’ll see what your best friends have been up to.

Adding Photos

You can add photos to Google Plus just like you can with (dare we say it?) Facebook or Twitter. You can even upload photos from your phone, view your friend’s photos, and create an album of your own. To do all of this, simply head to your homepage, click on the photos link (next to the conversation box at the top of the screen), and add photos accordingly.

Here’s where Google Plus is a bit different (tedious). Your friends can only see the photos that you’ve authorized them to see. This means that you will have to go through each photo, and select who can, and who can’t, see each picture. Other than your profile picture, you can completely control who can view your photos.

Multiple Accounts

If you control someone else’s social networking infrastructure, you’ll want to manage multiple accounts on Google Plus. Now, Google say that this is simple, but, take it from us, it’s not. What you’ll need to do is set up a different account by heading to your personal settings page. You’ll also have to add email and password information. Once this has been set up, you can (hypothetically) switch from one account to the other.

The best way to test out any new platform is to spend some time with it. If you’ve been invited to Google Plus, give it a shot. This new network may crash and burn, but it may just pick up more speed and surpass Facebook at the number one social network out there.