Google Plus is now the second largest social network and growing quickly with 500 million registered users and an estimated 343 million active monthly users (January 2013). That is an impressive achievement given that Google Plus only launched in June 2011. But how can you find people to follow? In this article I discuss some of my favorite methods for finding new people to “circle” on Google Plus.
Google Plus Search
By searching for keywords, phrases or even hashtags at Google Plus you can find people who are posting and commenting about topics that interest you.
Google Plus Communities
G+ Communities are a great place to find people interested in the same topics as you. I tend to add those people who are more active in the discussions taking place.
Circle Count ranks Google Plus users according to how many followers they have. They also have some additional metrics that measure the influence of a person, such as the average number of +1s, comments or reshares a person gets for each post. You can browse the most popular people and, if your profile isn’t already being tracked, you can easily add yourself!
GPlusData is now tracking more than 105 million Google+ users and 1.5 million Pages. In addition to being a great way to find people using their search feature, you can get some excellent data on your account.
This is a listing of recommended and elite Google Plus users. If you are looking for some very high profile people to circle, you will find some here.
With this site you can search for people by multiple criteria including occupation, gender, age, and even relationship status!
Add People from Shared Circles
Google Plus allows people to share circles they have created. So it’s easy to add a whole circle of people at once if you find a circle that is a great match. Check out my other post on how to find shared circles on Google Plus. learn more about social media tools at http://platformpundit.com/7-tools-for-managing-your-twitter-followers/
GPlus Rank
Gplus-Rank is designed to you find people who write solid articles, have worthwhile news to share, and even find the most interesting people. It does this through a voting system. I’m currently having trouble adding myself there, so I don’t think I’ll be getting many votes. I still found some interesting people to follow.
SocialStatistics
Circle+ Extension for Chrome Browser
Once you start using these tools you might get tired of adding people to your circles one by one! The Circle+ extension for the Chrome browser is quite powerful. Go to a web page and you can click a button to automatically add all the Google Plus-ers on that page to one of your circles. I do recommend that people use this extension carefully. Remember the key to success with Google Plus is to build circles with people whom you find interesting. Google may restrict your account if you use a tool like this to aggressively follow too many people at once.
Don’t forget… there is also a limit of 5,000 people you can circle.
Did I miss any other good tools for finding people on Google Plus? Please let me know in the comments section below.