Google has announced that, like Facebook Like’s, Google+ users will begin to see posts that the people they’ve circled have +1’d. The annoucement comes from +Shimrit Ben-Yair, and h/t to +Dustin W. Stout for noticing it.
As a Google+ user, you will now begin seeing posts like the screenshot above where it was +1’d by one or more of your friends. It will only be posts that someone you’ve circled has +1’d, and it won’t be every post. The volume of posts can also be adjusted right along with the regular posts from your circles, so pay close attention to your circle volume settings.
You can also control whether or not other people will be able to see the posts that you +1. To get a handle on that, Google has provided some documentation, as it is somewhat buried within your Settings.
This could potentially bring far greater exposure to some of your posts. If you’ve read some of my earlier blogs about getting What’s Hot, you’ll know that getting a post recommended generally depends on a combination of shares, comments and +1’s. It’s unlikely that a post would get recommended, and a subsequently vastly expanded reach, solely on the basis of +1’s. But now, if a post from someone you follow is getting a lot of +1’s, it’s more likely that Google will bring it to your attention.
Conversation and engagement will continue to be important, but now you’ll also gain some benefits from sharing a post that many people simply agree with, and show their agreement with a simple +1.
UPDATE:
Thanks to some great observation from +Larry Deane, it’s been noted that you can see posts that your friends have +1’d even if you aren’t connected to the original author. And when you see such posts, Google encourages you to circle the original author by adding a an Add button next to the comments field.
In this example, you can see that Larry was looking at his Home stream and found a post that Dustin had +1’d. The post was by Triberr founder +Dino Dogan, someone Larry hadn’t connected to previously. Larry was given a button to Add Dino Dogan in the lower right.
What do you think? Will the new +1’d posts bring more value to your Google+ stream, or more spam? Does this change anything about your posting strategy?