From Wired How-To Wiki

Google made a big splash this week with the launch of a new social sharing service, Google+. But like any new social network, it takes a little practice to share the right information with the right group of people. Here's a look out to get up and running on Google+ without looking like an oversharing n00b.

Get Invited

This is the tricky part. Early adopters have flocked to Google+ since the launch of its Field Trial, leading to a temporary slow-down in invites. Google temporarily shut down +'s invitation functions 48 hours after launch, presumably to make sure this launch goes smoother than Buzz. They've resumed fielding invite requests since, but the process seems to be slow-going.

If you really want a peek behind the curtain try hitting up Google's YouTube channel where they've posted all the video demos of the product you could want and more.

Go Public

Before trekking too far down the Google+ rabbit hole, you'll want to setup a Google Profile. In fact, it's mandatory. Once you have access to +, the first time you attempt to access the homepage will bring you to a pop-up window that will prompt you to create a Google Profile or update your existing one.

Like most social networking services, this profile serves as a central hub for your online persona. It's also meant to 'connect the dots' between any other Google services you use (ex., GMail, Google Docs, Picasa, etc.) and your overall identity. Since Google+ is all about sharing with folks in your social circle, you'll also want to set your profile to "Public."

Privacy check: At this step you will also be prompted to integrate your Picasa photo albums. They'll be transferred with the same security settings as they had before (ie: if an album was only shared with a few people, only those people will still have access), but you might want to go through your albums and make sure there are no relics from your past one click away from your new + crowd.

Establish Your Circles

Most social networking sites are about sharing with a wide audience. Google+ is about sharing with the right audience. The lynchpin is a feature called "Circles," a tool for a categorizing your contacts into groups and optimizing the flow of information to each one.

But before flinging contact info around, you'll want to create a core set of groups to get you started. The starter set they provide comes with the standard "Friends," "Family," "Acquaintances," and "Following." Our advice is to ditch the "Acquaintances" circle completely and build more specific groups for people that you might want to keep at arms reach, ie: "Twitter stalkers" "Professional," etc. Circles and be modified and deleted at any time, so don't worry too much about creating incredibly nuanced groups right away.

Privacy Reality Check: When you put someone in a circle, they will get a notification that they've been added to one of your circles, but the notification won't specify the title of the circle.

Check Your Settings

Before diving into link sharing+group messaging+photo trading deep end, it's worthwhile to take a peek at the privacy settings. By design, items that are shared with one group aren't broadcasted to all the others. This built-in layer of privacy can be both a blessing and a curse depending on how you share within your social groups, so make sure to read the fine print on all your privacy options.

Our advice? If you tend to share links, photos, etc. with large groups at one time, stick to a few easily manageable Circles and mostly lenient privacy options. If you're a compartmentalizing king, go for laser-focused precision when setting up Circles, and be sure to take a hard look at what media Google+ will be sharing with each group.

Everybody Into the Pool!

With your Circles and privacy setup, it's time to start adding contacts. Google+ provides a short list of potential 'plussers' based off your most frequent GMail and address book contacts. In most cases, this should be enough to get you up and running. And really, we find it refreshing to start from scratch and experience a newsfeed not cluttered by the frivolity of high school "friends."

However, it's worth noting that Google+ isn't integrated into Twitter or a lot of the other social networking sites yet. Users may be in store for some tedium as they trek from site to site in search of friends' contact info. Multi-service integration is almost certainly on the way, but in the meantime it might be worthwhile to update your Google Contacts address book.

Gather a Huddle

One of the easiest features for testing Google+'s reach is the Huddle. Put simply, Huddle is a group messaging tool within Google+ for having private conversations within a Circle.

The easiest way to test the reach of a Huddle is by starting a no-frills 'test' conversation with one of your Circles. Our advice is to choose a light-hearted group for testing ("College Roommates") rather than a formal one ("Bosses and Co-Workers").

After going through paces of a "testing, testing, 1-2-3" call and response, you should have a basic idea of who within your Google+ network sees what, and under what circumstances.

Remember, during this awkward learning phase (and Google+'s Field Trial phase) you'll probably want to keep your communication terse and relatively laid-back. Sharing the wrong info with the wrong Circle can spell out a lot of trouble.

Master the Hangout

Now that you've mastered the basic, it's time to test out some of the fun social stuff. The most interesting and fully baked feature so far is called Hangouts.

In short, Hangouts mixes the stuffiness of webcam conferencing with the breeziness of, well, hanging out.

Start by clicking the green "Hangout" button on the right panel. A new window will pop up as the Hangout application starts, with a dialog box that let's you preview your live image, beckoning you to "Check your hair and check your mic!" You can add individuals or Circles directly from that dialog box, or add them later once inside the main room to let your Google+ contacts know that they're free to join you for a group webcam chat. Just like your test Huddle, you probably don't want to blast a hang out request to all of your Google+ contacts. But sending a request to a smaller and informal Circle is a safe test bed--again, "College Roomates"--is a good primer.

Pro Tip: There are some features that may seem like they are personal but are really experienced by the group. For example, when you mute someone, not only does it mute that person for everyone, but a notification pops up at the top of the screen that informs everyone who muted who. So if you're going to attempt to silence someone on the internet, you have to be transparent about it.

Mix It Up

Google+ is good for a lot more than putzing around with "College Roommates." The service also sports utilities for photo sharing and an automated content discovery tool.

As your Circles grow larger and more specialized, don't be afraid to explore different aspects of the service. Google+ is designed with a great degree of social flexibility in mind, but it’s up to you to adapt it.

Original article by Terrence Russell.