Struggles with Blogger & Google+ Community Friend Connections

I need help with my housekeeping!

Blog housekeeping, that is; to link to the blog a friendly, private online space just for Lupey Loops friends to meet, chat and share with each other.

Now there is such a space: a Lupey Loops Google+ 'Community':  https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/114403140403082646908

My problem now is to somehow connect the Lupey Loops blog 'Members' with the new Google+ 'Community' and your help is needed, especially if you would like to participate. 


Despite encouragement and demonstrations about the benefits of Google+, which I appreciate, I don't quite understand the intricacies of it.  The terminology in particular is very confusing to me.

Joining Lupey Loops Friends

When I first started Lupey Loops, I added a Blogger widget to the right hand side of the page called "Google Friend Connect" for people to become 'Friend Connect Members' of the blog ('Join this site' button). 'Members' can find and make connections with other 'Members' who have Lupey Loops in common. In this way, I was hoping people with similar interests can get to know each other.

It is easy to click on a person's profile picture and find their blog or send a message through 'Google Friend Connect' while maintaining a good level of personal privacy - a very important factor for many of us in the blogosphere. 

Then Google+ Came Along 

Google+ offered a way to manage groups of contacts and share information, similar to Facebook but I was quite happy to keep my blogging activities separate from my personal IRL* activities.

I joined Google+ because other friends had joined and were singing its praises but, after numerous attempts, I found it hard to understand and follow. I did not like the layout which seemed to waste a lot of space on my screen so there was a lot of scrolling to be done (not kind to the body) in order to read all the posts.

 

Managing Profiles: Blogger vs. Google+

 

I decided to focus on the 'Blogger Community' (accessed from the blog and through the aforementioned "Friend Connect" widget).

It was all working well until Google+ decided it would integrate with Blogger.  Since then, Google has encouraged people to connect their Blogger 'Profile' to a Google+ 'Profile'. The catch is this: one loses the Blogger 'Profile' altogether to have it overridden by the Google+ 'Profile'.

My blogosphere profile is different to my personal profile because they are tailored to different audiences for different purposes (just like a person's Linked In profile might be very different to their Facebook or Instagram profile) and I wanted to keep it that way.

So although I have a Google+ account, it is not connected (or integrated) with the Lupey Loops blog on Blogger at all.

Overcoming Problems

Since all the fuss began, I have noticed that the Google Friend Connect widget has not worked properly for me and I have a feeling that this was a part of the transition to Google+.  I am not sure how to fix it.

One thing I am sure of is: if you would like to be a part of a Lupey Loops friendship group (Google+ 'Community') please let me know - either in a comment at the end of this post or a private email to jodiebodiecrochets@gmail.com.

Because this is a moderated 'Community', exclusive to Lupey Loops friends, access is by invitation only. To invite you, I need to know your Google+ profile name or your email address.  I assume one needs to be a Google+ member to access it though.

I really don't know enough about Google+ etc. and am learning as I go so please be patient. If you have any helpful advice or expertise to share, I'd love to know!

Accessing the Lupey Loops Google+ Community

If you are a Google+ member, and you have been invited to join the Lupey Loops Google+ 'Community' you can find it through the menu on the left hand side of your Google+ profile page.






Scroll down and select 'Communities'.  Lupey Loops should be listed there.

The Lupey Loops Google+ 'Community' is not a replacement for the blog. It is a place where we can discuss in real time all sorts of things, besides blog posts, and share pictures of our WIPs* etc.

While I am not as active in Google+ as in the blogosphere, it is a channel for those who do prefer Google+ to keep in touch with Lupey Loops. I will make an effort to post links to each new blog post as they are published.

Any other ideas? Let me know!

Remember, if you would like to join in, 

please tell me so I can invite you!

Have a happy day.

Hugs, Jodie xx 

*
IRL = "In Real Life"; i.e. not online or in the 'virtual' world.
WIP = "Work(s) In Progress"