Add your Google+ shared circles by following the instructions below.  Simply fill out the form below to submit your circles.

Why?: We have decided to try and create an open directory of Google+ circles in the Europe. 

Browse the database here via this link to a Google doc of European shared Google+ Circles.

 Fig. 1.  what the Google doc looks like

A simple to use Google doc will provide you with a clear and concise list of Google+ users

How to publicly share a Google+ circle

Google+ is a bit confusing at the best of times so here is some information on how to share your Circle.

Step 1: Go to your circles and click on the circle you want to share. The blue circle will turn white and now have a “Share” option. Click “Share”.

Step 2: Make sure you share the circle publicly or you will not be able to link to it. Add some information that describes the circle because your circle name will not automaticlly be included in the post.

Step 3: Once you’ve shared the post, go and find it in your posts/stream. Click the round arrow menu on the top right of the post, then click the “Link to this post” option. This will open a new window containing just your post.

Step 4: In the new window containing the shared circle post, copy the link from the address bar.

Step 5:   Fill out this form below

Why European only Google+ shared circles?

We found it very hard to find UK users via some of the free G+ tools on the internet.  There were lots of American users but few of UK origin or in our wider European ‘sphere of influence’. The idea is that this spreadsheet will help find and curate Google+ circles from EU users. It is early days at present and I don’t know if people will use this spreadsheet but if you don’t try you don’t get.

Can I submit a circle that has non-EU people in it?

It’s OK if your circle has non-EU people in it. The idea is that this tool will help find circles created by EU people, and as a result it will help us find users with less of a north American influence. However, we are part of an international community and the web is a wonderfully interconnected place, so we are not too bothered if a few non-EU people are included.  We just wanted to set some geographic context.

As long as the list has a relevancy for an EU audience.  We just want to find more relevant circles for UK users.

How to use Shared Google+ circles

Google+ Shared Circles are the best and fastest way to find relevant people on Google+  They are sorted by interest, so the idea is that this list will help people find key Google+ users quickly.

Why do I want to find other people’s Google+ shared circles?

Apart from discovering what they share via G+, thanks to the growth in social search and rel=author the bigger and better your social community the more likely your content will be found on the web.  G+ is at the heart of this move.

Fig 2. An example of rel=author / social search in action

This is a search query for SAScon with a result promoted much higher thanks to social search and rel=author.

What if I want to find out more? 

If you have any questions feel free to ask them via the comments or get in contact with James Crawford on Google+

This exercise is based on based on a similar exercise by a Google+ user called Chris Porter.  His list is here so you can see what we are aiming at recreating.