How to: Add Sparks on Google+

I will be showing you how to add Sparks in this second article of the “How to” series. You may have already come across or heard about sparks by playing around with the Google Plus interface or watching a video. For those of you who haven’t, here is a quick summary before we carry on:

The idea behind the sparks feature is to share content related to something that interests you with the intention of “sparking” up a conversation with one of your contacts, whether they be new or old. It is as simple as browsing a list of content collected from around the web and then sharing it with an appropriate individual or circle. You will no longer have to worry about updating your status with something interesting or stare at a blank wall; find something cool, share it and spark up a new conversation!

Step 1

Login to your Google+ profile and click on the Sparks button located on the left side bar below your profile picture.

Click on the "Sparks" text

Step 2

You will be presented with a list of pre-made “Featured interests” but we want to go a step further and create a spark for our own interest. Think of something that interests you and then enter it into the search bar where it says: “Find things that you’re interested in…” I personally love the band, the “Red Hot Chili Peppers”, so they will be the example in this case.

To view pre-made interests simply click on the picture.

Step 3

A list of different sources of content should appear all related (as best as possible) to the interest you selected. In my example there was a mixture of videos, interviews and articles all about the band and their latest album release. You now have various options:

• Add interest (see picture below) for quicker access in the future, it will simply be a case of clicking on the interest name from your left side bar and you will then be taken directly to fresh content.
• +1 a particular source of content from the list to give it exposure.
• Share a selected article, video, etc, from the list with a person(s) or circle(s) of your choice. See Step 4 on how to do this.

Pin your interest for quick and easy access in the future.

Step 4

 

Include wide audiences or specific circles depending on who you want to share with.

Get the latest information, news and videos at the touch of a button.

I hope you now know how to add and share sparks on Google Plus. Again, please feel free to ask questions or give your thoughts using the comments feature below!