I’m not going to lie, it took me a while to get my head around Google+ Ripples without reading information about the new feature.
Click the drop down menu in the top right corner of a re-shared post.
In simple terms, clicking on the drop down button of a re-shared post gives you the option to View Ripples, you are then presented with a diagram which shows how the post is spreading on Google+ via the community sharing it. The arrows on the diagram show the direction of re-sharing between users while the larger circles represent a re-sharing sequence indicating heavy researching.
Zoom in and out of the diagram to view different levels of detail.
At the bottom of this diagram you will also see detailed statistics about the post itself and the impact it has on Google Plus. These stats are also accompanied by a scroll bar timeline allowing you to view how the post gradually grew or “rippled” over time via the community re-sharing it.
Scrolling the time bar from left to right will let you see the ripple effect.
Ryan Crowe has also provided a nice list of Google+ Ripple rules:
1.) Ripples are only for Public posts.
2.) Ripples for Public posts only exist going back to Aug 31 (as far as I can tell).
3.) In order for a post to have Ripples, it must have been re-shared publicly at least once.
4.) You can share a Ripples page by linking to it.
5.) The Ripples function is in your dropdown menu – is it not there? See #3
I also recommend that you guys check out this rather beautiful and cool “G+ Stream Visualiser” which brings Google Plus Ripples to life even further –
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