After seeing one of my fellow Google+ peeps, saying “I wish our +1 streams were more interesting to look at. They are pretty dull right now.” – +1 is just not about you, it about all of us
First off there are many different versions of a +1 button and they do a lot of things, but what we are talking about today is not sharing, but simple voting, clicking a +1 button, but not fully sharing the link to your Google+ stream.
+1 streams are not really about sharing, they are about voting for content, the stream is simply a place you can see those votes. It’s also up to you if you show your +1 stream on your Google profile.
The idea for +1 ing something is two fold, one to vote for great content that deserves it, like a Digg or a Stumble. It’s social bookmarking voting in a way. Google rankings depend on this to some small degree, big or small only Google knows.
Secondly, when you +1 something you are helping the creator of the content, you are also letting them know what we like, so they can better serve their readers. +1’s are not about you, they are about the author, and the other readers.
“I am way more apt to read something that has lots of +1’s, Tweets and Facebook Likes, more fully, than I am something that has little Social Proof“
But this also helps Google display good content for you and display relevant custom search results for you. I closed mine off because others were using what I +1’d for their own reasons. I have decided to only share that with Google.
So please, for the good of the authors that give us so much free content and bring the Internet to life for all of us….. If you see something that is of value, give the author a +1! ( they have earned it)
You are helping Google, authors and us normal people that use a free and open Internet everyday to improve their own lives :]
