Last week Google+ announced the launch of Google+ Communities – think Facebook Groups, and despite what any other article will try to tell you, they are identical, both visually and in overall usefulness. +Rude Baguette has been on Google+ for quite some time – we’re evening doing exclusive Rude Hangout’s each week. While it’s still early days for Google+ Communities, I scoured the internet looking for promising Google+ Communities so that you don’t have to:
- Building a Company: easily the most interesting Google+ Community – it’s moderated by Robert Scoble. The community makes use of almost every Google+ Community functionality, so it’s also a great sample to explore to see what you can do with Communities. The left-hand column features categories of topics for the group – legal, getting pr, business plans, etc. – and the right-hand side shows who the moderators, members, hangouts, and events associated with the group are.
- French Startupers: my only guess can be that this invite-only group is started by Cedric Giorgi, as it looks similar to the Facebook Group he started earlier this year. I can’t say much about this community, as I apparently don’t qualify as a French startuper (neither French nor in a ‘startup,’ even though building a blog is hard as hell), but I highly recommend this one based on feedback I’ve gotten from other members about the Facebook version.
- Tech & Startups in Paris: The only open Paris startup community I could come across, I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on this one over the next couple weeks. I’d like to see a central place for people to discuss the ecosystem (other than here, of course!).
- European Startups: for the more open-minded international startups, this could be a great community. Its (relatively) large following seems fairly active so far, although only time will tell.
Of course there are plenty of bogus communities that people set up, either for publicity or in hopes of suckering people in. The real message to take away is that Google+ is growing. I’m now on it everyday, slowly watching people come over – for a while there it felt like it was just Thibault LeMaitre & me. I’ve started posting blog articles that are unrelated to the French startup ecosystem on my person profile.