Google+ Updates: This Week in Social Media

Welcome to our weekly edition of what’s hot in social media news. To help you stay up-to-date with social media, here are some of the news items that caught our attention.
What’s New This Week?

Google+ Allows Nicknames: Over the next week, Google+ will provide “support for alternate names—be they nicknames, birth names, or names in another script—alongside your common name. This name will show up on your Google+ profile and in the hovercards which appear over your name.”

To add an alternate name, go to your Google+ profile, click Edit Profile, select your name and click on “More options.”
New Google Accounts Generate Both Gmail and Google+ Accounts: Signing up for a Gmail account now automatically creates a Google+ account. This could impact how users use and network on other Google platforms such as YouTube and Google Docs.

New Gmail accounts also generate Google+ accounts.
Google Updates Privacy Policy: This update takes effect on March 1. It simplifies all privacy policies and makes it clear that if you’re signed in, Google “may combine information you’ve provided from one service with information from other services. In short, we’ll treat you as a single user across all our products, which will mean a simpler, more intuitive Google experience.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGghlPmebCY
YouTube Hits 4 Billion Daily Video Views: This is a 25% increase over the last 8 months. “Roughly 60 hours of video are now uploaded to YouTube every minute.”
Say Hello to the New Vimeo: Vimeo gets a new design and puts a greater focus on your videos, which makes Vimeo easier, faster and more fun to use.

Vimeo has bigger videos and gives you more ways to discover things you like.
Here’s a social media tool worth noting:
AgoraPulse: An all-in-one Facebook marketing and CRM solution. Check out their unique comparison feature to see how your Facebook business page compares to your competitors’ pages. (This feature is only available to paying customers.)

AgoraPulse's competitive analysis of Social Media Examiner's Facebook Page.
Here’s an interesting infographic:
How to Get More Clicks on Twitter: Check out Dan Zarrella’s latest findings to improve your Twitter marketing results.

Use these insights to get more clicks on Twitter.
And don’t miss this (starting next week!):
Social Media Examiner presents Small Business Success Summit 2011! (online conference)
Join 25 experts, including including John Jantsch (author, Duct Tape Marketing), Anita Campbell (founder, Small Business Trends), Michael Stelzner (founder, Social Media Examiner and author, Launch), Mari Smith (co-author, Facebook Marketing), Jesse Stay (author, Google+ for Dummies), Hollis Thomases (author, Twitter Marketing), David Siteman Garland (founder, “The Rise to the Top” and author, Faster, Smarter, Cheaper), Joe Pulizzi (founder, Content Marketing Institute and co-author, Get Content, Get Customers), Brian Clark (founder, Copyblogger Media), Lee Odden (founder, TopRank Online Marketing), Ramon Ray (founder, Small Biz Technology and author, Technology Solutions for Growing Businesses) and Lewis Howes (co-author, LinkedWorking)—just to mention a few (scroll down to see full list)!
Go here to learn more.
What social media news caught your interest this week? Please share your comments below.

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