You may not be aware of the fact that Google+ has put a limit, much like Facebook, on the number of people you can circle in a personal account. Unfortunately, there’s been a few times when I’ve attempted to add a circle of interesting folks that someone has shared with me and Google+ won’t let me do so. Why is that?
It’s because the limit on circling (or following; the terms are interchangeable) for Google+ is set at 5,000. Of course, people are free to circle you regardless of how many you’ve circled (or not). As of this writing, I’ve added 4,546. I’m getting a bit pickier now as far as whom I circle back. Some ground rules I’ve now set (and you may enjoy these as well) includes not circling people with a profile pic and a minimum number of people I have in common with that person. Would love to circle back everyone though.
Sort of brings it down to a popularity contest, doesn’t it? Okay, Google+ is pulling a Facebook maneuver on us here. Especially if you’re trying to run your business from a personal profile…oh wait! Just like Facebook. No limit on pages on either platform, right?
But shouldn’t Google+ think more like Twitter in this case? My main account on Twitter has over 29,000 followers. I’ve followed 98% of them back. I can’t even imagine how I’d begin to weed out tweeps if I was only allowed to follow 5,000.
In preparation for the day when you and I will HAVE to clean up the flower beds on our personal Google+ accounts, I curiously conducted a quick search.
Aha! There's a plug-in for Chrome that can assist us with this Google+ issue: Uncircle Uncirclers+. Already had it installed but never got around to exploring. Ran it. The two of the first four people on the list are people I know. And they have circled me back. Uh, guess they’re still getting bugs out on this one! Proceed with caution. Let’s move on.
What I’m really looking for is a plug-in that gets rid of “dead wood”; you know, those accounts that were created months ago just for the sake of being one of the first to be on Google+. Yet, they haven’t posted anything! Sadly, I know some of those folks quite well too.
Eureka! There is one!
It’s called Uncircle Inactives. Spot checked a few followers and it appears to be accurate. The ones I looked up have been inactive at least since October. It lists your circlers and has two columns of boxes. The column to the far left shows those who are inactive; the ones who are active are in the column directly to the left of the name of the person. And you can just call up one circle at a time and mull through! Sweet!
Now I’m waiting for these plug-ins to become available for use with pages. In the meantime, I’m back to doing a little gardening of my Google+ account.
The Rolling Stones can assist in "blowing away those dandelions"...click here.
