Social Media Blog

Now, companies large and small — from Coca-Cola and The New York Times to your local bike shop or animal shelter — can set up their own Google+ profiles and connect with other users. Already, some pages have attracted thousands of followers. (Mashable’s Google+ page, for example, currently boasts just under 30,000.)

Google’s social network has experienced remarkable growth since its launch over the summer. The company announced in October that Google+ membership had reached 40 million, and the web giant continues to pursue new customers by gradually integrating its various web products with Google+. Earlier this month, Google rolled out a new Google+ sharing button for YouTube and new Google+ extensions for the Google Chrome browser. In addition, a ” target=”_hplink”>controversial update to Google Reader recently tied the product more closely to Google+, although users didn’t take to the change as willingly as they seem to have welcomed Google+ Pages.

Initially, Google actively tried to keep businesses out of Google+ by deleting non-human profiles. Google has finally changed its tune to match those of Facebook and Twitter, both of which have embraced the presence of brands in the social space.

The MSNBC-owned Breaking News has compiled a list of top news organizations to add to your circles on Google+. We chose nine that showed particular spark, be it frequent posts, interesting content or great photos. Check out the news organizations you need to be following on Google+.

• PBS - Embedded videos, frequent posts and links to interesting content, even if it’s not PBS, are what make the Public Broadcasting Service’s Google+ profile worth a follow.

• The Atlantic - Instead of just using snippets, The Atlantic’s Google+ posts seem specifically tailored for, well, Google+. Many are expandable and tell enough of the story that if you just want a quick overview, you wouldn’t even have to go to The Atlantic’s website. They also give a great daily run-down of top stories.

• Time - On the Time profile, you can check out Time covers, find the Google+ profiles of the magazine’s writers and read about what’s going on at their offices. For example, on Tuesday they apparently held a discussion with Brian Williams, Jesse Eisenberg and other celebrities about who should be named 2011′s Time Person of the Year.

• The Wall Street Journal- The Wall Street Journal already has over 9,000 followers, so it’s no surprise that they have a lot of chatter on their profile in the form of comments and shares. Because the comments come right after each post, they are actually easy, and dare we say enjoyable, to read. Is it possible that Google+ will usher in a new era where comments aren’t the worst things on the internet?The photo banner across the top of The Wall Street Journal’s profile features drawings of Barbie and Snoop Dogg, which should not be overlooked.

• Mashable - Besides having lots of photos, Mashable does a pretty good job keeping the page updated with posts from their website, although oddly they all seem to be about Google+.

• The New York Times - According to their profile, The New York Times readers wanted to see photographs and international news on Google+. Which is exactly what the Times gave them when they put out a call for their “Picturing 7 Billion” project in honor of the Earth’s population passing 7 billion people in late October.

• Al Jazeera - The English version of the Arabic-language news network has original embedded videos, articles and more. It’s a great way to follow Al Jazeera if you don’t have TV.

• The Huffington Post - Whether you’re in the mood for “Obama Healthcare Reform Ruling” or “Panda Pees On Sleeping Pal’s Face” The Huffington Post’s Google+ profile is the page to be at.

• Breaking News - MSNBC’s Breaking News page posts the most recent reports from a variety of national and local news outlets.

Related articles

• Introducing G+ Business Pages (seo.com)
• Google+ Pages; The War Hots Up (umpf.co.uk)