Hangouts: 9+ Creative uses for Google+ Hangouts

As I predicted a few weeks ago, Google+ Hangouts is driving usage stats for G+ and seems to be growing exponentially. One group is trying to set the longest G+ hangout ever which is now well over 4 days of a continuous hangout kept going by scores of people. Hangouts is also being used in many other creative ways. I stumbled upon a cooking hangout recently and was tickled by the variety of live feeds. Yesterday a friend posted a concert Hangout conducted by +Daria Musk, I checked it out for a bit. Other unique ways Hangout is being used include Teaching, Meditating together, language learning/practice, press conferences, job interviews, customer service and as I mentioned in a previous posting home surveillance. I expect that by the time GooglePlus is opened to all the Google+ team would increase the number of users per session.

One limit set to Hangouts by Google is the number of G+ users who can Hangout at once, which I think is around 10, but many people have got around that by Live streaming the Hangout on Broadcast platforms like Ustream, JustinTV and Veetle. Hangouts open in a new window and with just a few clicks you are hanging, provided those you invite respond in a timely fashion. Many folks on Google+ have been scheduling Hangouts and asking people to "Register" in advance either by commenting on their post, adding their name to Google Calendar or on a website. I feel the best ways to register people for a Hangout is via a public Google Calendar or if you want more information from them, create a Form using Google Docs. You can open your Hangout to the Public, just your Circles, just a few Circles or Just a few friends (provided they are in your Gmail Contacts) exactly as you do when posting to your Stream.

Read more about creative uses for GooglePlus Hangouts here: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-9-creative-uses-for-google-hangouts-you-didnt-think-of-2011-7

Google+ Hangouts being used to remote monitor the home

In a genius move one Google+ user is remote monitoring his newborn baby at work using a google+ hangout. +Frances Haugen of the team responsible for Google+ posted today that her colleague at Google Sf, Thomas Stromberg, has set up a persistent Google hangout using a netbook at his house to view the baby's crib. Ms. Haugen Said "{this is a} Great example of applying Google+ in ways we didn't plan for!" Google Hangouts is a feature that allows users to hangout LIVE via video and/or voice simultaneously from anywhere in world. One person is trying to set the record for the longest continuous Google+ Hangout, currently (Sat. July 23, 2011, 7PM EST) it's been running for more than 4 days! that's over 48 hours of folks talking about all things Google+ and so much more. It's being kept alive by a rotating group of people from all over the world numbering 169 at this time. They have also innovated past Google's limit of the number of people in one hangout by live streaming the Hangout via this Ustream channel: http://www.hangoutongplus.com/