Send a Private Message on Google+
This article teaches you how to create a custom message list on Google Plus so that you can send a message that no one else can read to a specific person or group of people.
Contents
[hide]Steps
Creating a Private List
- Open the Google Plus webpage. If you're logged into your Google account, doing so will take you to your Google+ Home page.
- If you aren't logged in, click Sign in in the top right corner of the page, enter your email address, click Next, enter your password, and click Sign in.
- Click Profile. It's on the left side of the Google+ Home page.
- If this is your first time accessing Google+, you'll have to click through a couple of tutorial pop-ups.
- Click Create a Collection. This option is a box toward the bottom of your profile page.
- Type in a name for your collection. You'll do this in the Name field at the top of the pop-up window here.
- Your collection will become your private chat message conversation, so the name should pertain to the conversation.
- Click the Public globe. It's below the Name field.
- Click Custom. This option is at the bottom of the page.
- Scroll down and click each person to whom you wish to send a message. Doing so will place a checkmark next to their name(s).
- You can search for specific contacts by typing their name(s) into the search bar at the top of this window.
- You can also click one of the options toward the top of the page (e.g., My Circles) to select an entire group of people at once.
- Click Done. It's in the top right corner of the window.
- Type in a tagline for your message. You'll do this in the text field at the bottom of the New Collection window.
- Your tagline can be up to 80 characters long.
- Click Create. It's in the bottom right corner of the screen.
- Click Save. This option is in the top right corner of the screen, and it will save your collection settings. Before doing so, you can also edit the following:
- Picture - Click the camera icon and then select a picture from your computer.
- Collection Name - Click the field with the name you entered earlier to change it. You can't change the name after your collection is saved.
- Tagline - Click the field with your tagline in it to change the tagline. You can't change the tagline after your collection is saved.
- Color - Click a color to apply it to your collection's background color.
- You can also click the switch at the bottom of the collection window to prevent the people you checked earlier from automatically following the collection.
Sending a Private Message
- Click Google+. It's in the top left corner of the page. Doing so will return you to the Home page, where you can write your message.
- Click the What's new with you? bar. It's near the top of the page and below the Search bar. Doing so will bring up a window with options for your post.
- You can also click the pencil button in the bottom right corner of the page to open a new post.
- Click the Public globe. It's at the top of the "What's new with you?" window.
- Click your collection's name. It should appear here below the Public option. Doing so will restrict people who can see your post to the people you selected for your collection.
- Type in a message. You'll do this in the "What's new with you?" box. You can also add some attachments to your message:
- Camera - Click this icon in the bottom left corner of the post window to select a photo or video.
- Link - Click this icon to the right of the camera to attach a website link to the conversation.
- Graph - Click the bar graph icon to create a poll in the conversation.
- Location - Click the balloon icon to send your current location.
- ⋮ - Click this icon in the top right corner of the screen to view the Disable Comments and Disable Reshares options.
- Click Post. It's in the bottom right corner of the window. The person (or people) in your collection will be able to see your message, but none of your other Google+ friends will see it.
