Sharing from Google Reader to Google+

One of the tenets of social constructionism is that learning is most effective when a learner's experience includes constructing a meaningful object.  In the world of online social media, this can include a blog post or a comment on an article.

I tend to read all my journals as an RSS feed in Google Reader.  I have blogged about this model before.  I then use Google Reader's "Send to" feature to share certain articles on Facebook or Twitter with a few additional comments summarizing my take home points on the article.  This can generate some additional comments from followers and friends sometimes leading to rich discussions.

Googleplus is a terrific tool for such discussions.  

• I have a chance to share with a wider audience (since I don't limit my circles like I did on facebook) 
• There is no 140 character limits like on Twitter and the comments are organized like a conversation.

Big Problem:

Google Reader does not have a Send to Google+ feature!!  Google what were you thinking?  Sparks is no replacement for Google Reader.

Now there is a nice workaround

• On Chrome:  
• Set up Buzz to connect to your Google Reader shared items
• Share from Google Reader to Buzz
• In G+ profile page to to the Buzz tab
• Click on Share in the Google bar at the top right of the page
• Drag the hyperlinked title from item in Buzz to the share box, select your circle and share
• In FireFox (courtsey http://davidvielmetter.com/tricks/share-google-reader-items-on-google-plus/) 
• You can drop links from Google Reader items directly to the Share box on the top right.  
• In both cases, make sure you first click to open the share box.  Then drag and drop the link.

Have fun!