A circle is a group for the people you already know: family scattered between Minnesota and the rest of the world, friends from a year abroad, the people you traveled with, a book club or a language class. It’s the simplest way to make Global Twin Cities your own, and to stay in touch without Facebook.
How a circle works
- Anyone who is signed in can see your circle: its name, its description and who belongs to it. That’s how friends of friends discover it.
- Only members can see and write posts. Visitors who aren’t signed in see just the name and description.
- People ask to join, and you approve them. As the circle’s owner, you decide who’s in.
Step by step
- Go to Spaces and click Create a space. (You’ll need to be signed in.)
- Give your circle a name. For Type, choose Private: request to join. For Category, choose Circles.
- Add a short description, up to 160 characters, so people know what the circle is for.
- Invite your people. If they’re already members, open your circle and invite them by name. If they aren’t, send them the address of your circle’s page and ask them to sign up and click Request to join. You’ll get a notification to approve them.
- Get it started. Post a photo, ask a question or run a quick poll. A circle with something in it is much more inviting than an empty one.
A few tips
- Choose the name with care. It’s the one thing everyone can see. “Friends from Shiraz” says less than a full family name plus a city.
- Need more privacy? Choose Secret instead of Private. A Secret circle doesn’t appear in the directory at all, and only the people you invite know it exists.
- Friends abroad are welcome. Circles are a good way to bring people from other countries onto Global Twin Cities. Anyone can use a first name and initial, or a pseudonym, if they prefer.
- You can start as many circles as you like, and our community guidelines apply in circles too.
Questions, or ideas for making circles more useful? Let me know.