How to hack Google+ to send your friends invites (maybe)

If you have an invite to join Google+, right click on the invite link you were sent on email and save the URL. Paste that URL to Twitter or Facebook or email it to some friends. With any luck some of them will get in via that link.

I tried this by Tweeting my own invite link, and magically a few people managed to get an invite of their own. Most did not however, so this is not a full proof work-around. It seems to work if people waited a couple of minutes or refreshed the page after a minute.

The better, more guaranteed hack is one or both of the following.

An existing user on Google+ creates a new Circle, called (for example) Invites. They then add the emails of the people they want to invite to that circle.

An additional work-around – which also appears to work on its own – is simply creating a status update (it’s called a ‘Share’ on Google+), e.g. “inviting people” and then pasting the Gmail addresses of friends you want to invite into the “add people” box (Next to +1 and Comment links).

They should then get a copy of your status update in their email and link saying “Learn more about Google+”. They can then click on that and will get taken to your post, with a Join Google+ button.

Google+ Invite Workarounds Crop Up

There are ways to get on Google+, the ubiquitous search engine's foray into social networking, if you haven't snagged an invite via the circles share exploit, which is working intermittently right now.

The first way is simple, as long as you have an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch nearby.

In Safari on Apple devices, just point your mobile browser to plus.google.com.

If using a Mac, set Safari's user agent as mobile version. Tap on Sign In, and then you will be presented with a Sign Up form to join Google+, which prompts for your name and gender.

In my tests, I was able to join Google+ with a regular Gmail account. Note that once you sign in, you may be redirected to the mobile version of Google Buzz. If this is the case, just login with the credentials you just created on your mobile to the desktop version of Google+ on your PC, and you should be ready to roll.

Once you are on Google+, check out our Getting Started with Google+ guide, and if you are looking to ditch Facebook, also check out 9 Reasons to Switch from Facebook to Google+.

Google is constantly plugging holes that people exploit to join Google+, as the service is currently at capacity. So if the first method didn't work for you, there are two other hacks that you can try.

Try using Google's Chrome browser and downloading this Chrome app, as first pointed out in HackTabs. Once installed, click on the Google+ icon in a new tab and you will be taken to the login page, where you can sign up for the service.

The third method is a workaround found by Andy Rowe, a link to your own profile (https://plus.google.com/u/0/me), which should take you to a signup page if you are not on Google+ already.

Sound off on whether these methods to circumvent the Google+ invite process worked for you.