Migrating Contacts
Although several developers have tried pushing out browser extension and apps to make the process of migrating contact data to Google+ simpler, they have all been unceremoniously shut down by Facebook. Facebook does not like third parties delving into their data or making it easier for their user base to flee. So, migrating contacts from one network to the other is not as simple a process as it might be.
As it happens, the easiest way to handle this migration is to use Yahoo! Mail as an intermediary. It sounds cumbersome, I know, but trust me; it is much easier than adding each person individually.
To start, open a Yahoo! Mail account. The good news is that you can skip this step if you already have a Yahoo! or Flickr account, which many readers probably do. Don’t worry if it’s not a business account; you’re only going to be using it briefly.
Login to your Yahoo! account and go to the Contacts tab. Click “Import Contacts” and choose to import contacts via Facebook. That will put all your Facebook friends into your Yahoo! address book.
Back in Google+, go to the Circles tab from your home screen, as indicated in red below.
Once there, make sure you are in the “Find people” section and click the link to find friends from Yahoo!
You will then be prompted to enter your Yahoo! account information. Follow a few on-screen prompts, and in a moment all those Facebook friends – or at least the ones on Google+ — will be available to you.
There you have it. It is not as simple as it could be, but with just a few intermediate steps, you can make it work. Now that you have your contacts added, it is time to get to your photos and videos, each of which requires an entirely different method.
Migrating Photos
Moving your Facebook photos over to Google+ is a significantly easier process than we used with contacts. There are actually two ways to do it:
The “Hands Off” ApproachIn Chrome or Firefox, you can get a browser extension to do the heavy lifting for you. Move Your Photos is a Chrome browser extension that makes it simple to migrate your Facebook photos. Firefox users can take advantage of the similar Photo Importer.
The “Hands On” ApproachThis tactic requires more work on your end, as you will actually downloadall your Facebook content to your computer, then add what you want to Google+. However, if you have videos to add, you will have to go the same general route anyway, so it makes sense to migrate your photos this way:
Download all your Facebook content to your computer. To do this, first log in to your Facebook account, then click on the drop down menu at the top right of the screen.
This will drop down your account menu, from which you want to select the Account Settings option.
At your Account Settings page, select the link at the bottom to download all your data:
Wait. It takes up to 24 hours for Facebook to compile all your data from its various servers and put it into a single ZIP file. You will get an email with a download link when the whole package is ready. So, now might be a good time to have a sandwich, read the newspaper or explore Google+ a little more.
Once you have downloaded and unzipped your file from Facebook, you can add the pictures to Google+. Since Google+ syncs with Picasa for picture hosting, you can upload them using your Picasa account. Or, you can upload them directly from Google+ by going to the photo tab and clicking the appropriate button, as demonstrated in this screenshot:
Keep in mind that your Picasa pictures are easily accessed via Google+, so if you have the same photos in Picasa as in Facebook, you can skip this process entirely.
Migrating Videos
There is one way and one way only to migrate your Facebook videos in Google+, and that is by uploading them manually:
Start by downloading your videos from Facebook using the method outlined in the photo section above.
Next, go to the video tab of your Google+ page and click on the button to upload videos.
Repeat this process for each video. It’s as simple as that!
So, there you have it. As you can see, it’s not necessarily easy, simple or even intuitive to get your valuable Facebook content into your new Google+ account, but it’s worthwhile to build up your presence on Google+. The time investment will be well worth it down the line.
Although several developers have tried pushing out browser extension and apps to make the process of migrating contact data to Google+ simpler, they have all been unceremoniously shut down by Facebook. Facebook does not like third parties delving into their data or making it easier for their user base to flee. So, migrating contacts from one network to the other is not as simple a process as it might be.
As it happens, the easiest way to handle this migration is to use Yahoo! Mail as an intermediary. It sounds cumbersome, I know, but trust me; it is much easier than adding each person individually.
To start, open a Yahoo! Mail account. The good news is that you can skip this step if you already have a Yahoo! or Flickr account, which many readers probably do. Don’t worry if it’s not a business account; you’re only going to be using it briefly.
Login to your Yahoo! account and go to the Contacts tab. Click “Import Contacts” and choose to import contacts via Facebook. That will put all your Facebook friends into your Yahoo! address book.
Back in Google+, go to the Circles tab from your home screen, as indicated in red below.
Once there, make sure you are in the “Find people” section and click the link to find friends from Yahoo!
You will then be prompted to enter your Yahoo! account information. Follow a few on-screen prompts, and in a moment all those Facebook friends – or at least the ones on Google+ — will be available to you.
There you have it. It is not as simple as it could be, but with just a few intermediate steps, you can make it work. Now that you have your contacts added, it is time to get to your photos and videos, each of which requires an entirely different method.
Migrating Photos
Moving your Facebook photos over to Google+ is a significantly easier process than we used with contacts. There are actually two ways to do it:
The “Hands Off” ApproachIn Chrome or Firefox, you can get a browser extension to do the heavy lifting for you. Move Your Photos is a Chrome browser extension that makes it simple to migrate your Facebook photos. Firefox users can take advantage of the similar Photo Importer.
The “Hands On” ApproachThis tactic requires more work on your end, as you will actually downloadall your Facebook content to your computer, then add what you want to Google+. However, if you have videos to add, you will have to go the same general route anyway, so it makes sense to migrate your photos this way:
Download all your Facebook content to your computer. To do this, first log in to your Facebook account, then click on the drop down menu at the top right of the screen.
This will drop down your account menu, from which you want to select the Account Settings option.
At your Account Settings page, select the link at the bottom to download all your data:
Wait. It takes up to 24 hours for Facebook to compile all your data from its various servers and put it into a single ZIP file. You will get an email with a download link when the whole package is ready. So, now might be a good time to have a sandwich, read the newspaper or explore Google+ a little more.
Once you have downloaded and unzipped your file from Facebook, you can add the pictures to Google+. Since Google+ syncs with Picasa for picture hosting, you can upload them using your Picasa account. Or, you can upload them directly from Google+ by going to the photo tab and clicking the appropriate button, as demonstrated in this screenshot:
Keep in mind that your Picasa pictures are easily accessed via Google+, so if you have the same photos in Picasa as in Facebook, you can skip this process entirely.
Migrating Videos
There is one way and one way only to migrate your Facebook videos in Google+, and that is by uploading them manually:
Start by downloading your videos from Facebook using the method outlined in the photo section above.
Next, go to the video tab of your Google+ page and click on the button to upload videos.
Repeat this process for each video. It’s as simple as that!
So, there you have it. As you can see, it’s not necessarily easy, simple or even intuitive to get your valuable Facebook content into your new Google+ account, but it’s worthwhile to build up your presence on Google+. The time investment will be well worth it down the line.
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