• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, July 11, 2012

In a move that could raise the profile of Google+ and highlight some of its nifty capabilities, The New York Times will host a series of Google+ Hangouts with U.S. Olympic athletes over the next week, according to a post on the NYT’s Google+ page.

The first Hangout, which is scheduled to take place today at 6 p.m. ET, will give participants a chance to interact with Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks and Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers, both of whom are going to London to play on the U.S. Olympic basketball team.

Five more Google+ Hangouts will follow, with the last taking place on July 17. Subsequent Hangouts will feature athletes including diver Cassidy Krug, runners Kara Goucher, Ryan Hall, and Shalane Flanagan, and twin tennis pros Bob and Mike Bryan.

The video chats will be hosted by NYT journalists and some lucky fans; other fans are invited to submit questions on Google+ or Twitter using the hashtag #london2012hangout. The Hangouts will be recorded so viewers can play them again later.

As noted in previous columns, the 2012 Summer Olympics in London will be accompanied by the most intensive, elaborate social media strategy for any Olympics to date. That includes detailed guidelines dictating what athletes and volunteers can and cannot say on social media.

Volunteers are forbidden to disclose any information about their own personal role, their location, or any information about athletes, celebrities, or visiting dignitaries. This includes posting any pictures, videos, or statements about VIPs who may be visiting athletes “backstage,” as well as any images of the backstage area itself. Volunteers should also avoid posting breaking news about athletes or getting into any discussions about the games online. On the plus side, they can retweet or repost official postings from the London 2012 social media team, which is supposed to provide centralized control of social media content emanating from the games.

Meanwhile athletes are being encouraged to “post, blog and tweet their experiences” during the games, but they won't be allowed to use social media, including Twitter, Facebook and personal blogs, for advertising, selling products, or sharing videos from the Olympic venues.

To help athletes engage fans with social media, in April the International Olympic Committee unveiled the Olympic Athletes' Hub, a social media destination which aggregates social media feeds from more than 1,000 Olympic athletes, including real-time updates of content from their Facebook and Twitter accounts; the site will also host online chats with athletes.