How to get your Google+ Invite

Buzz is growing around Google's new social network, Google+. You want to come to the party? Sorry, you'll need an invite.

The search giant is limiting how many people are able to come behind the virtual velvet rope.

For a few brief hours Wednesday evening, Google allowed current users of its newly unveiled social network, Google+, to send out invites to whomever their hearts desired.

That option was swiftly shut down after an sudden onslaught of people came rushing to the site in hoards.

We've shut down invite mechanism for the night. Insane demand, announced Google's head of social media Vic Gundotra on his Plus profile. We need to do this carefully, and in a controlled way.

But don't worry. Savvy users can still get onto the network, according to reports.

For instance, rather than send an invite the official way, a Google+ user can share a post - message, link, photo, etc. - with a non-Google+ user by entering in their email address.

When the recipient got the email notification that a post had been shared with them, a link at the bottom took them to a signup page for Google+. And voila, they were in.

Users can also create a new Circle and add someone's Gmail ID to it. Those users should receive an email invite within 24 to 48 hours, according to reports circling the Internet.

For those less adventurous, Google has setup a waiting list where users can go and sign up.

The company has used this method of proliferation in the past.

Google's Gmail email service was invite only when it was first launched in 2004. The company also generated buzz around its Google Wave service in 2009.

Must Read: Can Google+ amazing features wean away Facebook users?