What is the the Google +1 Button?

Have you ever wondered what that little +1 button that you see is all about?
 
Here are a few reasons the Google +1 button is important and can be useful:

1. It's your personal recommendation 
2. It helps you and your network discover relevant content found on the web 
3. If you think an article, ad, blog, website is important and let others in your network know about it you can become the hero because you've just saved them hours of searching for what they're searching for.