The best way to play Ingress is as a group and preferably with high level players. If you are only level one, you will quickly find as you level that the number resonators you can deploy per portal is restricted. You can deploy the following on a single portal: 8 L1, 4 L2-4, 2 L5-6, and 1 L7-8.
Early on, you should get involved in conversations in COMM. You can reply to a player in COMM simply by clicking their name. Another good way to look for players is checking nearby portals for user names. Recent updates have added the ability to long press a user name to get view a player profile or send them a message. Just a note, sending a message to player is public.
Speaking from experience, most of the communication and planning for operations between local players happens on other mediums, not COMMs. This includes hangouts, groupme and other chat clients. These systems are more secure and are kept invite only. To crack into the plotting and scheming, be active in COMM with players and try to meet them in person!