Google puts new spin on social networking websites
Source: Greg Goode
Google, the owner of the world’s most popular internet search engine and YouTube, is looking to expand its online presence with the launch of its new Google + service.
Google + (or Google Plus) is the company’s attempt to go head-to-head with Facebook, the current king of social media. Google unveiled the service June 28. Currently, Google + is available only in test mode, meaning that only pre-existing users can send invites to their friends or family.
One of the features Google + hopes to distinguish itself with is the service’s Circles function. National Public Radio reports that Circles allows users to selectively share photos or other information based on groups they create in a more streamlined manner than Facebook’s similar Groups function.
Another option available through the service is Hangouts. According to The L.A. Times, Hangouts allow users to video chat, but, unlike the more standard variety, members of a user’s Circle can drop in and out of the conversation. Hangouts, like Circles, can be as restricted or as open as a user wants.
Sparks is a component of Google + that seems to be more in line with the search engine aspect of Google. Unlike a standard web search, however, users can enter a special interest into Sparks, which might come back with videos, links, posts or any other assorted web material. The results of the Sparks search can then be shared with other Google + friends.
According to a few people who have tried the service, some see these features as mere window-dressings and have yet to be impressed by Google +.
Those interested in knowing when Google + goes public can sign up for a notification at https://plus.google.com.
“I requested an invite from a friend of mine who I knew had been talking about it,” Larissa Pray, Krumm building administrative assistant and alumni, said. “I use G-mail, so I signed up for it that way.”
Pray said while she appreciated features like Circles, the fact that she had already made lists of people on Facebook and didn’t have many friends on Google + led to her not actively using the service.
“If more of my friends were on Google +, I would use it”, Pray said. “Social media is changing every day, so who knows, in a year it could be what everybody uses, and we’ll say ‘What’s Facebook?’
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