Google+ is not Facebook
Ch-ch-changes Recently, you may have noticed something different about the way Google looks. Your Gmail is laid out a little differently, YouTube has a new face, and the least conspicuous but most important new feature looks like a little +1 next to the links in your latest Google search. These +1s are Google’s solution for a better, faster search.
What Does It Do? It’s called Google+ and is Google’s new social networking platform. It’s meant to make it easier for you to share information with whomever you need or want to. This selective process is completed using Circles, or different groups of friends and acquaintances as specific or broad as you like. The whole point of these Circles is to share only specific information with specific people.
How Does It Work? The +1 that you see will be popping up everywhere on the Internet, much like the thumbs up that signifies you “like” something you see on Facebook. You can +1 links, photos, and pretty much anything across all of Google’s platforms. The benefit to this is that Google+ keeps track of these and you can refer to them later. Also, anyone in your Circles who searches for related information will see that you +1’d the link, turning it into a much more personal experience, much like a recommendation. This +1 capability can be added to any page and content can be instantly shared with a click.
It’s NOT Just Facebook 2.0 Google+ now includes a whole range of features and functionalities for you to share whatever you want with the Circles of people you know. Like Facebook, you can share your thoughts, photos, and videos as well as chat in real time. Unlike Facebook, you can now video chat on your computer and find articles that pique your interest. Hangouts is the new video chat feature that is based off of the Gchat platform that many of us are already familiar with. Gchat has always allowed video chat but now you can chat within your Circles with up to ten people in a Hangout at a time. Sparks makes finding content based on your interests easier than ever. When you spark an interest, you can add it to your side column and click on it at any time. What comes up is a list of articles related to this interest, which can then be shared with any of your Circles.
Totally Portable The Google+ experience has been extended to the mobile realm with the Google+ app available for both Android and iOS devices. The mobile app has a few features that are specific to the mobile platform such as the Huddle, instant uploads, and a nearby stream. The Huddle allows a group chat for your friends and Circles. Simply add people to the chat and, in real time, everyone in the Huddle can contribute in a manner much like text messaging. The major difference is that everyone’s messages stack in one thread for everyone in the Huddle to read. Instant Uploading makes sharing photos and videos easier than ever. Simply take a photo or video and it will be automatically posted to your Google+ account. These photos and videos are then ready to be shared with the people you want to see them. The nearby stream takes your GPS location and gives you a stream of recent content being shared nearby to where you are, allowing you to take full advantage of your surroundings.
Already Setting Records Google+ is still in its beta stage and I’m sure there will be many features and capabilities that have not been completely implemented into the platform. Some things I would love to see are being able to contribute to a mobile Huddle from a computer. Also, now with many phones having front-facing cameras, the ability to join a video Hangout from a phone would be great. Many people have been trying to use Google+ like Facebook and because the layout is somewhat similar, Google+ has gotten a lot of negative feedback but I do have a feeling that as long as Google keeps using the +1, this will catch on, unlike Google Wave. After all, it did reach the 10 million user mark in an astonishing 16 days, a benchmark that took Twitter 780 days to reach and Facebook 852 days.
Some other interesting things Google has to offer.
What Do You Love? www.Wdyl.com
Google Offers www.google.com/offers
What is Google+? Watch Here on Youtube