Internet Marketing, Sales & Client Service Professional Jordan Hardy

About Google Plus (Also Known as Google+)

Posted on: August 13, 2011 by Jordan Hardy

Google Plus, also known as Google+, was launched in June 2011. Google Plus is a social networking Website run by Google, meant to compete with Facebook, twitter, and LinkedIn. The number of Google Plus users has grown quickly in recent months while the number of those users replacing Facebook and twitter with Google Plus has not grown quickly.

• Google Plus utilizes Google Profiles and Google Buzz. It features Circles,  allowing sets of people to be grouped. This isn’t currently offered by other social networking Websites.
• Google Plus offers hangouts, where people can hang out using group video chat, to feel as if in a coffee shop or the same room.
• Huddles in Google Plus allow users to communicate through mobile devices with instant messaging within circles.
• Sparks in Google Plus allows users to leverage Google search to find interesting topics and share with contacts.
• Google Plus has a Google +1 button where users can show their interest in items.
• Instant upload allows quick upload to Google Plus from mobile devices.
• The stream in Google Plus displays updates from contacts on one page.
• Today there are 16 games in Google plus, including Angry Birds and Zynga Poker.
• Google Plus allows easy access to Google Profile to view and edit.
• Photos in Google Plus show a slideshow type view of photos from connections.

Google Plus has quite a number of innovative new ideas, the best being circles and hangouts. The problem is that not enough people are yet using Google Plus to make it a Facebook competitor.  In addition, with the failure of Google Buzz and questions about Google search results prioritizing Google profiles, reviews, and other Google content, it isn’t yet clear if Google Plus will be a long term unbiased social media option which will gain traction.