Google Plus - Google's New Social Network

If you haven’t heard Google is set to launch a new social network, otherwise known as Google Plus or Google+ depending on who you talk to. Like the new Google plus 1 button, Google is trying to get into the social network scene currently dominated by Facebook. Google’s new social network will be available on all its products thanks to a completely re-designed navigation bar.

Google’s new social network will share some very similar features to its biggest rival with a similar notification system and its stream which will have a look and feel very close to Facebook’s news feed. This will allow its users to share photos, videos, and links to their contacts pretty much the same way, and with the recent plus 1 button you’ll be able to rate content much like you would “like” content on Facebook.

But that’s about where the two sites similarities end. Google Plus will also have some new features all geared at winning you over to their new social network.

Circles+

Google’s focus on this is not to share with a mass group of “friends” like you would on Facebook. Instead it’s targeting sharing with various social groups or circles. Users will be able to drag and drop their friends or contacts into different social circles such as friends, family, classmates, co-workers, and other custom groups. These groups will be independent of each other, meaning they’ll know you’ve been added but you get to pick and choose what to share with them rather then firing off your content to everyone. You also get to do the reverse and receive content from who you want to receive it from. This adds a layer of privacy that Facebook currently doesn’t have. This means those embarrassing photos of you in Mexico won’t be shared with your boss.

Your personnel information can also be shared the same way. Your contact information for example can be shared with just your friends, while employment information such as a resume can be shared with another circle.

Sparks

Sparks sorts stories and articles by topic together in one area for you to share and talk about with your Google Plus circles

Hangout

Hangout works like a form of video conference similar to Skype. The big difference though is that you can ad up to 10 people at once, where Skype limits you to one to one conversations unless you upgrade to their premium package which will be a big hit with business who can save some money on conferences. Any hangout you create will have a specific URL address that can be shared as a link to invite others. And while only Google Plus users will be able to use this, they can invite other people into your hangout.

So how do you get onto Google Plus?

As of right now Google+ is only available to a small group of people. There are still plenty of bugs to be worked out but the new social network should be available in a couple months. Those who are able to use this service can send invites, however anyone who gets an invite to Google Plus won’t be able to comment or share content with other users. You can though be added to a mailing list to be notified when it does become available. To get yourself added to their mailing list you can follow the link here.