Social media has taken the world by storm. According to statistics, 10% of the world’s population is on Facebook, with 50% of that number active every second day.
As the world’s leading search engine, Google has now developed its own social sharing platform, Google+. Currently an invite-only site, Google+ allows users to create groups (called Circles) that they can share information, news, images and videos with. According to developers, it’s a more focused way of using social media than Facebook, and it allows users to keep the private side of their lives, well, private.
There are also ‘Hangouts’, which can be created or joined, in which users chat to each other via video feed.
Another new feature is ‘Sparks’, an instant photo sharing feature that includes an auto-generated content feed based on specific topics. Users indicate specific topics they are interested in, and Sparks searches the web for any info they might be interested in. It’s Google’s search engine IP hard at work in the social space.
Which is ultimately what Google+ is – making everything Google social. It’s not a stand-alone social networking site, but rather an integration of all things Google into the social networking sphere. The new site will also give Google access to its millions of users. Unlike Facebook, Google has very little information about its daily users, which can ultimately be used to maximise user experience.