Google+ Gets Significant Revamp Focusing On Communities, Collections
There's too much fuzzy math involved in figuring out exactly how many people are on Google+, but whatever the actual figure is, Google would like it to be higher. To help achieve that goal, Google is giving its social network a total overhaul, one that will put the focus squarely on two distinct features, Communities and Collections.
"Today, we’re starting to introduce a fully redesigned Google+ that puts Communities and Collections front and center," Google stated in a blog post. "Now focused around interests, the new Google+ is much simpler. And it’s more mobile-friendly—we’ve rebuilt it across web, Android and iOS so that you’ll have a fast and consistent experience whether you are on a big screen or small one."
In case you haven't visited Google+ in a long time, Communities is a feature that's been around for nearly three years. They're essentially groups centered on specific interests and topics, like PC Gaming, Star Wars, and even Funny Memes, to name three of the several that appear on my account's "Recommended for you" section.
Collections is a newer feature that's similar to Pinterest. It's a way to group your posts by topic, which you can then share publicly, privately, or with just certain people. You can also follow Collections by other people.
The new navigation scheme in Google+ is centered on these two features. There's also a redesigned home stream that's aimed at making it easier to post, search, connect, and keep up with content that users are interested in.
At this stage, you'll need to opt-in to see the new version of Google+ on the web.
"You can preview the new Google+ on the web today by signing in and clicking 'Let’s go' when you see the prompt," Luke Wroblewski, a Product Director at Google explained on hits Google+ page. "And since not every feature of Google+ has made its way into this new design, for now, you can toggle back to the classic Google+ with one click in the bottom left-hand corner. In the coming days, we’ll roll out updated apps for Android and iOS."
It appears this will be a slow roll out. I tried logging out and back in to my Google+ account but wasn't given the option of opting in to the new setup -- drats!
"Today, we’re starting to introduce a fully redesigned Google+ that puts Communities and Collections front and center," Google stated in a blog post. "Now focused around interests, the new Google+ is much simpler. And it’s more mobile-friendly—we’ve rebuilt it across web, Android and iOS so that you’ll have a fast and consistent experience whether you are on a big screen or small one."
In case you haven't visited Google+ in a long time, Communities is a feature that's been around for nearly three years. They're essentially groups centered on specific interests and topics, like PC Gaming, Star Wars, and even Funny Memes, to name three of the several that appear on my account's "Recommended for you" section.
Collections is a newer feature that's similar to Pinterest. It's a way to group your posts by topic, which you can then share publicly, privately, or with just certain people. You can also follow Collections by other people.
The new navigation scheme in Google+ is centered on these two features. There's also a redesigned home stream that's aimed at making it easier to post, search, connect, and keep up with content that users are interested in.
At this stage, you'll need to opt-in to see the new version of Google+ on the web.
"You can preview the new Google+ on the web today by signing in and clicking 'Let’s go' when you see the prompt," Luke Wroblewski, a Product Director at Google explained on hits Google+ page. "And since not every feature of Google+ has made its way into this new design, for now, you can toggle back to the classic Google+ with one click in the bottom left-hand corner. In the coming days, we’ll roll out updated apps for Android and iOS."
It appears this will be a slow roll out. I tried logging out and back in to my Google+ account but wasn't given the option of opting in to the new setup -- drats!
