GOOGLE+ TAKES AIM AT SOCIAL NETWORKS LIKE FACEBOOK & TWITTER

Google announced on 11th April 2012 that its ‘social networking’ answer Google+ would be undergoing some extensive redesign to make it a more user friendly and interactive experience.

Already Google+ boasts over 170 million users since its launch in 2011. Among new features it offers include profile pages, an explorer bar: to see what is trending around Google, as well as a navigation tab.

Bigger photos are included, as well as a chat list to see who else is online and chat with them.

Another major update involves use of static icons at the top where you can find a string of apps on the left.

This allows Google+ users to drag apps up or down to create their own desired order, hover over certain apps to reveal a set of quick actions and show or hide apps by moving them out of the section.
“Taken together, these powers make it easier to access your favorites, and to adjust your preferences over time,” Google senior vice president Vic Gundotra wrote on Google’s Official Blog. “We’ve also built the ribbon with the future in mind, giving us an obvious (and clutter-free) space for The Next Big Feature, and The Feature After That. So stay tuned.”

Do you think this will be enough for it to compete with Facebook and/or Twitter?