Social networking has no doubt changed the face of the world wide web, and how we interact with it. Social networking is not only about communication and interaction, but it is also about big business. Social network giants like Facebook and Twitter have reported millions of registered users, and million dollar profits. Not to mention the fact, that these websites continue to grow every day.

Internet search giant Google, has officially entered the social network race. They recently launched their own brand of social network and they’re calling it Google Plus.

What is Google Plus?

Google+, a social network operated by Google, Inc., launched on June 28th, 2011 with integrations across a number of Google products, including Buzz and Profiles.

One key element of Google+ is a focus on targeted sharing within subsets of your social group, which are what Google calls Circles. Circles are simply small groups of people that you can share to, each with names like friends, family, classmates and co-workers.

Also within Google+, Google has created a section specifically for viewing, managing and editing multimedia. The photo tab takes a user to all of the photos he or she has shared, as well as the ones he or she is tagged in. It’s not just photo tagging, though: Google+ includes an image editor (complete with Instagram-like photo effects), privacy options and sharing features.

Another feature that’s widely discussed is “Hangouts,” Google’s new group chat feature. Instead of directly asking a friend to join a group chat, users instead click “start a hangout” and they’re instantly in a video chatroom alone. At the same time, a message goes out to their social circles, letting them know that their friend is “hanging out.” Friends can then join the hangout as long as they have been placed in a circle that was invited by the person who created the Hangout.

I must say I like their website design, it’s fresh and upbeat. It also maintains the distinct Google brand so it is unmistakably Google. Signing up for Google Plus is easy, and you can see an interactive demo of the new Google Social Network by going to their demo website.

Google Plus Demo

Well we will wait and see how this new injection into the social networking market will play itself out. The race is off.

Some of the information in this article is sourced from:
Google Plus on Freebase,
licensed under
CC-BY

Tags: brand design, brand redesign, branding, Facebook, google, google plus, Graphic Design, graphics, social networking, twitter