Jump to content

Google+

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Syp (talk | contribs) at 22:57, 2 July 2011 (→‎Wider impact). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Google+
Google+ logo
Screenshot
File:Google+ homepage.png
Screenshot of the Google+ homepage as of June 28, 2011
Type of site
Social network
Available inOver 40
OwnerGoogle
URLplus.google.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationLimited

Google+ is a social networking service operated by Google Inc.. The service launched on June 28, 2011, in an invite-only testing phase.[1] The following day, existing users were allowed to invite friends, who are above 18 years of age, to the service to create their own accounts. However, this was quickly suspended in a day after there was "insane demand" for accounts.[2]

Google+ will be built as a layer that not only integrates different Google social services, such as Google Profiles and Google Buzz, but also introduces many new features including Circles, Hangouts, Sparks and Huddles.[3] Google+ will also be available as a Desktop application and as an application on Android and iOS. It has been said that this is Google's biggest attempt to rival the social network Facebook[4], which had over half a billion users in 2010.[5]

Features

A Google+ Stream
A Google+ Hangout
  • "Circles" enables users to organize contacts into groups for sharing,[6] across multiple of its products and services. A drag-and-drop interface allows users into groups of their choice.
  • "Huddle" is a feature available to Android, iPhone, and SMS devices for communicating with circles.[6]
  • "Hangouts" are places used to facilitate group video chat (with a maximum of 10 people participating in a single Hangout at any point of time). However, anyone on the web could potentially join-in into the 'Hangout' if they happen to possess the unique url of the Hangout.[6]
  • "Instant Upload" is specific to Android mobile devices; it stores photos or video in a private album for sharing later.[6]
  • "Sparks" is a front-end to Google Search, enabling user to identify topics they might be interested in sharing with others; "featured interests" sparks are also available, based on topics others globally are finding interesting.[6]
  • Through "Streams", users see updates from those in their circles, updates similar to Facebook's news feed. The input box allows users to enter a status update or use icons to upload and share photo and videos.

Wider impact

The introduction of Google+ had impacted the design of Google's web search service, due to the graphical redesign by Andy Hertzfeld.[7] There have been refinements alongside speculation of a much wider impact once Google+ is fully rolled-out,[8] including some redesign of Google Maps, Google Mail and Google Calendar.[9]

Maybe the greatest changes will come to Picasa Web Albums[10][11]

  • After tagging someone, they receive a notification and can see the photo and the related album.
  • For new albums, anyone an album is shared with can see who else it is shared with.
  • Albums someone shared can be tagged and re-shared by others.
  • Photos up to 2048×2048 pixels and videos up to 15 minutes won’t count towards the 1 GB storage quota for Google+ users (it's 800×800 pixels for non-Google+ users), creating “virtually unlimited” storage for mobile users[12]

Censorship

Within a day of the website's launch, various news agencies reported that Google+ was blocked by People's Republic of China, taking findings from the Great Firewall of China.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Facebook's Newest Challenger: Google Plus". Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  2. ^ Shaer, Matthew (30 June 2011). "Looking for a Google+ invite? Either get comfortable - or get crafty". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  3. ^ "Official Google+ Website". Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  4. ^ "Another Try by Google to Take On Facebook". The New York Times. 28 June 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  5. ^ "Facebook Statistics". 28 June 2011. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  6. ^ a b c d e M.G. Siegler (28 June 2011). "Google+ Project: It's Social, It's Bold, It's Fun, And It Looks Good — Now For The Hard Part". TechCrunch. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  7. ^ "Inside Google+ — How the Search Giant Plans to Go Social". Retrieved 2 July 2011. {{cite web}}: Text "Epicenter" ignored (help); Text "Wired.com" ignored (help)
  8. ^ Boulton, Clint (1 July 2011). "Google Redesign Backs Social Effort". eWeek Europe. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  9. ^ Google Operating System: Preview Gmail's New Interface
  10. ^ Google Operating System: How Google+ Transformed Picasa Web
  11. ^ Techwhack: Changes on Google Picasa Web for Google Plus users
  12. ^ Techie Buzz: Google Offers Virtually Unlimited Storage on Picasa Web Albums for Google+ Users
  13. ^ Arthur, Charles (30 June 2011). "Google+ 'blocked in China'". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 1 July 2011.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Google%2B&oldid=437466243"