Google has debuted a social networking platform designed to “fix” online sharing.
“The connections between people increasingly happen online. Yet the subtlety and substance of real-world interactions are lost in the rigidness of our online tools,” claimed senior Google VP Vic Gundotra.
“[So] we’d like to bring the nuance and richness of real-life sharing to software. We want to make Google better by including you, your relationships, and your interests. And so begins the Google+ project.”
Google+ features a number of interesting features which could potentially challenge Facebook’s current dominance of the social networking space, including:
- Circles – Allows users to more precisely share what matters, with the people who matter most.
- Sparks – Helps participants strike up a conversation about specific interest with friends and like-minded people.
- Hangouts – Offers “face-to-face-to-face” interaction by combining casual meetups with live multi-person video.
- Mobile – Shares “what’s around” via GPS, cameras, and messaging.
- Location – Automatically adds location data to every post, if enabled.
- Instant upload – Adds photos to a private album in the cloud.
- Huddle – Coordinate with friends and family in real-time with a group messaging experience.
Starting today Google+ is available – by invitation only – on Android Market and the mobile web. Interested? You can sign up for the limited field trial here.
