subject: Google Plus - What Is It Exactly? [print this page] Google Plus has some interesting features, unique to this social network. One of these features is called Circles, and it seems to redefine the way we "friend" on social sites. With facebook you pretty much have to choose - friend or not friend. There are some advanced settings that can help you share content with just certain people, but it requires some extra effort. However with with "Circles" for example your boss is not in the same "friend pile" as your college buddies therefore easily allowing you to share content with certain people and not others, and it does this almost automatically. The Circles feature allows you to filter your friends, co-workers, neighbors and family all into different categories. Circles also gives you the ability to choose which content you share with which friends. A very handy new feature.
Other features of the new Google Plus are:
Stream - Your stream is just like a newsfeed that you would see with facebook. When you log in, you are taken to the home page where you will see the most recent activity. It will update you with activity from friends and others, and similar to other social networking sites, you will be able to see what's happening in real time through your "stream" just like you would in a newsfeed. This is also customizable.
Sparks - This feature generates information about topics you are interested in, right to your profile. Unlike your "newsfeed" your sparks section generates content based on the "spark" you have shown interest in. For example, if you are someone interested in running/jogging, you choose the topic "running" in your sparks category. Now, when you check your "sparks" - you will be fed information from Google search that Google believes to be the most relevant based on your interest in "running." You will be able to see the most recent and most relevant information on your topics of interest or Sparks, as they happen!
Hangouts - Google+ allows users to socialize using video chat with the feature Hangouts. Video chat is nothing new. However, Google Plus is the first social networking platform to offer it. At this time a max of 10 people can all hang out at the same time. The main speaker of the "hangout" is featured in the center of the window; the screens showing everyone else in the group are in a row at the bottom. While connected, users can share links in a text chat which is typical of most chat programs. However, with Google+ Hangouts, you will have the ability to watch YouTube videos at the same time and all from within the same screen.
Here is what the dashboard looks like for new users:
