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Inside Google+: how the search giant plans to go social
By Steven Levy, wired.com | Published about an hour ago

Today, Google, the world’s largest search company, is formally making its pitch to become a major force in social networking. The product it’s announcing is called Google +, and observers might wonder whether it’s simply one more social effort by a company that has had a lousy track record in that field to date.

Parts of it certainly seem to appear similar to what we've seen before. One significant component is a continuous scroll called "the Stream" that's an alternative to Facebook's news feed, a hub of personalized content. It has a companion called "Sparks," related to one's specified interests. Together they are designed to be a primary attention-suck of Google users—Google hopes that eventually people will gravitate to the stream in the same way that members of Facebook or Twitter constantly check those continuous scrolls of personalized information.

The second important app is Circles, an improved way to share information with one's friends, family, contacts, and the public at large. It's a management tool that's a necessary component of any social network—a way to organize (and recruit) fellow members of the service.

But as I learned in almost a year of following the project's development, with multiple interviews with the team and its executives, Google+ is not a typical release. Developed under the codename Emerald Sea, it is a result of a lengthy and urgent effort involving almost all of the company's products. Hundreds of engineers were involved in the effort. It has been a key focus for new CEO Larry Page.

The parts announced Tuesday represent only a portion of Google's plans. In an approach the company refers to as "rolling thunder," Google has been quietly pushing out pieces of its ambitious social strategy—there are well over 100 launches on its calendar. When some launches were greeted by yawns, the Emerald Sea team leaders weren't ruffled at all—lack of drama is part of the plan. Google has consciously refrained from contextualizing those products into its overall strategy.

That will begin now, with the announcement of the two centerpieces of Google+. But even this moment—revealed in a blog post that marks the first limited "field tests" outside the company—will be muted, because it marks just one more milestone in a long tough slog to remake Google into something more "people centric."

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Google+ invite received, we go hands-on
By Brian Heater posted Jun 28th 2011 8:06PM

It's hard to argue with Google's track record. The company has scored a hit in nearly every space in which it's dabbled: search, email, ads, office software, etc. There's always been one glaring exception to this rule, however: social networking. The company hasn't made much of a dent in a world dominated by Facebook (and, once upon a time, MySpace and Friendster). For Google+, however, the company dove in with both feet, launching a multi-faceted service that brings a lot to the table with features like Circles, Hang Out, and Huddle. Is it enough to end the Google's streak? We take a deeper dive to find out.

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ryanrich wrote:Sounds good so far yeah, can't wait to try it out. Hopefully they've learned their lessons from the abominations that were Buzz and Wave...

ryanrich wrote:Was an awesome concept yeah, but was very poorly implemented.

DAE_JA_VOO wrote:Well this isn't the time for you to make that decision

DeathStrike wrote: fail.

Synthesis wrote:Gmail? What's that?