Research Google+ features
Running Head: G+ 1
University of Cumberland’s
Name: Shah Omer Hussain, Syed
Class: Cloud Computing (ITS -532- M23)
Instructor: Dr. Robin Salyers
G+ 2
Google Plus (also called Google+ or G+) is a social network platform owned and operated
by Google since 2011. Google wanted to challenge the other social platforms as well as link other
applications such as Drive, Gmail, and YouTube. By use of Google+, people get connected to
online services of their choice for personal, educational, and business advancement. By integrating
Google + with a Google account; the user can easily share his or her documents and files from
Drive or song playlists from Play Music across Android and other Google ecosystems (Anderson,
& Still, 2011). Some important features for the functionality of G+ include:
i. Use of Hashtags
The latest version of Google+ uses hashtags as in the case of other social media platforms
like Twitter. Google will normally analyze posts; posted by users themselves and recommend
hashtags related to them based on social and Google’s search results. All trending topics over the
media and internet will be displayed in the Stream. The Streams allow users to stay connected and
share their experiences on music, sports, etc. (Anderson, & Still, 2011).
ii. Integration
The current version of G+ is compatible with other apps from Google such as Hangouts,
Google Talk and G+ Messenger. Therefore, the current version replaced the original G+ Hangout
video chatting services been used by users in their daily communications.
iii. Cloud services
Google improved the services of Google + to offer full-sized photo auto-enhancements
with up to 15GB cloud storage free, and unlimited spaced at standardized prices; to any user of G+
to enable the user to store his or her data in the cloud.
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iv. Photo Editor
The Highlight feature enables Google to automatically pinpoint blurred or poorly exposed
parts of an image uploaded by users themselves and do skin softening, auto-enhance, etc., and
chooses the best images for users. Other features like HDR Smile (for smiling) and Motion Pano is
used to stitch several images together.
v. Redesigned Stream Features
The stream features of Google+ is composed of multiple columns well patterned
with attractive colors. The users can scan more than one post at ago. The videos and photos can
spread and span over multiple columns display; together with new animations. Google + has a
better display than other social media applications like Facebook which displays its features in a
single column (Anderson, & Still, 2011).
vi. Privacy
Google+ allows users to choose which posts and who can view their personal information as
well as their posts. All these features provided in the security settings make people restrict or
decide on who can see their profiles and posts.
vii. Sand (navigation) bar
It's on the top of the application after you log in (gray colored). The sand bar allows the
users to navigate the application when checking updates and posting to G+ while still on Gmail or
Google Reader home page. On the left:
Notifications in the feed since the last online status are shown in a red icon.
There is a share button that allows the user to share his or her posts on the updates of G+, on the
right side of the sand bar.
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viii. Sharing and Taglines
Each post is accompanied by a share link in the stream and you can filter (restrict) circles
of the viewers of their posts. Also, the user can tag another user by typing @ or a + sign and then
edit the other user’s name, whom they want to share the post with. Notifications accompany the
post(s) to the person tagged together with links to those posts.
Google+ can be used by people for social purposes as well as for business purposes such as
advertising and sharing documents.
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References
Anderson, K. E., & Still, J. M. (2011). An introduction to Google plus. Library Hi Tech News.
https://www.dummies.com/social-media/google/top-ten-google-features/
https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/google-plus-improvements