Google has begun rolling out a new look for their social network, Google+. While the three column view of Google+ still exists, the entire look and feels has been polished and allows for a better experience and customization for the user.
One of the big changes is that their is now Google+ will adapt to the size of the screen. The larger the screen, the more items that are available on the page. If you have a smaller screen elements from the right side will disappear or be moved around to create the best fit of the screen.
Google+ has added integrated chat along the right side or minimized in the bottom right of the screen. Much like Facebook's chat was before their redesign. If you do not like this view, you can always reduce the size of the window in order to eliminate the long list of chat users. It would be nice to have an option to hide this by default.
Along with chat, Google is pushing Hangouts. Google has made this a prominent feature in the top right corner right below your profile options.
There have been a couple of criticisms about the new Google+ layout. Some users have mentioned that they do not like having so much white space in their layout. Google is using an adaptive style for different screen sizes.
Google is also putting more effort into showing you what is being discussed on Google+. This is done using the Trending Topics on the right side of the screen.
Google is putting a major effort into their social media platform and this redesign is just a first step. An obvious next step would be to open up an API to be able to write to Google+. This of course has it's own set of issues, like spammers. Regardless of what needs to be done, it is a solid upgrade that does bring a bit more polish to the platform.
With this latest update, I’m definitely beginning to use Google+ more.
I actually like the layout. Now just waiting for the Hangouts On Air functionality to be launched
[…] Google+ Gets a Facelift […]