Clone Wars: Google Launches Pinterest-Esque Google+ 'Collections'
If Pinterest's developers appear a little red around the cheeks, you can assume they're blushing. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and it's inevitable that Google's new Google+ Collections will draw comparisons to Pinterest, both of which center around pinning things that are of interest to you, like cats or cars and so forth.
Collections began rolling out yesterday even before it was officially announced. To the best of our knowledge, it's not a staggered release, as Google sometimes does with its services, so you should be able to use and browse Collections now. Just head over to your Google+ account and look for the new Collections tab in the pull-down menu on the left-hand side.
So, what exactly are Collections? They're organized boards of images, videos, and other content, all neatly categorized based on various interests. You can create as many Collections as you like and then choose to share them publicly, with specific people, or keep them private. Posts in your Collections will appear in your Home stream, along with a link to jump right into the Collection.
"Our happiest Google+ users are those who connect with others around shared interests and passions. So we set out to give people a place to express the things they love. Today, we’re announcing Google+ Collections, a new way to group your posts by topic," Google says.
It's a neat idea, even if it's already been done in similar fashion elsewhere (social networks are notorious for copying each other, are they not?). More importantly for Google, it could help grow Google+, which just hasn't gained the same kind of traction that Facebook has.
You can use Collections on the web and via Android devices after updating your Google+ app; iOS support is coming later.
Collections began rolling out yesterday even before it was officially announced. To the best of our knowledge, it's not a staggered release, as Google sometimes does with its services, so you should be able to use and browse Collections now. Just head over to your Google+ account and look for the new Collections tab in the pull-down menu on the left-hand side.
So, what exactly are Collections? They're organized boards of images, videos, and other content, all neatly categorized based on various interests. You can create as many Collections as you like and then choose to share them publicly, with specific people, or keep them private. Posts in your Collections will appear in your Home stream, along with a link to jump right into the Collection.
"Our happiest Google+ users are those who connect with others around shared interests and passions. So we set out to give people a place to express the things they love. Today, we’re announcing Google+ Collections, a new way to group your posts by topic," Google says.
It's a neat idea, even if it's already been done in similar fashion elsewhere (social networks are notorious for copying each other, are they not?). More importantly for Google, it could help grow Google+, which just hasn't gained the same kind of traction that Facebook has.
You can use Collections on the web and via Android devices after updating your Google+ app; iOS support is coming later.
