Media News - Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Google+ public launch takes battle to Facebook and Twitter

Google has opened its ambitious social networking site Google+ to the public, having attracted more than 20 million users for aits 12-week invitation-only trial. The public launch marks a significant moment in the search giant's challenge to Facebook, which has almost 800 million active users around the world, and the messaging service Twitter, which has more than 100 million members. Unlike Facebook, where you have to be a "friend" with a counterpart, or Twitter, where "followers" and even unregistered visitors to Twitter's website can typically see anything that someone tweets, Google+ uses "circles", where a posting cannot be shared more widely than its creator wants. At its broadest, that can be completely public – but it can also be a circle only of one person, or just family or close friends. Google+ also breaks with the brevity of Twitter, allowing users to post messages of unlimited length to any number of friends. More than 1bn items have been shared on the new social network since its launch, said Vic Gundotra, Google's senior vice-president of engineering, in a post on Google's official website on Tuesday. He announced nine new features for the fledgling site, including the ability for users to video chat using Google+ on compatible mobile phones. Users will also be able to record and broadcast video chats for friends to watch, and complete tasks with friends, he said. Google also introduced a search feature for the site. (The Guardian)

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