[LINK] "Google Strips Down Google Plus"

[rfmcdonald]

The Wall Street Journal's Alistair Barr writes about the controversial changes to Google Plus. As only an occasional user, mainly via my phone or other Android devices, I do note the reduced complexity of this social networking service. Was it necessary to do this?

Google Plus began in 2011 as the company’s answer to Facebook FB -1.00%: a social network that could help hundreds of millions of people stay in touch — and help Google, a division of Alphabet Inc.GOOGL -0.88%, collect valuable identity and interest-based data about them. But the result was a complex, confusing service that tried to act as a central hub for many other Google products. Ultimately, few people spent much time on it.

The new Google Plus is about connecting around common interests rather than people. It focuses on just two features, Google said: Collections, which let users follow streams of content on topics like surfing or niche types of photography, and Communities, which let groups of people with the same interests join up and discuss topics like Game of Thrones or painting.

A key difference between the new Google Plus and its earlier incarnations is that it’s now possible to follow a member’s posts about a specific subject without receiving that person’s posts on other topics.

Gone from Google Plus, or on the way out, are the Hangouts messaging service,a tool for organizing events, and the ability to share your location. Photo uploading still works, but the ability to tag people by name is limited. These features mostly survive as standalone products, some of which are successful, such as the new Google Photos storage service.