It’s Google I/O next week, which means we’re headed for a week full of news and announcements surrounding all things Google. It might be surprising to think, but Google isn’t all about Android these days, and Google+ isn’t just a place for salivating Android fanboys – some users are on iOS you know! – it’s a place where likeminded people connect, share and generally get along which each other. The problem with Google+ however, is that Facebook and Twitter exist. I have a Facebook account and I have a Twitter account, I’m not active on either, as I generally don’t find spending oodles of time on social media that appealing. However, on Google+ I thoroughly enjoy engaging in readers when I have the time as well as talking to likeminded people, and this talk of a ghost town is not only ignorant but somewhat upsetting, too.
As is the news that Google will be spinning off Google+’s photo feature into its own feature, therefore separating it from the social network altogether, or is it? Could “Google Photos” spell the end for Google+? Bloomberg has reason to believe that Google will be unveiling its own photo service, to offer mobile users auto-backup and a central place to access all their photos. If you think about it, it’s a wonder Google doesn’t already have something like this. Google+ has exhibited some serious photo trickery for years now, and there’s nothing stopping Google using that technology in another product. Plus, there’s the whole Picasa thing, too. Spinning it off on its own and removing it from Google+ might not be the worst thing in the world, though.
One of the biggest drawbacks to Google+ is the fact that there’s little integration with other networks. This might sound stupid, but just look at Instagram. Facebook own it and yet without Twitter it would be nothing. Facebook and Twitter play nice together as well. It’s clear that there’s room in most people’s lives for more than two networks, but they have to talk to each other for any of them to matter. Spinning off Google+ Photos into a standalone service that works with Google+, Facebook and Twitter could be a massive boost to Google+. It could be a link between all three of them, and one that Google+ sorely needs.
Sharing articles and posts from other networks as posts on Google+ isn’t enough, and while it’s understandable Google doesn’t work to buddy up with Facebook and Twitter, it’s easy to see why Google+ hasn’t taken off on its own steam. Whatever Google Photos is or isn’t, next week is going to be a good time to be a Google user, and we’ll have all the news as it happens.