Aiming to take the wind out of the sail of Facebook’s announcement of changes to their Newsfeed later today, Google announced three changes to their social media platform yesterday.
The most noticeable change is the re-sizing of the Cover Photo button. The photo size can now be up to 2120 by 1192 pixels and in 16:9 ratio – over twice its previous size. It’s a pretty noticeable change that takes up a large portion of the screen:
Early criticism points out the uselessness of the improved Cover Photo, but it makes sense: it’s an easy way to demonstrate individuality while simultaneously sharing your interests with friends and family.
The About section has also changed: its format has been adjusted visually into a more compartmentalized block-style, which is easier to get an overview of the profile’s contents and change them. This formatting has also been applied to the Local section, making it easier to see your reviews:
An interesting element that is particularly helpful is the subtle inclusion of colour to reflect the review itself – The emerald green colour indicates an Excellent review, while the olive reflects Average, and orange denotes Poor. The Local section also uses a map to indicate the location of the reviewed organizations, which can be found at the top of your Local page.
This formatting will be rolled out into the newsfeed in the coming weeks, and as it’s based on customer feedback, so it’s not too surprising that the new style seems similar to Facebook:
Google Plus’ aptitude to adapt to its users’ needs and expectation is what really set it apart; its changes are actually in the interests of the users (ahem, Facebook). It will be interesting to see how, in the coming months and years, how Google Plus will evolve.
