Google+ Adds Pinned Updates

Remember Google+? If you’re drawing a blank, let me fill you in. Google+ is a sort of social layer on top of Google — one that looks like a sort of mix of Facebook and Twitter. And the fact that I’m worried people won’t know what Google+ is pretty much tells you how that initiative is going for the big G.

But while Google+ isn’t doing quite as well as its much-larger competitors, the social product does get enough (automatic cross-posting?) action to make online personalities and businesses take notice. The company has continued to add to and improve Google+, and the latest update to the network brings pinned status updates, which users can force to the top of a G+ profile page.

For what it’s worth, pinned updates aren’t a Google innovation. These have been around for a while, first on Facebook and then on Twitter. Google is more or less catching up, here. But business owners in particular are certain to find the update extremely useful, as it means updates can continue to go out while one update remains focused at the top for users who visit a profile page.

I’ll be honest — G+ would probably be getting a lot more love if Google saw a future in it. In the not-so-distant past, the social network was a big part of the company’s plans. Since then, the product lost its greatest champion in social boss Vic Gundotra, who left Google in April. It’s lost other staff, as well, and the company’s moves since that point seem to point toward a different strategy — one that isn’t so heavily reliant on the success of Google+. How will that pan out? Only time will tell.

Are you still using Google+? If so, tell us why. Leave a comment.

[Source: TechCrunch]