About a year out of the gate, Google+ just got its first facelift, and, well, it looks a whole lot like Facebook.
“In an effort to more directly compete with social networking behemoth Facebook, search giant Google unveiled a refresh of Google+, its social networking platform that hasn’t made as big a splash as hoped (despite boasting 170 million members),” eWeek reports.
“Some of the design elements included in the update echo Facebook Timeline, such as a cover photo that sprawls across the top of the profile and bigger photo and video displays,” Mashable points out. “Others, like a customizable navigation ribbon that now runs along the left side of all pages, are new to mainstream social media.”
“With plushy icons and bigger pictures, the newly redesigned Google+ may look more like your Facebook profile would if it also had YouTube and Hangouts, but the real difference is in the way the social layer merges your public and private lives,” SocialTimes rites.
“A critical piece of this social layer is a design that grows alongside our aspirations,” Google SVP Vic Gundotra wrote in a blog post. “We’re aiming for an experience that fuses utility with beauty—one that inspires you to connect with others, and cherish the conversations that unfold.”
“In a way, this is Google playing a subtle game of one-upsmanship with the world’s largest social network it is trying to dent,” writes Wired. For one, “Facebook, too, has a section devoted to widgets and user apps on the left-hand side of the home screen, where users can organize their apps according to preference.”
“The reaction to this new interface for the company’s fledgling social network have been generally positive,” according to TechCrunch. “But most users are somewhat confused about why there is suddenly so much white space on the site.”
Moreover, “the update was a necessary one, and we can expect Google+ to continuously be updated in the coming months as its core features are fleshed out and further integrated with Google’s other Apps and services,” SiliconAngle writes.