Google+ looks and works better than ever. Will that be enough?

Search behemoth Google continues to struggle in its quest to dominate the realm of social networking. But with fresh coat of paint and a couple of new bells and whistles, Google+ is now once again poised to rival Facebook.

As you can see in the video below, the new Google+ redesign is all about images. The sharing stream now features larger photos and video. There's also a sleek customizable ribbon on the left side of the page that allows for customization. You can now drag icons like "Circles" and "Photos" and arrange them as you like.

 

The new look also has been incorporated into Gmail and Google Reader in an effort to boost Google+ functionality.

The redesign is attractive but the jury is still out on whether these aesthetic changes can lure faithful Facebook fans. While Google+ boasts an impressive-on-paper 170 million users, there are still plenty of questions about mainstream adoption. Comscore data recently showed U.S. users spending 3.3 minutes on Google+ each month compared to 7.5 hours on Facebook. 

Google's new visual upgrade for the network is definitely a step in the right direction, but what do you think? Will it be enough to finally start luring users to spend considerable amounts of time on Google+?

Edward Bowser is Community Manager at Luckie & Company. You can contact him by email or follow him on Twitter.

Comments

[Karen Swim]

Great post that provoked some thought on this topic. Trying to lure users away from other networks is part of the problem. Once you have established a community and a rhythm on a platform you're not going to abandon or curtail your activity for a new platform, without a compelling reason do do so. Google + requires the social media user to add yet another activity and many of us are at our saturation point. I'm on G+ and but admittedly have not been a consistent user. Perhaps G+ is fishing in the wrong pond. It may have been a better strategy to aim for the non-FB user or the new to social media business owner.

[Grandperrin Pascal]

Hi,
I think that Google + evolution will be exponential.
Best regards.
Pascal Grandperrin

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[Workmens comp]

I think the more we use it the more Google will get encouraged to make changes according to users will.
Chris Harris