04/12/2019

Daily Buzz: Goodbye Google+, Hello Currents

Google reinvents the retired social network as a workplace communication tool

It’s no surprise that a rebrand is in effect for Google+, the social network owned and operated by the tech giant: The interface was shuttered for business and consumer use this month after low usage and several high-profile data leaks.

What’s changed?

Currents, a company news release says, is a G Suite app “that enables people to have meaningful discussions and interactions across your organization, helping keep everyone in the know and giving leaders the opportunity to connect with their employees.”

In other words, it’s now positioned as a workplace tool—and not a platform to, say, share family vacation photos with friends. An organization’s existing Google+ content will automatically transfer to Currents after enrolling in the beta version, the news release says.

Currents users may compose content, tag others, attach documents or images, and provide feedback. The goal: Encourage shared communication and reduce emails.

For some, the new name may sound familiar. Currents was the former iteration of Google Play Newsstand (which predates the Google News app). The name is meant to evoke the flow of information, a company executive told TechCrunch. He added that “very low recognition” of the former Currents platform won’t cause any confusion going forward.

Whether the revamped tool finds wider adoption is another story.

Please select this link to read the original article from Associations Now.