Google Plus Turned Upside Down

Google Plus Turned Upside Down

Well I started today at work by actually getting on Google Plus and doing some posts for clients. I did one post on a page then switched back to my own profile with no problem, but then I went to another page and the whole layout changed! I did a couple more posts then noticed that there was a new side bar alongside the new, narrower news feed (or what ever Google calls it...I use Facebook terms), that had suggested people and pages to follow as well as trending topics. Unaware of any upcoming changes to Google Plus, I went over to my Twitter, where most of my SEO and Social Media news comes from and I didn't see anything about G+ changes. At that point I just assumed 2 things: A: no one knew of the changes or B: no one really cared about Google Plus (I think it was mostly A and a little B).

I happened to be right in the middle of the change...the change that was announced by Google at 8:16 this morning (not sure what time zone that was). I was ahead of social media experts that usually break news days, weeks and sometimes months before things happen on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest!

In addition to the changes over at G+ I noticed a small change in my gmail, most probably won't notice it but I did. There was also a layout change here in the back end of Blogger, which at the moment is voluntarily, but was actually made known before the change date.

Back to Google Plus, because it's going to be the hot topic today (sorry Instagram). When I started writing this blog, I went over to my profile and now I have a Facebook like cover photo on my profile (just what I need something else to find content for). All in all the changes on G+ seem to be for the better, even my mom after freaking out when I mentioned the changes said "this is called an improvement...I like improvements".

What are the changes, you ask? Well the first and most noticeable to me is the new navigation on the left side with text below the formerly ambiguous icons. There are also the new cover photos, contacts on the right and others that you can see for yourself and are explained in this post by Google: Toward a simpler, more beautiful Google.