Social networks are a huge in the world today with websites like Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace taking over. So how could world’s leading company Google stay out of this?

Google has recently launched Google +, a social network that will try to compete with the already established social networking websites. Chances are you might have heard of this service but have not received an invite which is required to set up a profile in Google +. A similar marketing strategy was applied by google when they launched Gmail, obviously then the strategy worked out in their favor.

This time google is trying to apply the same strategy but they are targeting one more section to popularize their service. Google+ is also targeting different offices, i.e. Google wants its service to be used by all the employees in their respective companies, similar to LinkedIn but making it more accessible. Google+ will be tested in Ford to find out if using this service in the office will bring any improvements.

Google+ has 5 main features which they call – Circles, Hangouts, Instant Upload, Sparks and Huddle.

• Circles – Organizing friends, family, college etc. Drag and drop contacts to specific   circles such that it is easier to send messages or items.
• Hangouts – Video chatting with your friends. A virtual room.
• Instant Upload – Automatic update from phone to Google +
• Sparks – Get content from the internet based on your interest and hobbies.
• Huddles – Group chatting with your circles.

Whether all of these features are required and will be useful in offices is a question that Google+ has to answer and validate. Allot of managers, CIOs or CEOs are not sure about this service and its use in their offices. Some say that LinkedIn is more professional and its 100 million users can’t be replaced by Google+’s current 25 million users. Others don’t think that social networks can ever work well in an office environment and are rather more personal services. Some employees prefer Google+ and say that it is more manageable than Facebook.

Google+ is still in the testing phase and whether it can compete with giants like Facebook which has 750 million users, is still a question unanswered. Whether Google+ can work in an office environment is also a question that can be answered after testing and using the service rigorously. Whatever may be the case, from Google+ it is evident that Google wants to conquer the social networking service as well.