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Entertainment

By Madison Rice

Google has been toying with the idea of creating their own social networking site, like those of Facebook, Twitter, and the forgotten fellow, MySpace. But what is the difference?

Google released Google+ to those who signed up first, and the website is now running it through trial and error with those lucky few.

“I wouldn’t make a Google+, because I am content with Facebook. Maybe in the future if Facebook turns out to be like Myspace I would consider it,” said junior Victor Yanez

The new social network takes you on a tour of everything it has to offer, and shows the viewer all the reasons why it is different from any other site.

On the tour of Google+ it takes the viewers to five of its most incredible features that the website has to offer: Circles, Hangouts, Instant Uploads, Sparks, and Huddle.

“Google+ sounds a lot like Facebook, but the more I read about and the more I get used to it I actually think it’s more organized than Facebook,” said junior Brad Stailey

Google+ allows the user to update their status, much like the social network sites do, but unlike any others it allows the user to create circles. Creating circles is much like creating private chat rooms; they keep everyone the user wants in and everyone the user wants out.

The user can create a circle for family members, high school friends and a group for buddies, and if a user posts in one circle, the other circle(s) will never see it.

“The social networking website is actually really easy and simple to use, it’s structure is really easy to understand. I love it,” said junior Bailey Ross

The second feature is Hangouts, where users can talk to all of their friends online with a webcam. Users can choose certain people to join or they can invite entire circles. It’s much like Skype, except the user can talk to multiple people at once. The only bad part is that it only works if the user has a webcam.

The third feature is called Instant Uploads, where users can take a picture on their phone or computer and it will automatically upload to Google+ in a private album. All that is left for the user to do is to approve who they want to see it.

The fourth feature is called Sparks. This feature was made for the people that like to “surf” the internet faster. It allows users to type in their favorite thing to look for online and the things that they like will be sent to them to check out.

“In my honest opinion, Google+ seems a little over the top. I do like the website and how everything is arranged, but I’m still a fan of Facebook,” said junior Toni Lopez.

The last feature is huddle; it works on a user’s phone as well as online. It allows the user to message a circle or a selected group of people. It works like group messaging on an iPhone, except not everyone has to have an iPhone.

Google+ is still under construction, but the new social network site promises that it will be working efficiently for all users as soon as possible.