Google+, the Internet giant's unsuccessful attempt at creating a rival to Facebook, has received yet another fresh coat of paint, this time focusing on larger groups of users and their shared interests.
"Today, we’re starting to introduce a fully redesigned Google+ that puts Communities and Collections front and center," read a blog post announcing the changes. The new look is "much simpler," but should be more consistent across desktop and mobile platforms.
Related: Google Admits That Google+ is 'Confusing'
"Communities" lets people build, well, communities based on shared interests like foods, hobbies and bands. "Collections" is a bit like Pinterest, letting you assemble sets of pictures and links and share them with others. Both, Google claims, see quite a bit of interest. That's more than the company says for the traditional social network aspects of Google+, which never really took off the way Twitter, Instagram and others have.
Related: Google Takes the + Out of Google+ Photos
Google has lessened the scope of Google+ after aggressively expanding it 2012 and 2013, making it almost a requirement for any user of YouTube, Gmail and other services.
You'll need to opt into this new Google+ by accepting the offer to do so when you next log in. Don't worry, if you don't like it, you can switch back — for now.
