Welcome to the world Google Currents, bye Google+

Google is definitely shutting down Google+ and coming up with its replacement — Google Currents. You might find it odd, that Google is still trying to come up with a new social network.

Especially since Google+ never became a thing. Some of your younger colleagues may not even know what it was, and some older colleagues would say “No one ever used Google+ anyway.”

If you look at Google+ from the perspective of the end-user, you’ll be correct. You’ll see a social network only a few geeks used to use a long time ago. Google didn’t design Currents to be just another social network. Its purpose is different.

Google Currents was made especially for businesses. You might be asking yourself “Why do we need a company social network when we have plenty of others we are already using?”

Here is why.

5 reasons why to use Currents at work instead of other social media

No risk of the leakage of sensitive company information

You definitely do not want your colleagues to make obscure Facebook groups for sharing sensitive work-related information, right? Social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and others were designed to be used in your personal life (I’m not talking about company profiles on those platforms here, as these are a different category). Many experts say it is actually much better for your mental well-being to make a clear distinction between your personal and professional space — even though it is not an easy thing to do during the worldwide pandemic where many of us work from home. The same should be applied to social media.

To further protect your organization’s data and ensure secure internal communication, Revolgy provides comprehensive Google Workspace security solutions that help prevent information leakage and safeguard sensitive business information.

A single source of truth. Finally!

Every work-related information that is meant to be seen by everyone will be in Currents. You will no longer have to look for it everywhere else. Plus — If you and your colleagues properly use tags and mentions you can easily sort and quickly find every information related to the topic you are working on.

Everyone in one place

As I said before, the whole company will be communicating in one place and everyone would be reachable there. Everyone can still share pictures and videos of cute cats, memes, photos or whatever they want without the need of creating a special Facebook group.

Tags, streams, mentions

Google Currents works the same way as other social media. You can create special streams or tags and mention your colleagues (by using “+name”).

Streams allow you to scan, explore, and engage with relevant company news. You will find them in the Currents Main menu. You can set up custom streams to raise the visibility of certain types of content or to target content to specific users. These streams can pull content from sources such as communities, user profiles, and tags. They can also be short-term or long-term.

Common use cases for creating streams:

• Announcement corner for leadership, company-wide or regional communications, or human resources teams.

• Space for new hires to introduce themselves.

• Help desk or space for employees to ask questions and get tips from colleagues.

• Company culture focused campaigns

Tags are a quick way to explore, follow, and categorize content for topics you’re interested in.

Any user can create a new tag whenever they post or comment using #.
E.g: #remotework #GSuiteTips #cloud-native

You already have it in your G Suite account

If you are already using G Suite you can start working with Google Currents immediately. No installation needed.

FAQs

Q1: What change regarding Google+ was announced in July 2020?

Google announced it was shutting down Google+ and replacing it with a new product called Google Currents.

Q2: What is the primary focus or purpose of Google Currents?

Unlike Google+, Google Currents was designed specifically for business use, rather than as a general public social network.

Q3: What are the main reasons suggested for using Google Currents for internal business communication?

Key reasons include: preventing leakage of sensitive company information often risked on personal social media; establishing a single source of truth for company-wide information; having all employees communicating in one place; offering familiar social media features like tags and streams; and being readily available as part of the G Suite subscription.

Q4: How does Google Currents contribute to better information management within a company?

It acts as a central hub for work-related information intended for wide visibility. The use of tags and mentions allows users to easily sort and quickly find information related to specific topics.

Q5: What are “Streams” within Google Currents?

Streams are feeds that allow users to explore and engage with relevant company news. They can be customized by administrators to highlight specific content (e.g., leadership announcements, new hire introductions, help desk Q&A) sourced from communities, user profiles, or tags, and can target specific audiences.

Q6: How do “Tags” work in Google Currents?

Tags (created using # followed by a keyword, like #remotework) provide a way for users to categorize, explore, and follow content related to topics they are interested in. Any user can create a tag when posting or commenting.

Q7: How could G Suite users start using Google Currents?

As Google Currents was included with G Suite accounts, users could start using it immediately without needing any installation, provided access was permitted by their G Suite administrator.

Q8: Is it possible to interact with people outside of your own organization using Google Currents?

Yes, interaction with external individuals is possible via private communities that are set up outside the company’s domain.

Q9: Who is responsible for managing and moderating Google Currents within a company?

G Suite administrators handle the overall domain settings via the admin console, while designated Content managers are responsible for managing and moderating content and featured settings within Currents.

Q10: Does using Google Currents involve an additional cost beyond the G Suite subscription?

No, Google Currents was included in the existing G Suite subscription price.

Q11: What happened to the content that organizations had previously posted on Google+?

All existing Google+ content belonging to an organization was automatically transferred over to Google Currents during the transition.

Q12: Could users choose to continue using Google+ after Currents was introduced?

No, the text states that, starting July 6th, 2020, users could no longer opt out of Google Currents or switch back to using Google+.

Do you have more questions?

Don’t hesitate to contact us at ask@revolgy.com