Google+ has added a feature called Collections to its social media network, and users of the new feature might think it looks familiar.
The new feature suggests Google is now going after Pinterest, with the new feature allowing users to post pictures and other content related to specific topics.
"Today, we're announcing Google+ Collections, a new way to group your posts by topic," said Google+ in a post on its Google+ page. "Every collection is a focused set of posts on a particular topic, providing an easy way for you to organize all the things you're into. Each collection can be shared publicly, privately, or with a custom set of people. Once you create your first collection, your profile will display a new tab where other people can find and follow your collections."
There is good reason for Google to want to go after Pinterest. The network is privately owned and was valued at $11 billion after a funding round in March. In fact, the service has tripled its value in the past year-and-a-half.
Not only that, but Google is also attempting to revitalize its social media network as something that is attractive for users. The service achieved rather disappointing numbers when it was first launched and has since not done much better. If Google were to offer features that users would enjoy more than they would on other social media networks, it is likely that it would be able to pull in more people.
The move is really not all that surprising considering the fact that Google+ has long been something of a mashup of other social media networks. It has Facebook-like features with its profile and news feed, Photos to emulate Flickr, Hangouts to take on WhatsApp and now Collections to cover its bases when it comes to Pinterest.
The new feature is one of the first to come to Google+ since Vic Gundotra left as head of the project last year. The new head of the service, David Horowitz, has said that the team may start unbundling features from Google+ in the near future, in particular Photos, which has long been one of the service's most popular features. The unbundling of Photos has begun, with photos now appearing in Google Drive.
Collections is currently available on the Web and Android, and the company said that it would be adding the new feature to devices running iOS in the near future.
