Google+ to roll out new Gmail interactivity features

Connecting Google+ accounts with Gmail may solve the social network's identity crisis

The biggest social network that no one seems to be using, otherwise known as Google+, has announced an important new feature. Google+ will soon be integrated into Gmail accounts, adding a widget to the side of the Gmail layout so Google+ updates are visble.

And just as important as the integration itself is that Google+ accounts and Gmail accounts will soon have the option to transfer address books directly into Google+ circles, or as the announcement described it: "Grow your circles from your email."

Other new features include filters for email contacts, so users only see the people they want in Google+ updates, and a greater ability to post pictures or videos that are emailed to users directly to Google+ via interactive buttons on Gmail.

And the coup de grâce? After the update, Gmail contacts that are also connected to Google+ will have their most current contact information automatically updated. Not too shabby.

This is a big step for Google+. The new social networking platform hasn't exactly been struggling for members -- 40 million users at last count in October, and that was before Google Pages allowed businesses to join the fun. But since its release five months ago, Google+ has had something of an identity crisis.

There's a saying that cuts right to the heart of the matter, "Twitter makes me like people I've never met, and Facebook makes me hate people I know in real life." The problem with Google+ is that, aside from its genuinely innovative "Hangout" feature, people don't seem to really know what it's for. But connecting the unassailably great Gmail with Google+ may be just the shot in the arm the identity-challenged social network needed.

Because we all knew it was just a matter of time before Google took over one more part of the Web, right?

[Image Source: Official Google Blog]