Google+ and Four Other Networks to Watch
Google launched another volley in the social networking wars last week with its field trial of its new social service Google+. Google is playing catchup to the big three networks: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. We'll not dwell on a lengthy review of Google+ here since a thousand others have already previewed, reviewed, and re-reviewed the service. Suffice to note though, Google+ does have a few differentiating features, especially some which will appeal to those who complain of Facebook's lack of concern over privacy and security. First, Google+ waves goodbye to the friend request, which is the common form of invitation on other networks. Instead, users create Google+ Circles for their groups of friends, which are not made public to other users. These groups receive status updates via email rather than…