Harvesting Google+ Data

Anyone with a Gmail account can trivially create a Google+ account and start collaborating with friends. From a product standpoint, Google+ has evolved rapidly and used some of the most compelling features (and anti-features) of existing social network platforms (such as Twitter and Facebook) in carving out its own set of unique features. A full overview of Google+ isn’t in scope for this chapter, and you can easily read about it (or sign up) online to learn more. Suffice it to say that Google+ has leveraged tried and true features of existing social networks such as marking content with hashtags and maintaining a profile according to customizable privacy settings with additional novelties such as a fresh take on content sharing called “circles,” video chats called “hangouts,” and extensive integration with other Google services such as Gmail contacts and Picasa web albums.