News: Google+ Now Opens to Teens with New Safety Features

Google+, Google’s latest foray into social networking, has been growing quite steadily since it launched in June last year. The Google+ services until now were limited to users above 18 years citing security reasons of minors and teenagers, but now Google has added new security features and has opened its social networking site, Google+, to teenagers. 

Countries such as Spain, South Korea, and Netherlands, where the age requirements are higher, do not have Google+ for teens under 18 yet.

The new safety features include categorizing users who can contact teens online and tweaking the Hangout group video chats, mentioned Bradley Horowitz, a vice president in charge of the service, on his Google+ page.  “With Google+, we want to help teens build meaningful connections online. We also want to provide features that foster safety alongside self- expression.” Google has also announced integrating its Google Earth into Google+, meaning users can now share satellite maps with their friends on the social networking site.