Google may be considering chopping up its social network Google+ into separate pieces rather than keeping it together as one holistic social platform. Sundar Pichai, Google’s senior vice president of Android, Chrome, and apps, suggested that Google+ could be broken up into different components. Here’s what he said to Forbes:
I think increasingly you’ll see us focus on communications, photos and the Google+ Stream as three important areas, rather than being thought of as one area. Pichai also said that a big part of Google+’s functionality involves the fact that it keeps you logged into Google’s core products within your browser. For example, if you’re logged into your Google+ account in Chrome, you’ll automatically be logged into Gmail, Google Drive, and the company’s other services.
He told Forbes that aspect of the service "was in many ways even more important" than the more traditional elements of the social network, like the main activity feed. "That part has worked really well for us," he said to Forbes. He also said Photos and Hangouts could be broken out and separated from the main product. But, he also said none of Google’s main products will disappear.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard that Google may make some changes to Google+. Last April, anonymous sources told Tech Crunch that Google was "shifting" the teams that work on Google+, saying that those working on Hangouts and Photos might move to the Android team. In August, Bloomberg also reported that Google may separate the photos section from Google+.