Google+ organizes social sharing around circles

Google+ launches around Circles, a way to sort friends and contacts before sharing a post. Streams provide the central feed, while Hangouts turn group video into a built-in feature.

The design responds to a common social problem: one audience does not fit every message. Google is making relationships and privacy settings visible parts of the interface.

Google also connects the service to its wider account system. The experiment will depend on whether people bring their real networks with them and whether the added control feels worth learning.