Google— American search engine giant, has launched a new social media app called ‘Shoelace’, after retiring Google+. Shoelace, Google’s fifth attempt on social media space comes after the giants failed attempts with Google Buzz, Google Friend Connect and Google+.
Shoelace is a platform that connects people based on events and interests. The app was developed by Google’s experimental Area 120 product development workshop. It will grant subscribers access to search and connect with people of same interest around them.
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Sam Rutherford in an article for Gizmodo said that even though it is fun to ‘poke’ Google for their unsuccessful venture in the social network space, we should note that the time spent on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram is doing more harm than good. He recalled that it is good to see a platform that will encourage subscribers to spend more time doing things physically than on the platform itself.
The platform tags events and activities as ‘Loops’ and subscribers are invited to organize and participate just like Facebook Events. This feature allows users to connect with new people and explore new cities.
The app can only be accessed via invite because Google partnered with few communities to allow intending subscribers to get codes to sign up on the platform. The platform is available in New York for now, and will subsequently spread to other cities.
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