In July 2020, Google announced to G Suite users that Google Currents, the business social platform Google has been beta-testing for the past months, is finally ready for roll-out and integration with G Suite. Shortly afterward, on July 6, 2020, Google Currents became officially available to G Suite users on the Basic, Business, and Enterprise plans.
Coming after the shutdown of Google Plus in 2018, Currents is seen as an anticipated roll-out of the company’s individual answer to business social networks by Facebook and Microsoft, but with all the perks of being part of Google’s G Suite ecosystem.
Google Currents is a variation on popular business social networks like Workplace by Facebook Microsoft Teams, and Slack. It’s also next of kin to regular social networks but instead of being open to everyone over the internet, think of it as a private space for your team — however small or large. Here is the place to communicate, brainstorm, and develop ideas, share and discuss project updates, and chat with each other directly.
Within your company’s Currents feed, you will be able to share images, links, posts, polls, comments, likes, and messages — all keeping to the familiar social network experience. Hashtags will also be available except their use will slightly differ: employees will use them to tag specific projects or events, e.g., #product-launch. In this, it will be closer to an app like Discord than Twitter or Instagram.
As any Google product, Currents comes with the perks of being part of Google’s regularly tweaked ecosystem prioritizing mobility. While it does look similar and have similar features to other business social networks, the integration into G Suite at no extra cost will give businesses the perk of adding team updates and communication to their Google experience.
For most business users, one of the most convenient upsides is that Google Currents removes the need for third-party apps like Slack, or messengers like Skype, WhatsApp, Viber, or Discord, in order to quickly chat with your colleagues. If your team is already on the G Suite basic or business plan, you’re as good as already connected to each other.
Google Currents is also a handy tool for work-at-homers, and a timely addition for teams that want to up their communication during the switch to working from home, for distributed teams, and international teams that need a “pocket” solution to be in touch with their colleagues and projects. It’s also a great tool for managers to automatically stay in the know of business updates without doing the merry-go-round of emails and direct messages.
With all that, Google Currents is not meant to replace client chats and communication which is still best achieved with business phone systems, and Direct Messaging via your business’s social networks.
Want to learn more about G Suite products? Check out our complete breakdown of essential G Suite apps and some hidden gems.
