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Google+ catches up to competition, lets you follow favorite websites with new button

Google+ catches up to competition, lets you follow favorite websites with new button

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Google+ Stream redesign press
Google+ Stream redesign press

It's hard to believe, but while Google+ has had share buttons and +1 buttons, its has never had a follow button that users could embed on their own webpages until today. Facebook and Twitter introduced their respective follow buttons in 2011 — Facebook's was once called a subscribe button. As one would expect, the Google+ follow button works pretty much the same as buttons from rival social networks. It's a simple javascript plugin for web developers that allows visitors to follow them on Google+ without ever having to leave the site they're visiting.

The button displays the number of followers the Google+ profile tied to the button has, and when clicked, provides a dropdown menu that lets users specify which circle they'd like to use. In addition, Google also rolled out new badges for Google+ communities, and it updated badges for pages and profiles with the ability to add accounts to your circles. The new plugins arrive on the same day that Google+ was introduced to the public two years ago, they all focus on letting users interact with the social network without visiting the website for it.

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