Google has made a lot of attempts in the last few years to have its Google+ platform keep up with other social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. Who can forget how it tried to tie commenting on YouTube exclusively to Google+?

On Monday, May 4, Google updated Google+ with a new feature called Google Collections that takes advantage of the content curation trend in which Internet users become curators of the content they share by promoting their expertise and interests via grouped posts.

What Is Google Collections?

Similar to Pinterest Boards, Google Collections allows Google+ users to share similar text, link, photo, video and other content posts with the public or select users in a collected format based on user-selected themes. They can also save collected posts for their own private viewing.

How Does Collections Work?

Creating a New Collection

Google offers several methods for creating a new collection and sharing posts to existing collections. Users can go directly to the Google+ Collections page from their accounts and select “Create a collection.” They can also share as they create a post from a modified post sharing option by selecting “New collection,” or choose “Learn More” for a redirection to the Google+ Collections page.

On Android, the process to create a collection is slightly different: Users must tap the down-arrow on the Home screen, tap “Collections” and then tap “Create collection.”

In all of these instances, users finish creating a collection by giving it a name, background and cover photo.

Posting to a Collection

Many collections already exist because Google tested this feature with some users before yesterday. To share in an existing collection, a user selects “Reshare to a collection” from any new post. To share an old post in an collection, a user selects the drop-down arrow at the top right corner of the post, selects “Move post to a collection” and then follows the onscreen prompts.

Locating a Collection

All individual posts shared in a collection are marked with four blue diamonds arranged in a diamond pattern. After a user makes his or her first collection, a Collections tab also appears on his/her page. Other users can locate collections that the user has decided to share from this tab.

***

Google Collections is currently available to Web and Android users. Google is still in the planning stage for rollout to Apple iOS devices.