Google has unveiled a new design for Google+ that sees the little used and regularly maligned social network shift its emphasis to “Collections and Communities.”

The move, described by Google as making it much easier for users to post, search, connect and more, puts the relatively new features of communities and collections front and center with a new focus around interests.

If you haven’t visited Google+ recently (so, pretty much everyone reading this post), the Collections feature lets users view content relating to a specific topic, and Communities allows groups of people with similar interests to come together and discuss, post and discover new content relating to their common interests.

Mobile is apparently a big focus of the change, with the new version said to be more mobile-friendly in that among other things it delivers a “fast and consistent experience whether you are on a big screen or small one.”

“Today we’re taking a big step toward making Google+ an even better place for your interests,” Google’s Luke Wroblewski said in a post on Google+.

“To do so, we’ve drastically simplified nearly every aspect of the product,” Wroblewski explained. “You’ll see this clearly in our new navigation centered around Collections and Communities. Collections let you immerse yourself in content about topics like surfing (goo.gl/vvv5QD) or tiny tilt-shift photography scenes (goo.gl/nWyicL) . Communities enable groups of people with the same interests to join up and geek out on anything from Game of Thrones (goo.gl/aaqtgq) to Painting (goo.gl/kmlM7m). With Collections and Communities, discovering amazing things is simple: just follow or join whatever happens to pique your interests.”

Niche targeting

Google+, like every attempt by Google to in the past to establish a social network, has been an abysmal failure to the point that the only good bits of the service have been spun off into their own separate services, the most famous of all being the massive, standalone success that is Google Photos.

While it feels like Google is flogging a dead horse by trying to bring life back to Google+, the move is clearly aimed at repositioning the service as a niche offering to cater to particular communities with shared interests, the few people who apparently still use the service.

It would be unfair not to give Google credit for not trying, but still if Google+ was a dog it would have been put down by now.

To try the new Google+ log into the service and hit the “Let’s go” prompt which is said to appear at the top right of the screen.

Image credit: Google