Google’s new ‘Create’ initiative may just be what it wants Google+ to evolve into

After deciding to position Google+ around interests and communities, Google is making its largest push yet with a new site dubbed ‘Create.’

What Create (actually ‘crea+e’ in Plus-speak) hopes to do is source thought leaders around topics. Those who create themed Google+ collections with high quality content weekly are eligible to be part of the create program.

Create also uses Google+ Collections as its platform. If you’re not familiar, collections is a pretty straightforward approach to creating a folder for things that interest you.

Collections is open to anyone. Create, on the other hand, is positioned for those who may be creators. You or I could go to a car show and take stellar images of classic muscle cars for a Collection, but a mechanic documenting a rebuild of a ’75 Corvette would be better qualified for Create.

There’s no sole focus for create, either. So far, Google has mountain climbers, photographers, developers and chefs contributing to create. Rather than pigeonhole it to a genre, Google is making Create about interests.

For those contributing to Create, Google is offering perks like sneak peeks at beta Google+ features and profile verification.

For now, it’s a burgeoning effort on Google’s part, but will likely shape Google+ for the foreseeable future. If the company is as serious about framing Google+ as a place where people with similar interests can gather, this is probably the best way to get there.

➤ Create [Google]