What is Google Currents? It’s an internal social networking and communication platform for companies that comes included in Google Workspace.

The successor to the now-defunct Google+, Currents is a stripped-down version of the consumer-oriented social network. However, it retains much of the functionality and basic look of Google+, a factor that can help with its adoption within your enterprise.

Google Currents faces tough competition from Slack for workplace communications. But its features, which include influence metrics, may be enough for you to give it a try, especially because it's already included in Workspace.

How Can You Access Google Currents?

You can access Google Currents by navigating to the apps list at the top of your Google Workspace account. You can also access Currents via its iOS and Android apps. You’ll be prompted to sign in using your Workspace account.

If you have both a paid work account and a free personal Google account, be sure to sign-in using the former. Google Currents is not available on consumer accounts (the ones ending in @gmail.com).

What Can You Do With Google Currents?

Google Currents can be used to keep an entire company and its various sub-groupings up to date. It can also be used to gain input and feedback on projects and initiatives.

Fans of Google+ will enjoy that setting up a profile on Currents is very similar to how it was on the discontinued social network, right up to being able to add your work and education history.

Another throw-back feature includes the ability to segment the people you follow into different circles.

When creating a post, you have the option to add a photo, link, poll, or Google Drive file, and then select your audience (sound familiar?). You can view how many times people have seen your post, liked it, shared it, and commented. You can also reshare someone else’s post. Instead of “friending” when you search for a colleague, you follow them to see their posts.

A screenshot of the 'create a poll' feature on Google Currents.

One of the more unique features of Currents is the ability to see your influence within the platform over different periods of time. You gain more influence by getting more comments on your posts, sharing and viewing your posts, and amassing more followers.

How Google Currents Organizes Information

Google Currents organizes posts using Streams, Communities, and Tagging.

  • Streams: Set up by an administrator, Streams are used to bring attention to posts related to specific topics. This is useful because Streams break posts out from the All posts feed, which can get a little crowded, and places them where they can be quickly found and referenced.
  • Communities: Got a group of co-workers collaborating on a project? Do they need a dedicated space for project management? You can create a Community for them within Currents. Communities can be set up for topics that you want to curate and share information on. For example, co-workers involved in the development of a new product can organize and share information within a Community.
  • Tagging: No surprise here—adding hashtags to posts in Currents is a way for users to quickly search and find information on a specific topic, for example, #pizzafriday or #annualbonus. You can search tags via the main search bar at the top of Currents. You can also check popular tags and the ones that you are following by clicking on the # Tags option on the left.
A screenshot of the tags page in Google Currents.

Admin controls are an important part of Currents. Along with the ability to moderate posts, admins receive analytics about how posts are being seen and used. That gives them the ability to understand what type of content is best and data for performing employee sentiment analysis.

Related: How to Use Microsoft Excel for Sentiment Analysis

Google Currents Possible Use Cases

Beyond serving as an internal social network, Google Currents has many additional possible use cases. Here are a few:

For example, a company could use a dedicated Currents Stream as the entry point to internal documentation and tutorials assembled using other Google tools such as Docs and YouTube. That could reduce company costs if that material was being hosted elsewhere.

Another potential use case for Currents is to enhance company transparency and accountability. While Slack often feels transitory, email is a mess, and behind closed doors discussions only help the people in the room.

However, Currents provides a place where senior executives can post on company strategy and respond to questions and comments in a forum where all employees can see them. Months later, when you’re wondering if the C-Suite came through, you can reference Currents and see the deliberations around a particular topic.

Finally, Currents is also a place where management can take the pulse of the company. The perspectives and reactions to posts, coupled with the analytics built into Currents, provide a good foundation for understanding how employees are reacting to company strategy.

Google Currents vs. Slack: Pros and Cons

Google Currents is sometimes described as a competitor to Slack. There are pros and cons to both platforms.

Pros of Google Currents

All features of Currents are included in every subscription level of Google Workspace. Currents can immediately access tools such as Drive, Docs, and Meet. That makes it convenient for companies that use Workspace and don’t want to add another app to their internal systems.

The control that admins have over Streams potentially makes it easier to organize information. Currents also has a more minimalist look that can help you find information.

Control and quick access to information is indeed a strong selling point for Currents. Information can often get lost in Slack, where conversations move along at a rapid pace. Currents is set up in a way that seems to encourage the sharing of more substantial announcements, with replies folded into the comments beneath.

Currents is also native to the browser on desktop computers. That can be a major plus if you prefer not to have lots of apps running at the same time. And also, if you don’t like using the browser-based version of Slack, which, depending on your settings, can push you a bit too often towards its desktop app.

Cons of Google Currents

Google Currents is not widely adopted by companies, at least not yet. Its lack of use stands in stark contrast to Google Workspace itself, which is a standard in many industries. Of course, so is Slack, which offers free and premium tiers, something Currents does not.

Though there is a Currents app for both iOS and Android, the platform does not have a dedicated desktop app. Like other Workspace tools, it is used via the browser. This may be fine for some people but confusing for others, especially if you keep a lot of tabs open and don't have a hack for managing them.

Google Currents doesn’t have the expansive third-party applications available that Slack offers. While Currents works perfectly well with other Workspace tools, you’re out of luck if you know about Slack integrations and how to use them. You won't be able to bring the wide expanse of third-party apps over from Slack to Currents.

Currents is also made by Google, a company famous for launching and then killing off underperforming tools. Think Google Inbox, Google Reader, and, of course, Google+.

Slack, in contrast, is not going anywhere soon, even if it does face more competition.

Related: Reasons Why Microsoft Teams Is Better Than Slack

In practice, it's difficult to compare Google Currents and Slack. Instead, you can think of Google Currents as like an office bulletin board. Meanwhile, Slack is a combination of an office whiteboard and water cooler.

Should You Use Google Currents?

If your company uses Google Workspace, giving Currents a try makes perfect sense. At minimum, you can start using it for announcements and reference material that are both long-standing and need employee interaction.

It may never completely replace Slack for you—or maybe it eventually will. Amid the global race for talent, understanding employee priorities is increasingly important for companies. Currents' analytics gives admins ways to do just that.