Google Plus has announced the launch of a feature that most social media users are very familiar with – Social Login.  When logging into apps, you will now start to see a Google+ option next to Twitter and Facebook.  This might have little impact on the average user, but for developers it could be huge, and here's why…

Google+ has a feature that may turn out to be it’s X-factor due to the addition of social login.  Every social media platform has something that sets it apart from the crowd, and for Google+ that feature is Circles.  When it first launched, the concept of Circles was confusing for users.  But with social login, Circles brings a new element to the game.

When logged in to apps through Google+, users will have the opportunity to share specific activity with specific groups of people.  Common Facebook wisdom tells us to keep our Facebook profiles private so that bosses, parents or other friends viewing certain activity won't cause problems for us.  For the most part though, Facebook has kept these options to on or off.  Adjusting privacy settings on Facebook so that only certain people see certain posts can be a tiring endeavor.  Google+ allows users to place friends in Circles and target particular posts to particular people with just one click of the mouse.

With social login, businesses and developers will be able to target information even more specifically.  Imagine Nike targeting long athletic shorts to basketball circles, and short athletic shorts to running circles.  The added benefits aren’t clear yet.  User adoption of circles and effectiveness of their use is still very much up in the air, but Google seems optimistic.