Google+ Hangouts Now Let You Know Exactly Who Is Coming And Going

Today, the Google+ team shared some insight into a few tweaks that it’s made to the Hangouts experience over the last couple of months, as well as some new initiatives.

In a post on Google+, Chee Chew of Google discussed these improvements, which include the ability to block people, set a Hangout to 18+, and change a Hangout to public while it’s in progress. All of these features give you more awareness of your surroundings during any given chat on the platform.

This is about safety, Chew explains.

Here’s a bit of a breakdown of these features, some of which have already been rolled out:

Google+ Hangouts now inform you when extended circles have been invited to a Hangout or when the Hangout has been switched to public:

Also, you now will know when someone in your Hangout has blocked someone for being annoying, and you can then do the same if you wish:

Finally, if you want to hang out with just adults, not necessarily doing “adult things” that are against Google TOS, you can now set a Hangout to 18+ mode:

These are nice additions to a platform that many are using for business and personal purposes. Of course, Google has signed a deal with the NFL, and Hangouts are being used for fantasy football junkies everywhere.

Bonus points — Chew ended his post with this:

ps. a math joke for you:
q: why did the chicken cross the road?
a: to find a vector orthogonal to itself and the road.

Okily doke, then.

[Photo credit: Flickr]