What is Google Currents? How to use Google's new enterprise app to communicate with all your colleagues

Google Currents is Google's latest take on enterprise-focused communication apps. Think of it like Slack, but made by and for Google users.

While the name is relatively new (the rebranding launch occurred on July 6, 2020), Google Currents is actually an update to Google+ for G Suite, Google's now-defunct social network, which Google deactivated in 2019. 

Confusingly, this isn't the first Google product called Google Currents. Subscribers to the original Google Currents had access to digital versions of print magazines. 

The service was short-lived, and only operated from 2011 to 2013. Some of the key features of Currents were merged with Google Play Magazines and the app was discontinued. This new version of Google Currents is unrelated to the older version.

Here's everything you need to know about the new Google Currents.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

G Suite for Business (From $12.99 at Google)

How to use Google Currents

You can think of Google Currents as a digital bulletin board for your organization. It allows users to post messages to the entire company, to specific groups and organizations within the company, as well as direct messages to specific coworkers. 

These messages can contain images and documents from Google Drive. Here are some of the service's key features:

• One of the key concepts in Currents is a Stream. Streams are created by administrators to bring focus to posts related to important topics – a stream might be created to capture information about annual performance reviews or an upcoming campaign, for example, or collect all the announcements from the leadership team. Users can find all their streams and switch among them from the navigation pane on the Streams home page. 

• Google Currents supports Communities, which are specially curated groups that post about specific topics – these can be focused on particular business goals or can be extracurricular interests to help coworkers bond, share information, and be more engaged. 

• Streams also makes extensive use of tagging. Tags let coworkers quickly find and browse posts of interest. Both administrators and users can create tags, and add them to posts. When users create posts, they can assign tags that make them easier for people to find — the search box allows you to search for tags, topics, users, and more.

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