Google+ looks to ape Twitter with suggested user list

Google is planning to implement a suggested user list on its growing Google+ social networking platform in a direct mimicking of Twitter to help increase connections between users on the site.

Writing on Twitter, Google's vice president of product, Bradley Horowitz, said the company hopes that those with very large numbers of followers will have a role to play in developing the function.

"We're about to pilot a 'suggested user'-like mechanism on Google+. If you've got more than 100k followers on Twitter, DM me - let's talk!", he wrote.

Responding to a question on the site about his message, Horowitz gave a little more information about why he wants to speak to those with thousands of followers.

"Didn't say it was based on anything ... just that I'm open to talking to and learning from some of Twitter's top users," he added.

Google has copied Twitter before, launching verified account badges for profiles owned by celebrities.

Google+ has been a successful launch for Google. Over 18 million people signed up in the first three weeks as the company looked to establish a foothold in the social market to compete with Twitter and, chiefly, Facebook.

However, Google needs to continue this success to compete with Facebook on social search, an area predicted to see huge growth as internet users increasingly request data based on social information.