Google+ and Facebook updated to improve social interactions

Google+ and Facebook have both been updated with features designed to make it easier for users to interact with one another and post information online.

Google+ users can now manage their contacts by adding them to circles directly from Gmail or Google Contacts, while profile information from Google+ contacts will automatically be added to the services.

Google has also made it easier to upload photos to the site by adding a "share" button alongside the "view" and "download" options when an image is received so it can be instantly added to the site.

Mark Striebeck, an engineering director at Google, explained in a blog post that the updates were based on feedback from users and would make the site easier to use.

"If you use Google+, you can now grow your circles, filter emails and contacts by circles, keep all your contact information up-to-date automatically and share photos to Google+, all right from Gmail and Contacts," he said.

"All of these features (and the more to come) are the result of the great discussion that we had on Google+ with users in July."

The firm will be rolling out the changes to Gmail and Gmail Contacts in the next few days.

Meanwhile, Facebook has announced the ability for firms to add a "Subscribe" button to their sites so web users can follow their brand, or an individual, on Facebook without having to navigate to the site.

"Once clicked the user will begin seeing the public posts of the person they have subscribed to in his or her News Feed," Facebook engineer Stoyan Stefanov said in a blog post.

"The subscribe action is also shared, allowing others to subscribe directly via the News Feed stories, and further increasing viral distribution."

The tool can be added to sites using either XFBML code or an iframe, and runs on a JavaScript SDK that Stefanov said offers "dynamic resizing and the ability to act on subscribe events in real time".

The updates come on the same day that Twitter started a huge revamp of its site, offering an improved layout, the ability for brands to create dedicated pages and the option to embed messages on other sites.