Google has unveiled a revamp of its social network, Google+, borrowing heavily from rival networks Twitter and Facebook.

The search-engine giant has introduced trending topics and cover pictures, as well as a more “dynamic” navigation menu.

The company said more than 170m people have “upgraded” to the social network so far.

But critics say the number of regular visitors is much lower.

In a blog post, Google’s Vic Gundotra wrote: “It’s still early days, and there’s plenty left to do, but we’re more excited than ever to build a seamless social experience, all across Google.”

He said the new features included “full bleed” media – showing pictures and video in full-size and quality – and “conversation ‘cards’”, which would make it easier to have threaded conversations, similar to the format found in Google’s email service, Gmail.
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