Google+ Now Lets You Record Video Status Updates

Google+ Now Lets You Record Video Status Updates

The Google+ team just announced that it has launched the ability for Google+ users to record video status updates. The service, of course, already allowed users to upload videos from their cell phones and to share videos from a variety of services like YouTube and Vimeo. Now, however, you can just record your own video right on the site and share it with the world (or just a few of your friends, if you prefer).

According to Google engineer Shana Gitnick, this feature is meant to make "video a bit more fun." All you have to do to get started is to authorize the Flash plugin to access your webcam and you're good to go. There are no editing features as of now, though. It's also not clear how long these videos are allowed to be. The 

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The Very Short History of Video Status Update Services

Video-based status update services are nothing new, of course, and Facebook, too, lets you record updates right from your webcam. Seesmic, in its first incarnation, was fully focused on video status updates before it pivoted. Others, including 12seconds.tv, for example, also didn't survive for long.

The reason for this? Even today, though, most people don't feel fully comfortable in front of a camera (as Seesmic, for example, quickly realized before it pivoted). Because of this, I assume that this will remain a niche feature for the time being.