Google has launched its answer to Twitter's trending topics, called What's Hot, for Google+.

As described the video above, What's Hot collects the most popular publicly shared items from across Google+. The feature sits on the left-hand side of users' Google+ streams.

Google also launched a very cool infographic for each public post, called Ripples, meaning you can see how your post spread like wildfire across the fledgling social network. Reports that this feature was inspired by this dissident Googler's accidental misfire are as yet unconfirmed.

Google+ users – yes, there is more than 40 million of you – can also edit their uploaded photographs as part of the new features rolled out across the service on Thursday. And hello, crusty Google Apps users, you can now join Google+ too. This could lead to the video element Hangout - shared video chats - becoming used inside enterprises which have got Google Apps. (It's also something that Google Apps users have been champing at the bit to get.)

What's Hot might just be the biggest update to Google+ yet. It promises to change the social network from a rather formal, bare, insipid place, into a more vibrant, live information-sharing environment – like Twitter, but with more words.

Vic Gundotra, Google's senior vice president of engineering, alluded to Google+'s need to expand in his post on the company's blog: "Google+ users share and receive billions of items every day—on a wide range of topics, in nearly every country. Circles give you a personal lens on all this activity, helping you focus on updates from your family or your favourite celebrities," he said.

"But sometimes you want to know what the world is so excited about. Whether it's breaking news or beautiful photos, you just don't want to miss anything. With this in mind, we're launching 'What's Hot' on Google+, a new place to visit for interesting and unexpected content."