The popularity of social networking for fathers and families is unmistakable, and Google is making another run at its own brand of social networking with a newer feature called Google Plus (Google+). While Google has tried before to parlay its dominance in the field of Internet search to social networking success, it has not had a robust success. While Google's Buzz product is working in some sectors and competes, albeit not well, with Twitter, its Google Wave was a product that never resonated with social networkers.

And while Google's Orkut product has done well in South America, it has never generated much traction in other areas of the world.

But Google+ is likely to be different. While it looks a lot like Facebook, it has some interesting features and improved mobile connectivity that may make it a good alternative to Facebook for many users.

The features that distinguish Google+ from the competitors are many. A few of the major features that users will like on Google+ include:

Circles. It can sometimes be frustrating to have a lot of friends on Facebook that cross over from one part of life to another. Wall posts that suggest ideas for the next party may not set well with your boss at work, or young adults may not want their parents who are Facebook friends to see all their flirty comments. In Google+, your contacts can be grouped into Circles - one for work, one for family, one for running buddies, etc. Comments made to friends in one circle are not available to friends in other circles. So for dads and young adults, that might be a good thing.

But for dads wanting to keep tabs on your children's social networking, it might give you pause. If your child wants to use Google+ for networking, you will need to make sure you have access to all circles.

Hangouts. I know my young adult son often gets on his Facebook page on a weekend evening to see if some of his friends are getting together. The Hangout feature in Google+ lets you find friends who are in a hangout and then join a video chat with the group. That's kind of cool but again with your children, you need to be a bit more vigilant in keeping track of their friends and being cautious about their hangout groups to make sure that they aren't endangering themselves in an easy video chat environment.

Sparks. Let's say you have an interest in fatherhood (and what good father doesn't?). You can enter "fatherhood" as an interest, and then Google will search the web for the latest news, videos, photos, events and such related to fatherhood and put it up on your Google+ page. This is an interesting service to connect with a social networking application, but it makes it easy to keep up to date on the stuff that interests you and to comment on it for friends and contacts to interact with. With Google's strength in search functions, this is a natural for an application like Google+.

Stream. This feature is similar to Facebook's news feed where you can keep up to date with your friends' status, photos, videos and posts. Not much new here, but it will interface with the Sparks component to make the Stream more robust than the Facebook NewsFeed or the Twitter Timeline.

Huddle. This feature is where Google and your mobile device connect and synergize with each other. Huddle allows you to send group texts to a group of friends, and each text sent goes to everyone's phone or tablet in a Gmail-like conversation. Kids will really like this because multiple conversations can go on at once and everyone sees everything said-just like a virtual version of a table at the local teen hangout.

Photo Sharing. Another mobile-interactive feature of Google+ is the ability to upload photos taken on the mobile phone to a private Google+ photo album. This is one feature that you should be cautious with. Impulsive mobile phone photo posting can lead to some embarrassing pictures if the owner isn't careful.

Will Your Kids Want Google+? Maybe. Given that it is in limited release, the verdict is still out on whether our teens and tweens will embrace Google+ like they have Facebook. Some of the mobile-connection features are cool and might appeal to teens and tweens, but other features like Spark will probably not be too big for them (unless their interest is the latest teen heartthrob).

What Does a Dad Need to Watch For With Google+? Just as with Facebook or any other social networking application, dads need to monitor their children's online presence . Make sure that you have your child's current password so you can see it all. Check your child's cell phone periodically to see what kinds of pictures are being taken and uploaded. And look for ways to use the features to stay connected with the kids. You can Hangout with them for a few minutes when you are out of town to see what is going on and to connect.

The Bottom Line. As Google+ begins to launch and gain traction, it is important for tech savvy dads to stay on top of the development for themselves and for their children. Vigilance in tracking your teens' online presence will become even more critical as more attractive options become available to them.