There were social features. Since it used google accounts, there was a large base of people who were able to like your shared news items (IIRC). I didn't have

There were social features. Since it used google accounts, there was a large base of people who were able to like your shared news items (IIRC). I didn't have a large following, but I would see people liking my shared feed items from time to time, and they could subscribe to your feed (IIRC).