|
Videos
October 18, 2011 By Chad Vander Veen
“The Google Plus platform is a pathetic afterthought.” These are the words posted by poor Steve Yegge, a Google engineer who late one recent night posted a screed to his own Google Plus profile, mistakenly making the post viewable by everyone. Yegge has since removed the post, which was copied and saved by SiliconFilter.com, and has attempted to explain what happened. To his credit, and to Google’s, he and the company seem to be moving past the mistake.
In Yegge’s post he went on to describe Google Plus as “a knee-jerk reaction, a study in short-term thinking, predicated on the incorrect notion that Facebook is successful because they built a great product.” Yegge argued Facebook succeeds because it is built to make others make it great, whereas Google tried to build a great social network internally.
As much a Yegge likely regrets his errant post, the truth is he seems to be correct. Initially launched as invite-only, Google Plus saw a meteoric rise in traffic, claiming nearly 120 million unique visitors. But since the invite-only period closed, traffic has plunged 60 percent, according to numbers released by data analytics firm Chitika.
Chitika cites two reasons for Google Plus’ sudden descent. First, “the supply of users for social media sites is limited. To survive you must stand out and provide a service that others do not.” Second, “features unique to your site must be just that — unique and difficult to duplicate — if they are not, the competitive advantage quickly disappears.”
Google Plus, Chitika argues, has failed in both respects. Even Google CEO Larry Page went over a month without posting to his Google Plus profile. Page might be among the many users who, once they were over the newness of Google Plus, found few compelling reasons to stay.
In the meantime, Facebook has, some argue, with its latest redesign cannibalized the innovative features of Google Plus, further discouraging people from using Google Plus. The future of GooglePlus hinges on its ability to keep current users engaged and attract new users going forward. But in the world of social networking that’s a tall order — one that may be beyond reach even for Google.
Discussion Starter: What do you think? Do you use Google Plus? Share your comments below.
You may use or reference this story with attribution and a link to
http://www.govtech.com/e-government/Is-Google-Dying.html
.jpg)
What is Big Data? What can it do for you? 
Discover the BI capabilities you already own.
FUD article definitely.
Good article. Not really been all that interested in G . Most of my friends are on FB. I don't see a need to move. Gov't think it is too new to jump on board.
While I am not a G or FB user, I beleive this article is missing some important context. The spike shown is directly associated with Google opening Google to the general public. This explains the spike in the graph, as many people finally had the opportunity to "kick the tires" and then moved on. If you ignore the spike, the story is that opening G to the public had little effect on usage after the first few days.
I would like to see Google succeed. I think G does have a unique feel to it compaired to FB, but Google took too long to make G available. I also think that given time it could be a viable alternative to FB. If it allows use of its sys and apps without forwarding personal info (tracking) to those components, then that alone would be a good reason for me to stick with it. FB now faces lawsuits on that issue.
I wouldn’t write its epitaph just yet. The Peak and decline is due to users trying it and expecting it to be like Facebook; but G fills a different niche, and has a strong following. Facebook's strength is in connecting with people you know personally, but G 's strength is in connecting people with similar interests, even if you don't know them. The G Hangouts are also a great tool for group meetings.
I quit facebook and am only on g and twitter now. while there are significantly less people on g , I actually prefer it. Much less time wasted, no constant checking for updates, and no weirdo relatives or high school alumni trying to track me down.
I believe there will be a renewed interest when G for Businesses is finally launched. The lack of foresight on implementing verified accounts for high-profile users still confuses me; that should have been a very early item in requirements.
I use FB & G for personal use and have never seen them as very different from each other. The features many of my friends thought were unique and appealing about G were already available in FB; I guess people just didn't know how to access or use those features. Since FB has recently made it more difficult to see post in chronological order, the order of posts makes G marginally more appealing to me, but not enough to walk away from FB. I agree with an earlier comment that G for businesses will likely make G more appealing. I am the admin for two non-profit FB pages, and that's really what keeps me going back to FB day after day. As long as I have to be on FB for work, I'll be there for play as well.
Think about it from an entertainment media perspective: there are a finite number of eyeballs out there with a finite number of minutes to devote to online social play. G boasts great utility and nascent potential due to it's integration with the rest of the G experience, but many people have already invested so much time and effort in cultivating their FB network that in practice, FB is still more satisfying, per minute of screen-time. Thanks for the article!
Both of these are fads. Who remembers theglobe.com? And Myspace after that? Adult personals online have been around forever. FAD FAD FAD