Since June 2011 at least once a month someone will ask me… Why are you using Google+ as my primary social network?
The people who ask me this question are the same people who fear being ridiculed for using G+ from the people they feel are their friends.
While it is true Google+ is not for everyone it is for people who value the limited time they have to spend online. Why more people are not using Google+ is obviously based on Google…or Alphabet… not marketing Google+. If they did more people would see Google+’s real value.
If the influencers of social media would look at the real numbers of users for each social network…which you can’t because nobody wants anyone to know the real number of users… you would see there are far more real people using Google+.
Something You Should Know
Officially, Google+ has more than 2.5 billion users, which would make it by far the largest social network in the world, with almost twice as many members as Facebook. However, even Google doesn’t peddle this line.
True, not every user uses Google+ and True, not every user is as active as they could…or should…be.
So what if only a few million people actively posting to the public stream, you would have to wonder why G+ still exists.
Google+ Still Alive and WELL
For starters, there are probably far more than a few million eyeballs on the Google+ stream each month. My Guitar Awesomeness Collection gets a lot of attention.
Even Facebook and Twitter users of social media rarely post anything and just read others’ posts. These “lurkers” are just as valuable to Google advertisers as “active” users, but it’s very difficult to estimate their numbers.
There’s also a lot of private sharing done on Google+ that isn’t accounted for in any report, especially when it comes to things like sharing photographs with family which Google+ does better than the other social networks. 90% of my posts on Google+ are done to my Prive Collections for the Texas Rangers and Guitar Awesomeness. The private collections are the best way to keep the Trolls out.
So, despite the fact that Google+’s stream does actually appear to a few people to be a relative wasteland, don’t expect it to go away anytime soon. Google+ posts still receive prominent placement in Google Search which none of the other social networks can match. This means, the reward for posting something of relevant interest on Google+ is immediate placement on a Google Search on that subject. Kinda rewarding to see you G+ post on a restaurant listed in a Google Map search.
So that is why after 7 years I am still using Google+. You should as well. As far as for you who say they only use Facebook because that is where their “Friends and Family” are located. My answer to that is if they are truly Friends and Family they would be on Google+ if they knew you were only there…at least that is what my real Friends and Family did.
I have a feeling Google has some plans for Google+ that will showcase what G+ can offer everyone.
Google to Launch “Brand New” Version of Google Plus on Android
Google is still refusing to let Google+ die
Google+ won’t go away
Let me know how I can help.
