It finally happened. Google has decided to disband it’s fledgling social media channel, Google+. For most, this means absolutely nothing because they weren’t on it or only heard about it vaguely in passing. For others, a feeling of wasted potential and spinning wheels.
Officially, Google is claiming that it is due to “low usage” and “challenges involved with maintaining a successful product that meets expectations.” A second bug at the end of 2018 that caused a security issue affecting nearly 52.5 million users expedited the anticipated shutdown. The bug reportedly gave third party app designers access to Google+ users hidden private information.
They are closing the platform and disabling all APIs and Google+ sign in buttons within the next couple of weeks. All traces of Google+ for personal accounts will be eliminated from the internet.
If you have data saved on Google+, such as pictures, video or documents, you will want to download them elsewhere or back them up to your computer/external hard drive. Any photos or videos that you backed up to Google Photos will NOT be deleted. You will also want to remove any Google+ buttons on your websites or blogs. If you were like most people, you probably only used Google+ as a social channel and won’t have anything saved on there that wasn’t blasted to other outlets.
Google+ had a loyal and fierce following that utilized the benefits of a social platform built and maintained by a major search engine. While an everyday consumer may have opted for the frills and celebs of Facebook and Twitter, businesses and digital marketers saw the fruits of Google’s social baby. In my humble opinion, if Google had put more focus into evolving Google+ and fostering new developments with it, the social channel might have been a behemoth that scared its competitors.
Regardless of what was or should have been, vestiges of Google+ will only remain active in the form of G Suite customers and will cater to businesses. While Google+ may not have been the social Goliath it could have been for the people, it perhaps might be a Titan for businesses and marketing of that nature.
*NOTE: This is NOT Google itself. Only Google Plus – the social media channel. To address concerns coming in from some clients.
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