I was explaining the concept of Google+ to my 14-year-old daughter. At least, I was attempting to. Every feature as I expressed it was met with something like, “So? You can do that on Facebook, too.” Or “Facebook allows that.” And “That’s not new. Facebook has something similar.”
Did I mention she’s a hardcore Facebook user? Who doesn’t see the value in yet another social network? Who doesn’t get the point of why she should care? In terms of her skepticism, she was worse than the most hard-shelled CEO.
Google+ is the new kid on the block, of course. What’s the skinny for marketers? We offered some thoughts on that here.
Also, check out this video. It tells the the story of Google+ cleanly and simply, and I think sums it up nicely for anyone … be they 14 or 40. To put this video in some context, here are Google+ usage numbers from Experian Hitwise, for the week ending July 23:
- Google+ received more than 1.79M total visits the week ending July 23, 2011—a decrease of 3% vs. the previous week (July 16). The site received 1.86M total visits the previous week.
- The average time spent on the site was down as well by 10% from 5 minutes and 50 seconds to 5 minutes and 15 seconds.
- Among the top 50 Upstream sites, 59% of Upstream traffic to Google+ last week came from other Google properties. Google.com accounted for 37% of Upstream traffic to the site. Gmail accounted 15.59%, a 9% increase from previous week.
- 40% of Upstream traffic to Google+ last week came from Search Engines (8% increase). Email provided the 2nd largest amount of Upstream traffic accounting for 19%.
- 59% of visits to Google+ are from males, that is a 4% increase from previous week (4 weeks ending July 23).
- Among age demos, 33% of visits are from users age 25 to 34.
Brands aren’t actually allowed on Google+ yet, but some (like Ford Motor Company) are already anticipating it. So—shiny new toy or significant new social network? Or both? You decide:
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Tags: Google, Google owns everything, google plus, marketers, Social networking, social networks
The video is hilarious, until you think about it. Yes, we’ll end up using Google apps in the long run. But we are then putting a lot of eggs in one basket.
And don’t forget, in Feb 2011, 150,000 gmail accounts disappeared, and 40,000 of them are still missing. Google servers can and will go down, and our info could very well go with it next time that happens.
And Facebook’s servers are rock solid. Except of course Mark Zuckerberg’s account. That can be hacked.
But seriously, Google Apps and Google+ are not necessarily putting all your eggs in one basket. No more then using adwords and analytics are in the same basket.
Only 15% of Facebook users are heavy users. Based on Compete’s unique visitors per month and unique visits total of the 67 million who log into Facebook today in the US only 22mil spend any significant time on the site. Facebook will never admit this because it hurts their market value. In fact the activity levels for most users on Facebook is pretty poor. I estimate while they might have 700mil accounts, only 100mil are what the network really is all about.
Not sure how Google + will change this. If they focus on a great person to person comm platform they have a chance. If they think polluting the platform with brands and marketing like Facebook did is the way to go they will fall on their face. I am actually lobbying against Brand pages and anything that pollutes my stream/feed.
Let’s face it. Have you ever heard anyone ever say ‘The reason I use Twitter or Facebook because the brands I love are there?’ It has never been said.
Can’t say I agree with you that brands have “polluted” Facebook. I’m more bugged by my stream being polluted by people I avoided in high school, and now… well, there they are.
Ann,
Laughed at the “polluted by people I avoided in H.S.” Funny because it’s true. Still on the fence about G+ Like the prospect of having deeper conversations with people that straddle that business/acquaintance line instead of bringing them into facebook, which I reserve for pals. I predict my Facebook friend behavior will dictate whether I use both networks or go all in with the other. My sense is, if I had to explain G+ to my dad, non-techie pals, and people already comfortable at Facebook not only would their head explode, I’d feel like I should be compensated for doing all of Google’s heavy lifting in an already overloaded schedule. So…G+ has given me yet another place to engage with smart people, which is a blessing and a curse. I tend to agree with your daughter…if Facebook can satisfy most of these needs, people will stay where they are comfortable for now….until, as the video notes, we will all bow to the alter of G+ as the only place where everything you need lives. In the case of knowledge seekers like you and me…we can use it to have deeper conversations with people to broaden our view on things…and share it.
Although…if I were being a true contrarian, I’d point out that I just did that via Twitter, LinkedIn Today and on your blog, without visiting G+ And…if I really needed to get deep on the topic, I’d probably go way old school, look for your phone number and give you a call.
Great post.
Cheers,
mark
Great video and stats!
The problem? Facebook and even Google+ won’t be hot social networks after 10 years or so… that’s because my son, who is now 3, won’t want to use what his dad is using. He’ll be like “what? you use [fill in the blank]? Not me!”.
The big question is whether the social networks of today can survive the next generation of users.
There was Orkut, then Friendster, MySpace, Facebook, Google+…. who knows?
LOL.. true enough, Daniel. Although FB seems to be one brand that transcends generations more easily than the others. My kids use it heavily still despite the fact that I (and every other parent!) is there. So in other words, I think it’s possible that multiple generations can embrace the same platform.
Interesting video. But this STILL doesn’t answer your daughter’s — or my — question. So What? I’m set up on fb. I don’t put incriminating pictures etc. there — and I wouldn’t, even if I could show them to only a small group of people (which, I might actually be able to do in fb. I’m not sure). Why should I go through the time and effort to change? Especially why should I go through the time and effort to change before everyone else has already changed?
How did it not answer your question…? G+ is inherently more flexible. Yes, it requires building a new network, as you suggest. But I see that as an opportunity to shed some of the baggage inherent in FB… not a burden.
You might feel differently, and that’s perfectly ok. Maybe G+ isn’t for you. But my point was merely that the video explains the difference.
BTW, I can see G+ and FB coexisting peacefully in my world. I don’t necessarily see it as an either-or. Again, in my world.
I can not be all of who I am on Facebook. I don’t want my family to know about everything I do and everyone I know. And my more radical friends don’t need to hear about what the aunt I just visited is growing in her garden, although my mom would enjoy that information.
It is not just social networks that are more multifaceted than Facebook allows. Human identity is, too. I can not be all of who I am on Facebook. I loved this video. I’m on my way to Google+ to check it out.
Google+ is going great guns right out of the gate, with the site starting out far better than rivals Facebook, Twitter and Myspace did.
Google+, the social network Google launched just over a month ago, already has more than 25 million visitors, according to Comscore, an Internet traffic watcher.
Comscore said Google+ hit the 25 million visitor mark just shy of its one-month birthday.
http://www.shapercorset.com/ Give me Google+! Thank you!
So – resistance is futile…?
Google+ is like the grownups trying to come up with something cool ‘for the kids’ before the kids do!
Unfortunately, it never works that way. That’s why your daughter was so unimpressed.
Just the fact that you need to try to logically explain to her why she SHOULD like Google+ just proves this may be a losing battle.
Her response was similar to mine – “so what?”
Not that Google+ isn’t good! It’s definitely a very good site…but really, I’ve seen it and all it looks like to me is like 1/2 a Facebook.
It’s got the “Circles” idea, which is cool – but I don’t know, just doesn’t blow me away (imo)
We all eventually jumped to FB years ago because we were on Myspace…and Myspace had become a very, very messy place (depending on whose profiles you visited). FB was a great alternative to that.
FB to Google+ though just doesn’t have that giant, recognizable difference.
A bunch of people are on G+ now, yes, and I know you’ll want to compare it to FB’s “humble beginnings”, but FB was being used in every college around the world before most of us ‘out of school’ had heard of it, while “usage time” on G+ is already down among its users.
Ann – great post. one word .. scary. However, it does reinforce the concept that a social network maybe here today and gone tomorrow .. a la MySpace and who remembers Jaiku? Best to build a social media strategy that takes into consideration business goals versus shiny toys.