Google’s strategy of opening Google+ only as a limited beta to invited users – similar to the way it introduced gmail accounts – was a whopping success. After the company opened membership in Google+ to the public last week membership soared to 50 million, a 1,269 percent growth in one week, acccording to Experian Hitwise.
Google’s second entry into the social media space was a success from the start, attracting 10 million users just about instantly.
By comparison, Facebook needed three years to grab 25 million members and Twitter about 30 months. Does this suggest that the time it takes for a social network to achieve success is contracting as users become familiar with them? Or was it that Google learned from each of the others – in particular its own previous attempt to launch a social network?
Experian notes that “early adopters” still make up most of Google+ members, but it is acquiring about 2 million new users daily.
We’re already seeing some Google+ fatigue among the early adopters we follow. Some of those liked it better when it was more focused and exclusive and like it less now that the multitudes are starting to use it.
We find it more professionally useful than any of the other social networks, but while many of our Facebook friends are also on Google+, we haven’t begun using it on a more personal level, and neither have they. One of our friends commented about it on Facebook, saying, “I have yet to have a conversation on Google+.
We think it is a different animal than Facebook, although if our experience is any guide there, the host of changes Facebook institutes on what seems like a monthly basis, privacy concerns, and the way many of us just added anyone who asked when we joined, may cut into the now dominant social network’s lead.
The Facebook Timeline feature, for instance, and the way it lists what you watch or read or listen to on Facebook connected sites is just intrusive and requires users to go into the privacy settings and turn off those features if they don’t care for them. We share what we want to share on Facebook and do not want Facebook deciding that for us. — Allan Maurer
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Tags: differences between Google Plus and Facebook, Experian Hitwise, facebook, Google+ growth soars, social network fatique, twitter
I wonder how successful google+ will be especially since Facebook dominates the social media scene. The thing is, even if I find google+ to be much better, if all my “friends” are still on FB, then I wouldn’t switch to google +.