It was 2011. Facebook was the great social network to beat, living a sweet moment in which we could find, among its users, from gentlemen to teenagers. Google could not miss the opportunity to have its own social network. A priori, it seemed like a winning horse, since the company had a huge amount of personal data that could be transferred to configure the new social network. So that we understand each other: if you had an account in Google, you had an account in this new social network. In this way it creates Google+, a tool that we could qualify as a hybrid between Twitter and Facebook and in which we could integrate other Google services such as YouTube.
Google+: circles, security breaches, and ultimate failure
The operation of Google+ was, at first contact, somewhat disconcerting. Its entire interface, which was quite similar to a news RSS manager, was based on so-called 'circles' . The user could create circles to add to their contacts in order of closeness or intimacy. So when sharing something, you just had to choose your personal circle on the fly. What seemed like a foreseeable triumph has ended in 'tragedy'.
8 years later, things have changed a lot. In the last year, the social network created by Mark Zuckerberg has lost no less than 9 million users, teenagers see this social network as a space for gentlemen and, packing their suitcases, they fled to Instagram, which is experiencing moments of glory after 'adopting' the ephemeral story mode created by Snapchat. And Google+ has just shut down.
Google has declared, without hot cloths, that the reason for the closure of its social network Google+ is due to 'low use' and, also, due to various failures and breaches in its security that could have put tens of millions of users in danger, even without them knowing that they had an account on a social network. A case similar to the Amazon Prime user who is stunned when he discovers that he can watch dozens of series and had no idea. There were, in particular, two cases that were the last straw for the Google social network. The first was kept secret for months and caused Google+ to have a definitive closing day dated. The second and last accelerated said closure, scheduled for August, ahead of April of this year.
Who is to blame for the failure of Google+?
In addition to all this, Google has also affirmed that its project of having its own social network has not gone as expected, neither in the progressive growth of users nor in the acquisition of professional clients. The data released is devastating: according to the Internet giant, 90% of the people who entered Google+ did not spend more than five seconds inside. One of the reasons why the user was suspicious of the Google social network was its tremendous intrusion, roughly, in his life. Google+ forced the user to open an account to comment on other company services, such as YouTube. Google, unknowingly, was digging the grave of a social network beloved by certain communities, mainly because this system of circles is quite similar to how we organize our social life in reality.
Yesterday began the definitive closure of Google+. The process of completely deleting all accounts can take months, according to the company. We hope you have been cautious and have saved all your photos and videos before closing.