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Google Now Boasts World's No. 2 and No. 3 Social Networks

redletterdave writes "A new report released Monday revealed that Google+, less than a year and a half after its public debut, is now the No. 2 social network in the world with 343 million active users. Even better for Google, YouTube, which had not previously been tracked as a social network until recently, is now the No. 3 social network in the world with about 300 million active users. Google Plus and YouTube are being used by 25 percent and 21 percent of the global Internet populace, respectively."

103 of 150 comments (clear)

  1. Youtube is more a number 2 by jaymz666 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Youtube is more a number 2 in terms of content being dumped out by the commenters

    1. Re:Youtube is more a number 2 by YodasEvilTwin · · Score: 1

      No one said that.

    2. Re:Youtube is more a number 2 by sidthegeek · · Score: 3, Funny

      Normally this would be spam, but the irony of this comment is not lost on me. :-)

    3. Re:Youtube is more a number 2 by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 1

      "Youtube is more a number 2 in terms of content being dumped out by the commenters"

      I don't doubt that it's #2, or maybe 3. But question the numbers of "active users".

      What's an "active user"? Somebody who comments? Somebody who uses their Google ID to log in to other sites?

      I have little doubt that I am classed as an "active user", even though I don't think I've used my Google account for anything BUT to log in to other sites.

  2. Where's /. on that list? by oodaloop · · Score: 3, Funny

    42?

    --
    Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
    1. Re:Where's /. on that list? by Maxx169 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Not sure /. is that far behind Digg anymore.

    2. Re:Where's /. on that list? by caspy7 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Not sure /. is that far behind Digg anymore.

      Not sure if *anyone* is behind Digg anymore.

  3. Not much competition by s.petry · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Not to belittle what Google has done and purchased, but what other options were and are there? Google was supposed to be more secure than 1 other social network company. It is, though many distrust Google as much as they distrust Facebook when it comes to releasing information to Governments. Youtube was acquired, and for "Movies" and "Videos" was already a healthy and stable company. If it was launched as a social media site, I doubt it would have the depth it does. An alternative would have popped up in my opinion.

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    1. Re:Not much competition by Moridineas · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well there's Orkut...

      Oh wait.

    2. Re:Not much competition by BasilBrush · · Score: 2

      Well there's Twitter.

      They are claiming that Google+ has more active users than Twitter. Clearly that isn't so, and therefore there's either some gross error in their methodology, or Google is paying them to say that.

    3. Re:Not much competition by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 1

      I have to ask what they mean by "active users", because although I have a G+ account and like the UI and features, *NONE* of my so-called-friends use it. None.

      --
      If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
    4. Re:Not much competition by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      Twitter is a social network.

      They are trying to claim that Google+ has more active users than Twitter. Clearly that isn't so, so there's either something wrong with their methodology, or Google are paying them to say that.

      One possible error with their methodology is if they are counting YouTube users twice. Once as a user of YouTube, and then also because Google has tricked YouTube users into being Google+ members.

    5. Re:Not much competition by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I trust Google not to release more information to governments than they have to, but people need to understand that Google must comply with legal requests for information from the governments of countries they have operations in. I don't know if Facebook is any better or worse in this regard. The thing is I absolutely trust Google not to sell my information to any other company, Google knows the value of the information and knows it is more valuable kept to themselves, that way they can take a cut every time a company wants to advertise to a specific type of user, if they sell the users information then other companies will be able to target ads as effectively as Google does and Google's ad network will lose its advantage. Facebook on the other hand I do not trust to keep my information to themselves, I'm sure they'd rather get a quick buck now than play the long game like Google does, and they don't seem to care much about their reputation.

      Don't get me wrong, just because I trust Google more than Facebook, that doesn't mean I'm willing to give up all my information to them. I do limit my exposure to Google and have refused Google's requests for me to sign up to Google+. If I was interested in social networking I might actually consider Google+, although I would prefer a trustworthy non-Google option, but I certainly won't touch Facebook with a bargepole.

    6. Re:Not much competition by fermion · · Score: 1

      Google+ is only at the top because Google tried to log everyone who is logged onto Google onto Google+. I wonder how many 'active' users do anything on Google+. I know that I have linked a profile to Google+, occasionally do have to log onto Google to get something done, but have not done anything on Google+ since the first few weeks where I was checking it out.

      --
      "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
    7. Re:Not much competition by Clsid · · Score: 1

      I agree, they are doing the same thing that Microsoft did with Internet Explorer. I might be part of those 300 million yet I never use Google+.

    8. Re:Not much competition by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 1

      Given how many people use gmail I'm sure Google+ has more people that have an account but they need to find a way to determine how many people actually want to use Google+

    9. Re:Not much competition by s.petry · · Score: 1

      That is probably accurate. I have reviewed lots of things on Youtube, but would have never signed up and would be completely anonymous if they did not force me to use my G+ account for access. While I don't mind watching movies of kitten boxing, I'm not about to start composing and posting such things...

      --

      -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    10. Re:Not much competition by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I think you have Google + confused with Google Buzz. Google Buzz suddenly made everyone a default active user, google plus hasn't done that.

      By the same token, I don't post anything on facebook anymore. I lurk every now and then, but nothing worth posting to all of my friends. G+ makes it easier to send out missives that are targeted at a specific group of friends.

    11. Re:Not much competition by aNonnyMouseCowered · · Score: 1

      I think the deceptive part is that G+ and YouTube were counted separately. There should be a huge overlap between users of G+, YouTube, GMail, and Android/Google Play activations. While still invariably spammed, YouTube stats should be a more reliable indicator of Google's worth as a social networking provider, No. 2 by a nose.

      As far as businesses are concerned, a YouTube channel would be more valuable than a Twitter feed. Of course, as a raw source of user-generated, rather than machine-farmed, information, Twitter still leads the search giant, that is until Google figures out a way to convert its moving pictures into their proverbial thousand words.

    12. Re:Not much competition by Segisaurus · · Score: 1

      They count public posts. Now that G+ has communities and they are all by default public postings, I can see G+ jumping up the rankings. All the previous studies that talked about how G+ was struggling also looked at public postings only. I've been using G+ since it was still invite only. I and the hundreds of folks in my circles were not posting publicly so as far as anyone could tell my account was unused. Now I have a lot of public posts as I'm very active in my communities.

      Twitter and Facebook are public postings by default so it has been easier for these third parties to try to determine how active the user base is at those sites.

    13. Re:Not much competition by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      Facebook posts are not public by default.

      If Google+ has changed it to be that way, that's merely a symptom of the fact that no-one can find many friends on there.

      I know about 4 people that tried it out in the early days. No one continued.

      It's clear this analyst is measuring it incorrectly. And usually that's because someone's paying. In this case clearly it's Google that's paying. It's PR, nothing more.

    14. Re:Not much competition by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 2

      I use G+.

      Facebook is for jokes, memes, family stuff. Little of consequence.

      On G+ I interact with the engineers, kernel developers, cryptographers and other work related connections beyond my immediate employer.

      There's a simple work/play divide between G+ and Facebook and that separation is good.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    15. Re:Not much competition by peawormsworth · · Score: 1

      I trust Google not to release more information to governments than they have to, but people need to understand that Google must comply with legal requests for information from the governments of countries they have operations in. I don't know if Facebook is any better or worse in this regard.

      Google and Facebook get paid money to provide information to the courts and other legal entities. It is in their financial interest to receive and comply to these requests. IMO, they make sure your data remains in a clear text and less secure format then it could otherwise be just to be sure that they can charge the service fees to provide the requested information. For example, why doesnt Gmail have an encryption function for gmail to gmail correspondence?

      Facebook on the other hand I do not trust to keep my information to themselves, I'm sure they'd rather get a quick buck now than play the long game like Google does, and they don't seem to care much about their reputation.

      Im not suggesting your wrong. However, Ive never seen the page on facebook where a company could request to purchase information about a user. It seems that if Facebook was making money by selling user information to corporations, that it would be pretty easy to supply proof of that, as Facebook would need to market this service to corporations and make it available to be requested. Where is the proof? I have yet to see any report from any company or a whistleblower showing that Facebook is providing this as a paid service. Maybe Im wrong. Maybe facebook is selling private information to the highest bidder. If so, please provide me with the link, I would like to read about it.

      So far, all I see is corporations with low moral standards requesting private passwords to collect this information themselves directly from the users.

  4. YouTube users now Google+ users by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Not too long ago, YouTube asked me if I wanted to change my YouTube name to something else.
    I thought 'Sure, why not.'
    And out of nowhere, I became a Google+ user.
    For a couple of months now, they've been tricking YouTube users into getting Google+ accounts.

    1. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by Etherized · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It seems as if this is what a lot of "Google+ users" actually are - people who use other google products which have Google+ integration that they trick people into activating. In addition to youtube they do the same trick for Picasa, instant upload on Android, gmail chat, and probably others that I am not aware of.

      I actually like Google+ well enough, but I think their reports of its user base are greatly exaggerated.

    2. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      +1. At first, I wondered how Google+ had so many users. I signed up for an account just to check it out. Then I remember seeing the whole real name thing. This is PR and an attempt to resuscitate the social network.

    3. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by Anubis+IV · · Score: 5, Informative

      Exactly. Note also that they merely claimed they were "active users", but that what defines a user as "active" is a rather open definition if you go all the way back to the original report ("Used or contributed to in the past month"). If all that is necessary to be considered active is to use a Google service that is linked to your G+ account (e.g. Google search returns personalized results based on links shared by your G+ friends, which are (frustratingly) turned on by default), then more and more people are becoming active users every day without even realizing that they are being counted as such, for precisely the reasons you specified. Google keeps presenting it as a simple account upgrade or transition to a new system, rather than the user signing up for a new account entirely, which is entirely deceptive and unethical.

      Moreover, the idea that there are actually 343M active users on G+ flies in the face of everything most of us know about the network, which is that the place is a virtual ghost town. Claiming that it has roughly half of the active user base of Facebook (343M vs. 693M) simply doesn't ring true and should have sent up a number of red flags for the research group. That YouTube has that many users comes as no surprise. But I don't see how a social network that most people still haven't even heard of can possibly be more popular than the most popular video sharing site that gets linked to and shared every single day, or half as popular as the social network that's used by nearly one in seven people worldwide.

    4. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by Zeromous · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Spoken like someone who hasn't been to G+ in eons, thinks beast live there.

      --
      ---Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A START
    5. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by Zeromous · · Score: 1

      Ack responded to wrong post.

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      ---Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A START
    6. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by bradgoodman · · Score: 2
      Absolutley.

      I tried G+ when it first came out. No one I know activley uses it, but everyone has *tried* it. I still get notifications and spam from it from Gmail, etc.

      I don't know if they'd consider me an "active user" or not.

      Unless there is some other parallel universe out there where everyone uses G+ instead of Facebook - I don't trust the numbers. *EVERYONE* I know uses Facebook, and *NO ONE* uses G+. I might be off by a *few* people in this statement - but it's not *much* of an overstatement.

    7. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by History's+Coming+To · · Score: 1

      Ah...I wondered why they were suddenly so keen to get my real name - I presumed it was simply integrating Google Accounts but using it to boost G+ figures makes a lot more sense. I would be on G+, but I don't sign up to any service which requires my real name without very good reason. If Google ever really need my real name it's right there in my Gmail address and a decades-worth of emails. They know where to find me when they change their minds.

      --
      Please consider this account deleted, I just can't be bothered with the spam anymore.
    8. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by History's+Coming+To · · Score: 2

      You can simply deactivate your G+ account and leave the rest of your services intact, I did exactly that when the real name policy was introduced - it's an overly complicated and nerve-wracking experience however, get it wrong and you can lose a lot of data.

      --
      Please consider this account deleted, I just can't be bothered with the spam anymore.
    9. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by swillden · · Score: 1

      It seems as if this is what a lot of "Google+ users" actually are - people who use other google products which have Google+ integration that they trick people into activating

      Note that the report data supposedly does not come from the companies who own the products being measured. Unfortunately the methodology isn't described. Does anyone know how the "Global Web Index" data is collected? Most methods I can think of would not be fooled by the kind of "fake" engagement you're describing.

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    10. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by aztracker1 · · Score: 1

      I think they are really mis-representing numbers... I'm logged into, and use iGoogle as my home page (can't believe they are nuking it), and always have the G+ on the top-right toolbar on google sites. That said, I'm far from active on G+ itself... I don't mind the integrated user experience, I kind of wish, however, that I could bind multiple accounts (say a google apps account to my @gmail account), so that I don't have to log in/out to use them... and having them in the same gmail screen would be nice. All of that said, what google does provide works for me, and I'm less inclined to use google's services for my own domains anymore.

      --
      Michael J. Ryan - tracker1.info
    11. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by swillden · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Moreover, the idea that there are actually 343M active users on G+ flies in the face of everything most of us know about the network, which is that the place is a virtual ghost town.

      That depends entirely on who you circle or -- more importantly -- has circled you. It appears to me that the vast majority of Google+ posts are not public.

      Personally, my stream contains far more content than I can possibly keep up with. Only about a third of it is from personal friends or family, though. Most is from communities I'm a member of and various other people and projects I follow. If you're interested in Linux, for example, all of the major developers post on Google+.

      For my usage, I much prefer Google+ to FB. The volume of content on Google+ is lower (but still more than I can actually read), but the quality is much higher. I dumped my FB account a while ago. However, my wife has maintained hers because there are a lot of people in our families who aren't on G+ so she uses FB to follow them, and tells me what I need to know. If I couldn't get that second-hand, I'd probably have to use both.

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    12. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by afgam28 · · Score: 1

      If you RTFA, it measures usage in terms of "Active Usage" (defined as "Used or contributed to in the past month"), not number of accounts. So unless Google is somehow tricking them into posting on G+, I don't think this particular study is exaggerated.

    13. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by assertation · · Score: 1

      Every few weeks when I log into YouTube it asks if I want to use my real name. Before I can actually get to YouTube I have to fill out why I do not. The graphics make it highly easy to switch to a real name and not so easy to opt out. Google does something similar with email accounts when you login. They want your cellphone number. The options to put it in are Big, Bright and In Your Face. The link to just go to your account is small enough you have to look at the screen for a second or two to see it.

    14. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      I know more poeple who don't use Facebook and who have unactive accounts there than those who actually use Facebook. Maybe my social circle is too small though, or I don't hang out with enough kids but I just don't see facebook as an "everyone" sort of place. If Google+ is accused of inflating its numbers then Facebook is doing the exact same thing.

      I've been on Google+ awhile and have never once seen any spam. I don't have gmail though or any other Google "services".

    15. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by paul.hatchman · · Score: 1

      I change between multiple accounts all the time. The drop-down at the top-right of the screen lets you change which of your google accounts is active.

    16. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by buanzo · · Score: 1

      Exactly. +1

      --
      Buanzo Consulting - 15 Years of GNU/Linux experience, for you.
    17. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by interkin3tic · · Score: 1

      Judging by what I've seen of the ... ahem... youtube community, I would think they should be tricking youtube commenters OUT of google plus.

    18. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by blind+biker · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Moreover, the idea that there are actually 343M active users on G+ flies in the face of everything most of us know about the network, which is that the place is a virtual ghost town.

      Au contraire, it's a very lively and information-packed place, with all kinds of content and discussions going on all the time, every hour of the day. But hte problem is, nobody is sharing anything with you, because you haven't circled anyone on G+, and/or they haven't circled you back. It's like going to visit your acquaintance Frank, and before even entering you declare his house to be dark, and then go around telling everybody that "Frank's house is so dark". Well yeah, it's dark you douchebag cunt piece of shit cunt, it's dark because you didn't switch on the light, shit-for-brains.

      --
      "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
    19. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      That depends entirely on who you circle or -- more importantly -- has circled you. It appears to me that the vast majority of Google+ posts are not public.

      Oh, no doubt. But I'd imagine that the majority of the activity is clustered around a set of communities, rather than representing widespread adoption in the general population of the world. As it is, they're claiming that roughly one in twenty people worldwide have used G+ in the last month, which is ludicrously large for a service that's known by so few in the general public. For the time I was using it, I enjoyed G+'s metaphors and layout better than Facebook's, but the same sort of concerns that pushed me into closing my Facebook account (their releasing my info or compelling me to release it) are what drove me to close my G+ account as well.

      Hell, when I read the headline, I thought it was going to say that Orkut had cracked the #2 spot and that G+ was a distant third. I'd find that more believable.

    20. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by Etherized · · Score: 1

      The thing is, Google is actually transitioning at least some of their services to use Google+ for all "sharing" purposes under the hood. I know this is true in the case of Picasa at least - Picasa as most people will see it is now simply a part of Google+. (I believe it's still technically possible to not use Google+ for sharing things in Picasa, but G+ is the default, and most people using Picasa at this point are "contributing" to Google+).

      Are other Google services doing this? It's hard to really know what counts, since the authors of the survey don't reveal their methodology or describe what specifically they're actually counting. I'd be incredibly surprised if Picasa didn't "count" as "Active Usage" though.

    21. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by ArtDent · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure about this third-party report, but Google actually reports separate numbers:

      - People who have Google+ profiles
      - People who use Google+ features every month (including via other Google products)
      - People who use the Google+ stream every month

      At the beginning of December, those numbers were 500 million, 235 million, and 135 million (source: http://googleblog.blogspot.ca/2012/12/google-communities-and-photos.html). Given that we're now almost two months on from then, this new number (343 million) could be about right for those actually engaging with Google+, though not necessarily through plus.google.com.

    22. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by History's+Coming+To · · Score: 1

      Ah, I thought you'd got on the wrong side of the real-name policy. Weirdly, I'm the opposite - I don't generally have a problem with Google, I think they're having a decent stab at "no evil" considering the amount of data they hold, while I won't touch any of Facebook's stuff with a bargepole. It's a matter of a relatively ill-defined "trustiness" - even if Google hold more information on me, I still trust that they'll be reasonable unobtrusive and sensitive with it - yes, I know there are many incidents to the contrary, but I still trust them more than Facebook, which feels more like a strip-mining operation in comparison.

      --
      Please consider this account deleted, I just can't be bothered with the spam anymore.
    23. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      You're seriously resorting to ad hominem? In truth, my experience with the site is actually the exact opposite of how you painted it in your analogy.

      Contrary to your suggestion that I just walked in and declared it dead, I had an account during the late beta and I found it to be pretty active at the time (considering the small number of users, of course). And then they opened it up to the public, and it was even more active. Friends, coworkers, online buddies, old classmates, and all manner of people were hopping on and contributing to the activity. It looked like it had some momentum. Like it would be a serious competitor with Facebook.

      And then it kinda just petered out, as people's attention moved on and their activity went with them. By the time I closed my account months later (in response to Google's plans to link our real names from our G+ accounts to our YouTube accounts), activity had already died down significantly, with most of the activity I saw in my feed coming from only one or two people and a handful of celebrities/personalities in my circles. The dozens of active users I had had in my circles had become a mere handful.

      I have no doubt that some people are still enjoying activity on the service (someone else already responded to my comment to provide a helpful example). But in talking with my friends who once used it, they've all moved on. As have most of my coworkers, online friends, and others who I talk with (and with that last group, that's assuming they've even heard of the service, since many people I meet have not). And in talking with folks online, that's generally been the perception that most people seem to share as well.

      Despite your ill will aimed at me, I'm glad that you're enjoying the service. I apologize if you took my comments as a personal attack, since they were not intended that way, but I stand by my comment that most people I meet have not even heard of the service, let alone ever used it intentionally, and that I find it very hard to believe that its activity level is at half that of Facebook's (which I left a few years ago, but which is so well-known that I can't avoid news for it even if I tried).

    24. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by tepples · · Score: 1

      Some Google services work only with what Google's help page calls the "default account", not the account that you have selected from the control you describe. To change the "default account", you have to log out of all Google services on a machine and then log back in with the account that you wish to use as the "default account". Open this page and find the phrase "Sign out of all your Google Accounts".

    25. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by Jerry+Atrick · · Score: 1

      The problem here is what does 'used' and 'Active' mean? I regular click links and unexpectedly end up on G+ while I'm logged into gmail in another tab. To G it looks like I'm using G+ as a user, but without intent am I really a user? Even if I actively went to G+ but only consume am I really 'active'?

      I have a G+ account purely to stop the other fscking G pages constantly nagging me. To date I've had exactly zero activity from the 6 friends&family with accounts in my circles and I've posted nothing for them. Even the couple of news streams I added to follow I just don't bother looking at, more than 6 months now since I last checked it.

      G+ numbers are made up in a way that FB wishes it thought of 1st.

    26. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by ThePhilips · · Score: 1
      --
      All hope abandon ye who enter here.
    27. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      They only have 7300 Likes on Facebook. Don't you find it a little odd that they have over 136x more of them on G+? I see only a few possibilities:

      1) Bots are responsible for artificially inflating scores.
      2) Facebook really is on the downhill and people are leaving in droves.
      3) There's a tactic in play that actively encourages liking on G+ (e.g. discounts on products, a tie-in with Google Wallet, etc.).
      4) A niche community has settled on G+ to the exclusion of Facebook.
      5) The site is receiving extra attention thanks to its founder's celebrity status in the open source hardware community.

      Based on one of the other responses I've already received, I'm inclined to think #4 and #5 are what's happening here (though I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Google had tied Wallet to G+ somehow). Limor Fried, who founded Adafruit, has even more plusses than her company, but that comes as no surprise simply because she has attained a level of celebrity in the community. Just because we can cite celebrities (and things they're directly tied to) as having lots and lots of attention does not mean that they are representative of the whole. Rather, I'd suggest that she and her company are an outlier.

      I'm more than willing to concede that some niche communities have found a home for active discussion on G+. Linux has already been pointed out, and now you've pointed out the open source hardware community, which likely has quite a bit of overlap with the former (and is also demonstrated by the fact that Fried seems to be largely inactive on Facebook, suggesting she's on G+ to Facebook's exclusion, thus affirming #4 above). That doesn't change my argument that the general population is largely unaware of G+ and are either using it unintentionally or not at all.

    28. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by Smauler · · Score: 1

      Not too long ago, YouTube asked me if I wanted to change my YouTube name to something else. I thought 'Sure, why not.'

      There's your problem.

      Why did you think "sure, why not"?

      Why didn't you think "why are they asking me to change my name"?

    29. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by Omestes · · Score: 3, Interesting

      None of my real life friends have actually moved to Google+ from Facebook, but oddly, the community on Google+ is better. Less lively, but also less crap (went to the store today... here is a baby picture... here is a 3 year old meme... here is some religion fluff... here is a horoscope... I like poker.).

      Google+ sucks as a network of friends, but its pretty nice for communities. Both the tech/nerd communities, and the photography communities are thriving. Google+ is the new Flickr, and they actively work on it, sponsoring all sorts of events and hangouts, and actively courting popular online personalities. Its paid off. The tech, geek, and science communities are also pretty healthy.

      On Facebook I would never follow/like/whatnot someone who isn't a personal friend. One Google I only follow people who are interesting, even if they are complete strangers. They are pretty much two completely different things.

      --
      A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. -edward abbey
    30. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by Abreu · · Score: 1

      4) Several of my geek niches, namely Tabletop Roleplaying Games, Linux and Android, have huge communities in Google+

      --
      No sig for the moment.
    31. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by Omestes · · Score: 2

      They only have 7300 Likes on Facebook [facebook.com]. Don't you find it a little odd that they have over 136x more of them on G+? I see only a few possibilities:

      Or the networks have very different populations. Google+ is VERY nerd heavy. Facebook is full of "average joes", and your parents.

      G+ has also pretty much supplanted Flickr for the place to post photos and talk to photographers. The photo community there is absolutely huge, and Google actively works within the community. The Linux, tech, and science communities are pretty active too. That said, I don't have a single friend who uses it, and all I really ever post is photos.

      To be honest, though, I wouldn't be surprised if the statistics are true, even if they don't match my anecdotal evidence... 300 million people isn't that much really, given the total population. Also who knows how popular it is outside the US? It might be like Android, #2 in the US, but completely dominating within the global market. Maybe its the most popular social network in India, that would give it easily 300 million users... No clue.

      I'm also sure there is some fudging of numbers. It doesn't matter that much, since Facebook is notorious for doing it as well. Wasn't there am article a while back claiming that 50% of Facebook users weren't real people, or active.

      --
      A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. -edward abbey
    32. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by sd4f · · Score: 1

      I had no choice, if i wanted to post a comment on youtube, it made me become a G+ user. Still won't use it though, one friend went to G+ and was prosthelytising to convert me, but i resisted.

    33. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by gsslay · · Score: 1

      Why is it my job to switch on Frank's lights? If I called around someone's house uninvited and found the lights out, I usually conclude they may not be in. I don't enter anyway, switch on the lights, turn on the tv and help myself to a beer from the fridge. People tend to frown upon that.

      Or is it your analogy is crap?

    34. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by mcvos · · Score: 1

      For me it was the other way around. It asked my if I wanted to use my G+ name for Youtube, so now I'm also a Youtube user.

    35. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      That's because there is no long a distinction between having a Google account and a G+ profile. They are the same thing, and Google's attempt to merge all its different site profiles into one started years ago.

      It isn't a trick, they just failed to explain it very well.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    36. Re:YouTube users now Google+ users by Zeromous · · Score: 1

      LOL

      --
      ---Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A START
  5. orkut - number 4th? by AbhiTheOne · · Score: 1

    shouldn't orkut be on the list as well? I guess orkut would be 4th in that list, then the title should be
    "Google Now Boasts World's No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 Social Networks"

    1. Re:orkut - number 4th? by admdrew · · Score: 3, Informative

      No, Twitter is a very strong 4th, and there doesn't appear to be a close 5th. Orkut only has about 33 million active users, which would put it much farther down.

    2. Re:orkut - number 4th? by amRadioHed · · Score: 1

      Orkut is on the list, but it's way down past MySpace and Pinterest.

      --
      We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
    3. Re:orkut - number 4th? by tomzyk · · Score: 1

      orkut is on the list.
      The list is linked from the article.
      While orkut may be very popular in a few select countries, it never really caught on worldwide. Personally, I stopped using it because of the massive amount of people that didn't respect the rules and would blast our "English only" community boards with Portuguese. (Back then, it was commonly referred to as the "Crazy Brazilian Invasion".) Us "uneducated folk" could never carry on decent conversations when every single conversation would branch off into 2 or more languages. So we left and waited for Facebook to set up community pages.

      --
      Karma: NaN
    4. Re:orkut - number 4th? by Githaron · · Score: 4, Informative

      I was a Brazil a few weeks ago. From what I saw, it looks like everyone over there is starting to move to Facebook as their dominate social network.

    5. Re:orkut - number 4th? by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 2

      Look out, you're blowing their cover!

    6. Re:orkut - number 4th? by Githaron · · Score: 1

      I meant to type that I was in Brazil a few weeks ago. Happy?

  6. Google Plus boasted 343 million active users in Q4 by rjstanford · · Score: 1

    I wonder how they determined "active users," since these days its getting easier and easier for anyone with a GMail-based account to find themselves "using" Google+.

    --
    You're special forces then? That's great! I just love your olympics!
  7. "Active" user? by xiando · · Score: 1

    What do they mena by "active" users, anyway? Does anyone know?

    1. Re:"Active" user? by Tallfeather · · Score: 1

      It means you're actively wondering how they're counting you as an active G+ user after you only logged into YouTube.

  8. Let's define success: Money by schneidafunk · · Score: 2

    How much money are they making?

    --
    Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75. -Benjamin Franklin
  9. hydrox by aahpandasrun · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This is like saying that Hydrox is the #2 chocolate and cream cookie next to Oreo. It still sucks, and nobody likes it.

    1. Re:hydrox by Omestes · · Score: 1

      Also Facebook stats aren't manipulated.

      *choke* You actually believe that? Please tell me that the internet mangled more sarcasm?

      EVERYONE manipulates their user counts. Do you think /. has over 2 million users? Real, active users? How many dummy accounts do you think Facebook has? How many inactive accounts? Hell, I still have a MySpace account (completely full of fake info) because they made it hard to delete it, I haven't touched it in over 5 years. There was an article on here, awhile back, claiming that around 50% of Facebook accounts were connected to real people. Do you think those services where you can buy 10,000 likes or followers actually get "real live humans" to lend their services?

      Further, this "accounts" thing ignores individuals, which would be a more useful metric. Some of my Facebook friends have 4-5 accounts now, some for promoting bands of businesses, some that they changed (divorce, name change, disassociating with people, hiding, etc..) Hell, I have two Facebook accounts, one that I completely forgot the password too, and one I half-heartedly use. I also have two Google+ accounts (but according to the metrics of this study, only one would be counted as "active").

      Everyone inflates user counts... Its par for the course in the internet world.

      --
      A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. -edward abbey
  10. And if you weight it by value... by damn_registrars · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ... then Google+ might be the only relevant social networking site. Facebook, twitter, etc, are still mostly plugged up with people taking pictures of their (coffee / cat / car) or telling you which bathroom they are using this afternoon. Google+ actually has meaningful discussions.

    --
    Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
    1. Re:And if you weight it by value... by vlm · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Google+ actually has meaningful discussions.

      FB/twitter for pics of dinner and smiling kids and babbling complaining and TV and sports discussion, G+ for hobbies.
      G+ has HUGE and active ham radio, and photography communities.

      --
      "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
    2. Re:And if you weight it by value... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      So you are saying Google+ is relevant to social networking the way C-SPAN2 is relevant to television.

    3. Re:And if you weight it by value... by Bigby · · Score: 1

      CSPAN is irrelevant. Politicians don't do anything; they only react to what is happening and make themselves sound like they are doing something about it.

      G+ is more like the Discovery networks. There is some good content embedded into not-so-good programs. Then there is the crap and cream of the crop.

    4. Re:And if you weight it by value... by Smauler · · Score: 1

      It's odd you present two obsolete things as being at the core of a new technology.

      I'm not saying anything against ham radio, or photography, but they are or have been in the process of being superseded. Artistically, photography will be around for a while, but good video is always better in terms of information. Ham radio is nothing compared to the internet, wi-fi broadcasting and wardriving.

    5. Re:And if you weight it by value... by Abreu · · Score: 1

      Not to mention roleplaying games, cosplay and anime communities. A lot of good discussions too.

      --
      No sig for the moment.
    6. Re:And if you weight it by value... by The+Raven · · Score: 1

      Don't worry... G+ will get its eternal September if Facebook tanks.

      --
      "I will trust Google to 'do no evil' until the founders no longer run it." Hello Alphabet.
  11. How much is Google+ being used? by parallel_prankster · · Score: 4, Informative

    The more important matter is how much are they being used, especially to "socialize" as compared to facebook? I mean Google forces you to be a Google+ user pretty much if you use any of their services - Gmail, Picasa etc. What are the ad revenues on these services? What is the frequency of posts per user?

    1. Re:How much is Google+ being used? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I'm in college. I have never been asked "Hey, what's your Google+ username?" In fact, I've never heard anyone ask that of anyone else. I don't even know if that's how Google+ works. I've never used it. And yet, I have at least two Google+ accounts thanks to Gmail and YouTube.

    2. Re:How much is Google+ being used? by paul.hatchman · · Score: 2

      Yet somehow, after using multiple google products (including gmail and picasa) on a regular basis for well over 10 years, I still don't have a Google+ account. And I can still use all of those services just fine.

  12. Youtube a social network? by systemidx · · Score: 1

    I'd say that's a bit far-fetched. But then again, this practice has been employed throughout the ages. If you're losing at a game, change the rules. (The rules being the definition of 'social network').

  13. Re:Google Plus boasted 343 million active users in by vlm · · Score: 1

    I wonder how they determined "active users,"

    You can google for this quite trivially, basically your definition of gmail, clicking +1 and stuff is the much bigger "somewhat under four hundred million" number from a couple months ago whereas the number of people actually making posts to their G+ stream is the somewhat smaller "well over one hundred ish million" number also a couple months out of date.

    Unless youtube has zero or negative number users, it would seem they're using the latter definition "people who actually post stuff to their G+ profile" as their definition of "active" and then adding it to somewhere around 200M youtube users to get a bit over 300 million total as claimed. If they used your definition they'd be crowing about a number closer to 600M rather than 300M.

    --
    "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
  14. Re:Google Plus boasted 343 million active users in by alen · · Score: 1

    you +1 something once a month, you're an active user

  15. Depends Upon How You Measure It by mk1004 · · Score: 1

    Define active. I've got a Google+ account, but rarely use it.

    --
    I can mend the break of day, heal a broken heart, and provide temporary relief to nymphomaniacs.
  16. The ONE thing G+ has over FaceBook... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    At least it doesn't automatically fuck around with your accounts across sites. I'm sure this scenario has happened to some of you FB users before:

      - See video on one of those "youtube with nudity allowed" sites such as dailymotion
      - "This video is not suitable for minors, please sign in to confirm your age"
      - "Hmm, okay, it'll be easier if I just use FB to log in instead of creating an account for a site I don't really care about."
      - Watch video o.o
      - Several hours later
      - Check FB
      - You have a post on your Wall about watching the video, with comments on it from other people

    Yeah, after this happened I all but stopped using the site entirely. On the other hand, Google is quite clear with how you share information across sites. I don't need to worry about a comment on some blog ending up getting sent to friends on G+, or some log of what YouTube videos I watched in the past week.

  17. Quote after the first "America's cup" race. by whoever57 · · Score: 1

    "Ah, Your Majesty, there is no second."

    The first race was actually for the "R.Y.S. £100 Cup", subsequently re-named "America's cup"

    --
    The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
  18. Is there anyone here using it? by danielcolchete · · Score: 1

    It doesn't count if you work for Google. That is the only people I really see there.

    Both my grammas are on Facebook, I didn't hear them saying they are thinking about opening a Google+ account.

    1. Re:Is there anyone here using it? by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 1

      At least one person uses it. Everytime I log onto it, I see a new post from that person. Which is fortunate, since he seems to be the only person who does.

      --
      Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
  19. Same Here by almostadnsguy · · Score: 1

    I must be 3 or more of those people, I have a G-mail account for each Android device (tablet is multi-user, 1 phone is strictly for work and 1 phone is for private texts from my wife). As I recently changed services I noticed that I somehow became a G+ member just by signing up a new device. Can I really be counted as I don't participate?

  20. Poor definition of success but.... by tuppe666 · · Score: 1

    ..."Google Sites Revenues – Google-owned sites generated revenues of $8.64 billion, or 67% of total Google revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2012" http://investor.google.com/earnings/2012/Q4_google_earnings.html

    1. Re:Poor definition of success but.... by schneidafunk · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately it does not say specifically how much Youtube is generating, which I would find interesting for this topic. Consider it cost a billion dollars to buy the site, have they broken even?

      --
      Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75. -Benjamin Franklin
  21. Picasaweb? by Grizzley9 · · Score: 1

    Does having your pictures backed up to Google+ / Picasa count as being an active user? Cause if so, they've got a heavy skew in their numbers. The unlimited space for Picasa users is why I signed up. Now all my pics and home movies are backed up but I don't use any of the "social networking" part of it.

  22. Tricks COUNT by Cajun+Hell · · Score: 1

    Pop quiz: what's the most popular desktop OS?

    Followup question: did you throw up in your mouth a little, at using the word "popular" to describe that OS' marketshare? That's not really an honest way of describe a default "choice," or a "choice" that people are railroaded into thanks to network effects, kicking and screaming, and yet it is technically accurate.

    No matter how Google+ got its users, it has them.

    --
    "Believe me!" -- Donald Trump
  23. I call bullstats by BumpyCarrot · · Score: 1

    I love G+, I do. It's pretty, it's barebones and it doesn't try and sell my friends' pastimes to me (Hi, Facebook!) It's where I post stuff so Manageflitter can tweet it for me. Now maybe my conscious decision to drastically reduce my social graph has something to do with it, but G+ just feels very... unbusy.

    That said, I get lots of discussion with "randoms" on G+ compared to Twitter.

    --
    Do you see what I did there?
  24. Is that not a social network? by tuppe666 · · Score: 1

    If you want to put in a review on any app you downloaded to your Android phone into Google Play Store

    It does, and there is little doubt this *will* boost Google+ numbers, although I would argue that it is a social interaction [or at least exhibits features of one...like youtube] and Google is simply merging these together. Its less inflating figures...more consolidating social interaction...because users are interacting through Googles services *socially*.

    The reality is Google is aggressively pushing its Google+ thought its *successful* social services. The fact that users continue to review apps / comment on video is a sign of it working.

  25. Nerds can so a little math :) by tuppe666 · · Score: 1

    And Facebook is #1 with 95% of the global populace. The other 5% who didn't use Facebook were nerds who spent all day telling everyone in various other forums how they don't use Facebook.

    http://globalwebindex.net/thinking/social-platforms-gwi-8-update-decline-of-local-social-media-platforms/ the original article puts Facebook at 650Millionish about half of the PC Market 1.2Billion...or about a 10% of the worldwide population of 7Billion.

    Google+ is currently half that sitting at 350 Million [youtube at 300Million]. Which shows how incredibly successful it is on its own merits.

    The bottom line though is Facebook has nothing close to your market penetration figures , let alone saturation of the market, or even your massive market share claim lead over Google+, perhaps if you had spent less time, attacking people for working hard and taking interest in the more academic subjects at school you wouldn't look so backward.

  26. Gmail Account by tuppe666 · · Score: 1

    Can I really be counted as I don't participate?

    If you read the article you would not be counted *unless* you participate hence the measure of active users.

  27. What's "active"? by seebs · · Score: 1

    I have had a G+ account at least two or three times. I have deleted them every time, because they won't let me use the only name I am willing to use for social networking. "seebs" is my Real Name; it is not the name on my driver's license, but it is the name I commonly use in everyday life. According to their stated policies, I should be able to use it. But they don't do that, and a casual read of their forums reveals that a non-trivial number of people are having issues with the names thing...

    So when they decided to sit on a name appeal for four months rather than commenting, was I "active" during that time? Am I "active" now? Am I three different active accounts? Heck if I know.

    Similarly, I know at least one person who was very confused to get a threatening letter about how her name wasn't plausible enough and they were going to delete her G+ account and cancel associated services. She'd never signed up for G+ that she knew of, she had no idea what they were talking about... That's probably an "active user", in their counting.

    So... I dunno. I could believe they have a ridiculous number of people who have accounts that they haven't yet cancelled, or don't know they have, or which they posted to once. I have a hard time believing that there's anywhere near that many "active" accounts in any meaningful sense. That said, my sample space is highly atypical (a statistical majority of my friends are trans, for instance, and thus have a tendency to have problems with policies that push for "real" names and won't let you use a name you haven't got matching ID for). So maybe there's a ton of people using it, and I'd know about this except that there's no way for me to use the service for social networking, so it's not very useful to me.

    I am told that the real issue isn't that they care whether the name is your "real name", but that they found that some users become uncomfortable when they see people whose "names" don't look like Real Names. I've had at least one Google person claim that the system is looking for names which "look like a name to a human". I did ask whether the implication that people like me who think many of the names they reject look like names are not humans was intentional, but I don't think I ever got an answer.

    tl;dr: G+ names policy is a lie, the staff don't follow the stated procedures, and I don't believe for a minute that more than a tiny fraction of the listed number of users are people who actually use G+ for social networking in any meaningful way.

    --
    My blog: http://www.seebs.net/log/ --- My iPhone/iPad app: http://www.seebs.net/seebsfrac/
  28. You should read the article. by tuppe666 · · Score: 1

    Which would be more impressive if there were more than 4 social networks with over 100 users on the planet.

    All of top ten social networks have more than 100million users, perhaps you should have read the article. http://globalwebindex.net/thinking/social-platforms-gwi-8-update-decline-of-local-social-media-platforms/

  29. Facebook! by tuppe666 · · Score: 1

    What was #1? I want to know if my MySpace account is worth anything.

    MySpace is 15th perhaps you should have read the article. Although the company as a whole sold on June 2011 to Specific Media Group and Justin Timberlake who jointly purchased the company for approximately $35 million. From the graph ...about 50 Cent an active user.