RIP, Google+, the Right Social Network from the Wrong Company

Reading Time: 2 minutes.

When Google+ first launched, I was one of its first users. I was sending out invites to the exclusive network to any friends who’d want them. I wanted people to leave Facebook behind. Google+ had this idea of “Circles,” which allowed you to easily create small groups of your friends. You could have your work friends, high school friends, college friends, family members, even the websites and blogs you followed all on Google+, and they may never see the same posts. It made privacy easy.

Sure, you can do this all now with Facebook by customizing the privacy settings on each post, but even now, Facebook’s feature leaves much to be desired. Facebook, by default, wants you sharing with as many people as possible. It’s tough to change that. That just isn’t good for privacy, and it’s why Facebook posts started moving from personal thoughts and experiences into photos and news articles. People’s networks grew, and Facebook’s privacy settings didn’t grow with them.

Google+ was what Facebook should have been. Unfortunately, Google’s rollout made it seem too exclusive, too nerdy. People couldn’t import friends and images from other social networks. It felt like you had to start your digital life over. Though Google+ fixed the problems of Facebook, it never caught on.

However, even in the early days, everyone knew Google collected swaths of data. Using Google’s social network, while more private for your personal life, was sharing information with the devil. People preferred to stay with Facebook, the devil they knew, and Google+ never kicked off.

RIP, Google+

Today, around noon on the west coast, Google+ went down forever. For over a month now, Google has warned users to download their posts, back them up before they’re deleted forever. I didn’t. As much as I wanted friends to leave Facebook behind, they didn’t. I don’t have fond memories on the platform, just memories of my disappointment.

I can’t help but be a little sad about the social network that could have been king, but never got past jester.

Who Needs Ya?

For Google, it’s not a sad day. Google got what they wanted out of Google+ through their other services. Use Android? You’re putting your photos in Google Photos aren’t you? Google collects them, analyzes them, matches them up to locations, and uses them to train their machine learning algorithms.

Friends and connections? What do you think your address book is for? Did you think Google’s backup was just for you?

Location data? Your Android phone tracks your every move. Purchases? Yup! Google has your credit card information for Google Play, and then buys your purchase history from your credit card company. Match that up with your phone’s GPS, and Google can figure out where you’re going, what you’re buying, and who you’re spending time with.

Let’s face it, Google found a way to get more information than a social network alone could have ever given them. Google+ was a data grab, and it didn’t catch on. Google didn’t need it anyway. Perhaps if Google did need Google+, it would have ended with a bang, not a whimper.