back to article Google+ chases MySpace for second place

Google+ unsurprisingly saw a spike in visitors after Mountain View opened the new social network to all-comers last week. It had previously been in a so-called "field trial" since being launched by Google in June this year, but anyone wanting access to the service could do so on an invite-only basis. According to Hitwise, …

COMMENTS

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  1. wibble001

    So Google, when exactly will we be getting Profile support for Google Apps domains?

  2. jai

    it's still here?

    the real news here is that MySpace is still around and that people actually still visit the site! shocking!!!!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I went there last week, but only because some chat about Google Plus on Facebook mentioned Bebo, so I decided to log into that and MySpace for nostalgia reasons

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    My real name is Ozymandias

    I know this because an angel told me in a vision. Obviously my parents weren't informed of this, and I haven't told the Passport Office yet, so for the time being I'll stick with a social networking site that lets me call myself how I want.

    1. BorkedAgain
      Meh

      I've seen your works...

      ...meh.

      1. Angus 2
        Happy

        Haha. :D

      2. Rattus Rattus

        @BorkedAgain

        Sigh. I despair.

  4. DK6031
    Go

    Activity is exploding right now for people who have joined early. The circle sharing feature is quite clever and allows you to find interesting groups of people to follow.

    1. Kristian Walsh Silver badge

      Activity is exploding because it's been opened for anyone to join...

      ... all those new users are in the "new" phase of using the site, with lots of frequent visits to update or add contacts.

      Personally, I found a rapid exponential decay with my own G+ usage. Initially, I checked in about every day, until now I don't think I've looked at it for over a month. Actually, let me just check it... oooh, one post; maybe it's not just me.

      1. Paddy 2
        Coffee/keyboard

        Re: Kristian

        Agreed - Moving to G+ for a month just served in reminding me that FB is still the among the better designed platforms out there.

        I don't mind maintaining two separate networks for personal relationships and professional connections (e.g FB + LI). Its just too much of a bother checking all the time whether I am posting to the right 'circles'. I want a zero-effort solution while what I'm getting is a headache. Frankly speaking, I don't see Circles as the killer feature that it's being made out to be. But that could be because of the way I use G+.

        I just don't see a reason to maintain an G+ account (deleted mine last week).

        The update issue - probably because it was in limited beta. You should see more activity soon :-) whether the activity is sustained is another question. Another curious thing I noticed - updates on G+ are usually duplicates of updates on FB. Gives me another reason to not want a G+ acct :-S

        That being said, I'm not liking the changes to FB or the beta version of Timeline. I'll probably go back to G+ if it annoys me enough.

      2. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

        Not much activity on mine either

        The only activity I've seen on G+ in the last month has been 5 (extremely sad) people who share the same surname as me - signing me up as 'friends', presumably so they can have a huge group of contacts. Or because they're train spotters or something. I guess you can't do this on Facebook, because the victim has to hit accept on a friend request.

        One of them seems to be using it as an excuse to plug his web design company - although he's going to have an awfully confusing customer list, if this particular bit of marketing is successful...

        Admittedly I'm no more active on Facebook, but my family are, so it's chock full of posts.

        Interestingly, last time I signed into G+, there's a bit telling me how I've got a boring data feed, because I've not got enough friends, and suggesting I sign more up.

    2. Don Mitchell

      Visitors != Users

      Most people I know have made a Google+ account, visited it a few times, and then never returned.

      Google and Facebook are the two giants in the internet advertising space. I'm not really cheering on one of them to eat the other.

  5. Adam Trickett
    Meh

    Does anyone in the real world care?

    While I do use G+ I'm not 100% convinced of it's use.

    In the real world does anyone care if one social site dies and another one takes over? In fact if MySpace were to die would anyone notice?

    1. iDestroy

      I'd imagine the 16,000,000 people who visited it 2 weeks ago would notice....

    2. iDestroy

      I'd imagine the 16,000,000 people who visit it each week would notice.

      Maybe.

  6. Alien8n
    Alien

    Not any real surprise given that Facebook annoyed pretty much all it's users last week with changes to it's newsfeeds. I know several people who setup Google + accounts because of Facebook. Also no surprise that even with those changes they're still using Facebook.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Optional

    I'd +1 the article, but weirdly I don't seem to be able to...

  8. Alicia
    Thumb Up

    Google + removed the invite only requirement at almost exactly the same time as Facebook released an update that (predictably) annoyed many users

    Hmmm, that spike in visits is utterly unaccountable.

    1. GeorgeTuk

      Glad it wasn't only me thinking this.

  9. Erroneous Howard

    Re:Does anyone in the real world care?

    No, no they don't.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Is MySpace

    still populated mostly by emos and dipshits who fill their page with bright flashing scrolling coloured things?

    1. Steve the Cynic
      Joke

      No, silly

      "bright flashing scrolling coloured things"?

      No, silly, that was Geocities...

  11. BinaryFu

    ZOMG I WAS ON FOR A MONTH AND NOBODY WAS AROUND!!!

    During closed beta testing. That's like saying, "I was in closed Beta of World of Warcraft and nobody played that game, it sucks..."

    Here's your sign, here's your safety helmet, you may not want to venture out into the real world.

  12. Sean Kennedy
    Thumb Down

    And still no word to us Apps folks

    Us Apps users, you know, those of us PAYING for gmail service for our domains, are still unable to log in. This despite being promised that it was only weeks away back in March.

    The main complaint most of us have is not that we don't have access, but that google isn't giving us anything in the way of a concrete timeframe. We get "soon", "few weeks away", ect. That's when we hear something, which is often only after months of silence.

    See here: http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google%20Apps/thread?tid=1b296c46c43d4980&hl=en

    And here: http://code.google.com/p/google-plus-platform/issues/detail?id=22

    To get an idea at how the apps users are being ignored.

  13. dale321

    Here's an excersize for you

    Go to Google trends (http://www.google.com/trends), type Google +, and see the exponential decay in activity (yes, there is a spike because of the recent marketing spree).

    Now, do you think G+ will survive the next cut in G sites?

  14. launcap Silver badge
    FAIL

    Ancestry.com owned by Paul Allen? That would explain why they keep spamming me and why you have to pay extortionate fees for very little..

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