Yesterday at Google Cloud Next '19
Google announced Currents,1 the successor to Google+. For G Suite users, all their
existing Google+ Content will still be available, but there will be new
features, a new design and a totally different look and feel. The new app
will not have Circles,
or Collections, and
going by the screenshots Google has shared, the +1 button will be replaced by a Facebook-like thumbs up. New features
like tags, topic streams, and detailed analytics actually look pretty sweet,2
but it's not Google+. That is gone for good.
Ever since the shutdown of Google+ for consumer users (like me) was announced,3 I've been trying to figure out how best to sum up my feelings. I was a bitter ender, posting right up until the shutdown on the morning of April 2nd. I was focused on creating tutorials to help other users confused by the shutdown process, backing up my own data, and - the worst part - saying farewell to the myriad people I'd met on the Plus and interacted with there for years.
It felt like the final days of senior year, when everyone exchanges their contact information and promises to write and then the school was torn down. Or maybe more like saying goodbye friends met on holiday, when you know that even if you meet up again it won't be quite the same.
I'm still connected with folks on Hangouts and Twitter and MeWe and various other places on the internet, but that's just it - we're scattered about and no other platform seems quite right.
And while more than a week has passed since consumer Google+ shut down, I still find myself almost checking my Google+ notifications, or thinking about sharing an interesting update, or checking one of my communities. But it feels like if I want to look back, now is the time to do it, while it's still fresh, and before I've moved on completely.
Living in a ghost town
I joined Google+ in September 2011, after the initial invite-only period. I was already a Google "Top Contributor" product expert for AdSense and YouTube, and finally created a personal Google+ Profile in time for the first TC Summit in Santa Clara. I didn't have any trouble finding active posters to add to my Circles - not just other Google product experts, but also a number of others with similar nerdish interests in science, tech, and science fiction. Plussers were my people.
But I don't think my experience was typical. If I had joined Google+ without already knowing some Plussers or with interests outside those that had a strong presence on the Plus, it would have indeed felt like a ghost town. My Nearby Stream was filled with spammy businesses, self-promoting realtors and tourists visiting the nearest big city nearly 50 miles away. Most of my immediate family joined to view and share photos, but never posted anything publicly. If I was looking for people I already knew, I would have been disappointed.
Here I am on the Google+ "Fun & Interesting" Suggested User List in 2014. I'm not
sure I was actually either as fun as the Onion or as interesting as Jaana Nyström.
2. If you are a G Suite Admin, you can request access to the Currents Beta program for your organization.
3. The shutdown of consumer Google+ in August 2019 was announced last October. Two months later the "sunset" date was pushed forward to April. Those months seemed to fly by.
Screen capture from
Google Cloud Next '19: Day 2 Collaborate Channel
Ever since the shutdown of Google+ for consumer users (like me) was announced,3 I've been trying to figure out how best to sum up my feelings. I was a bitter ender, posting right up until the shutdown on the morning of April 2nd. I was focused on creating tutorials to help other users confused by the shutdown process, backing up my own data, and - the worst part - saying farewell to the myriad people I'd met on the Plus and interacted with there for years.
What I see when I open Google+
It felt like the final days of senior year, when everyone exchanges their contact information and promises to write and then the school was torn down. Or maybe more like saying goodbye friends met on holiday, when you know that even if you meet up again it won't be quite the same.
I'm still connected with folks on Hangouts and Twitter and MeWe and various other places on the internet, but that's just it - we're scattered about and no other platform seems quite right.
And while more than a week has passed since consumer Google+ shut down, I still find myself almost checking my Google+ notifications, or thinking about sharing an interesting update, or checking one of my communities. But it feels like if I want to look back, now is the time to do it, while it's still fresh, and before I've moved on completely.
Living in a ghost town
I joined Google+ in September 2011, after the initial invite-only period. I was already a Google "Top Contributor" product expert for AdSense and YouTube, and finally created a personal Google+ Profile in time for the first TC Summit in Santa Clara. I didn't have any trouble finding active posters to add to my Circles - not just other Google product experts, but also a number of others with similar nerdish interests in science, tech, and science fiction. Plussers were my people.
But I don't think my experience was typical. If I had joined Google+ without already knowing some Plussers or with interests outside those that had a strong presence on the Plus, it would have indeed felt like a ghost town. My Nearby Stream was filled with spammy businesses, self-promoting realtors and tourists visiting the nearest big city nearly 50 miles away. Most of my immediate family joined to view and share photos, but never posted anything publicly. If I was looking for people I already knew, I would have been disappointed.
For a while every new Google account included a Google+ Profile, and existing Google users were pushed hard to "upgrade" their account to Google+. And that resulted in huge numbers of never-used profiles, adding to the ghost town feel.
And that was just one way Google+ was both great and frustrating. I've never been a Google+ cheerleader in part because it always felt like it wasn't quite living up to its potential. I wanted it to be better.
Did these features come too late?
Communities were one of Google+'s best features, but many essential moderation tools, like being able to hold posts for review, weren't available until 2017.
And that was just one way Google+ was both great and frustrating. I've never been a Google+ cheerleader in part because it always felt like it wasn't quite living up to its potential. I wanted it to be better.
Did these features come too late?
Communities were one of Google+'s best features, but many essential moderation tools, like being able to hold posts for review, weren't available until 2017.
Collections didn't launch until 2015, when Google+ was already heading towards separation from the rest of Google products and services.
Topics also launched in 2017, but there was no way to follow a topic or add it to your stream.
I started this blog as a way to share information about the confusing
YouTube-Google+ integration process. At the time, people would ask in the help
forums why they should create a profile on another social network, when they
just wanted to use YouTube. Google never really provided a good answer for that.
Topics also launched in 2017, but there was no way to follow a topic or add it to your stream.
There were analytics "Insights", but those didn't include enough information to be
really useful.
And there was spam. Spam in communities, spam in comments, and spam in
Discover.
It's not that Google+ didn't care. They did! But the flood seemed to be unstoppable.
Alienating YouTubers
And public statements about how Google+ was going
to force users to use their real names in order to make YouTube comments less
terrible
weren't exactly trying to win the hearts and minds of YouTubers (also
hopefully they now realize that many people quite happily troll or otherwise act
like a jerk online using their real name).
On the Google+ side, many frequent posters weren't happy when their posts sharing YouTube videos suddenly appeared on videos as comments.
But it could have been great. If only Google had better understood how people use online identities, and how various online cultures can clash, and if they had spent more time early on building better community features on Google+ itself.
But it could have been great. If only Google had better understood how people use online identities, and how various online cultures can clash, and if they had spent more time early on building better community features on Google+ itself.
I would do it all again
I'm sad Google+ didn't make it as a stand-alone social media platform. I will miss my community and fellow Plussers. And I'm glad I had that experience.
Footnotes, because why not?
1. The new Currents is not to be confused with the defunct news app Google Currents, which was replaced by Google Play Newsstand, which was in turn replaced by Google News.2. If you are a G Suite Admin, you can request access to the Currents Beta program for your organization.
3. The shutdown of consumer Google+ in August 2019 was announced last October. Two months later the "sunset" date was pushed forward to April. Those months seemed to fly by.
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Spam and personal attacks are not allowed. Any comment may be removed at my own discretion ~ Peggy