With quite a few Google and Diaspora news, last week was quite eventful with regard to the social media landscape. One of Forbes’s contributors, Tim Worstall (profile here), has this story about Google plus and its supposed demise, in which he shows that in fact, Google’s network is still growing. That seems to be the case, as shown by Larry Page’s announcement of 40 million users last Thursday. It has yet to be proven how many actually use it though.
Google plus dwindling, Buzz going and Diaspora begging for money
Last week, there were more comments about how an engineer screwed up with the sharing mechanism than about the actual number of users of the platform; by the way, the said engineer argued that this was not a platform and that the problem was there.
Last but not least, mashable took a stab at Google’s Execs about the fact that they weren’t eating their own dog food.
Maybe they feel a bit iffy about having to discarding their Facebook network and starting all over again? I know the feeling. Last but not least, all diaspora “users” received an email last week in which the new social media star was begging for money.
Off to a bad start, it seems.
I personally opened my account, understood the principle but saw no added value in it I’m afraid.
I know that it is said that Google plus mimicked their interface and not the other way round, but yet … By the way, as Worstall mischievously points out, is this Google plus ou Google+?
He may not be a social media guru, but he asks very valid questions (excerpts per below and link to main Forbes article). At any rate the shift towards Google+ is now complete, due to the phasing out of Google Buzz (and that was revealed only a few hours ago). At least one thing is clearer this week in the world of social media!
“So the Mail on Sunday tells us, that traffic on Google Plus (or Google + maybe?) is down 60%.
[… ]
Well, if traffic was 100 when Google plus was invite only, then opening it up to all comers led to a 1,200 percent raise in traffic, then we’ve got traffic of 1,200. A 60% decline from 1,200 leaves us with traffic of 480 (doesn’t matter whether this is users, page views, visits or whatever, the math is the same). So, what the report is actually saying is that in less than a month traffic has risen 480%, or 4.8 times. Which isn’t, really, all that much of a failure.
Now for myself, I don’t really understand this social media stuff: I get the business models, I understand what people are doing, I’m just not sure why […]
via Google Plus Traffic Down 60% – Forbes.
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Yann Gourvennec a créé visionarymarketing.com en 1996. Il est conférencier et auteur de 6 livres. En 2014, il est passé d'intrapreneur à entrepreneur en créant son agence de marketing numérique.
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The Diaspora* point is an interesting one. When I use a community based or other free services, I used to seeing a box asking for donations. I expect that and, from time to time, I drop some pennies in. However, the Diaspora* email came across differently to me.
Either they have run out of money and need to find some pdq to keep the service going or (and I suspect this is nearer the mark) they never had any money in the first place, have been fuelled by idealistic glee up until now, didn’t include cash in the business model and suddenly realised there are bills to be paid.
Personally, I hope it’s the latter. I agree with Yann that Diaspora*, on the face of it, doesn’t offer anything new – the feature set is instantly recognisable and instantly limiting. However, the ethos is entirely new – host, own and control your own data. And that will appeal to a lot of people – not all of them will be conspiracy theorists!
Whatever the truth of it, that email proved one thing to me – The Diaspora* team don’t just need cash and top class coders, they need a top class PR as well!
I am not much of a social media fan but have been pulled into it by friends. Last week I decided to try Google+ and I think it is a lot better than fb thanks to the circle aspect. I almost never post to fb because of the wild mix of acquaintances I have. With Circles I can aim my posts at the people concerned which feels much better.
funny you should say that. I wrote another piece about “circles” and their ease of use. My two cents: http://wp.me/pfXk-tW
Ok, I see your point is the editing capacity for circles with a large membership. Due to my social media adverse nature this will most likely not be a problem I will encounter for the next several years 🙂
You should try and re consider this issue. Social Media is made to build new relationships, not revive old ones, despite what most people believe. Check http://bit.ly/fanpancan for details…
Interesting , yes I do agree it is easy to spend too much time on the FANs instead of working the PANs. I still think these networks are a great way to stay in touch with a FAN base, such a school mates from far away and long ago. When there is time for the reunion, you get a post on the social network, the chatter starts about the old times and then it culminates with the actual meeting. After which there is very little communication for another 5-10 years 🙂 It is a darn handy tool to organize and keep track of people without having to invest much time.
Indeed you are right. But old school friends whom you haven’t met for 30 or more years usually aren’t people you do reconnect with. It’s often easier to make new friends based on common interests. Well, my experience anyway.