Hi there! I'm a journalist from CNBC.com and I'm trying to put together a piece gauging reactions to the news that Google Plus is shutting down. If you are an active user who would be willing to chat with me for a story, let me know! You can comment on this thread, start a Hangouts chat, or email me at jillian.donfro@nbcuni.com. Thanks!
http://CNBC.com
http://CNBC.com
It sucks, but change happens . . . Gonna find something to replace G+ . . .
ReplyDeleteit has added a lot to my life, in that I have had the growing benefits of several years of interactions with an increasing number of free thinking people of a generally humanist perspective, et al.
Jillian D'Onfro first I was sad to hear that my favourite network will be shutting down, now I feel angry and outraged. +Google is pulling the carpet from under our feet, and it's a lousy feeling.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely best social media that I’ve found. Will be missed.
ReplyDeleteGlad to talk. I’ve been active since the early beta tests and I plan on staying until the bitter end.
ReplyDeleteIt's awful. I almost feel as if someone died. This is the only network I am active on. No ads, the ability to filter my feed, and real conversations that matter. G+ solves many of the flaws and problems people hate on Facebook, but somehow everyone stays there anyway. The breach explanation sounds like a convenient excuse, rather than a legitimate reason.
ReplyDeleteJodi Kaplan Hi Jodi, I potter around on IG a bit, but this is only platform that is conversational and commercial free. I agree, the breech is just an excuse, and not a very plausible one given Google's resources.
ReplyDeleteJodi Kaplan The virtue of G+ - privacy and control - is what advertisers hated
ReplyDeleteBeen here since the beginning, G+ has always been about conversations and connections, moreso than any other social media. I have no idea where I will end up but myself and my friends on here are all coordinating to make sure we stay connected. Not many of us want to use FB, we all feel it's a bad experience, so we are trying various other social media platforms to find one that gives us a similar experience to G+.
ReplyDeleteI have made some really good friends on here, ones I wouldn't have met anywhere else. We are all gutted.
I'll talk to you
ReplyDeleteIt takes time to build connections on any social media. I've been here forever. It's so much more adult than other options, and it offers me a lot more. I get my news here (mostly alternative), and I've made some good friends. When G+ goes down, they will scatter to the four winds, and I'll likely not hear from most of them again. That makes me sad, but there's only so much time in the day, and I can't sign up on every service available. I have to be selective. My experience has been so good on G+, I'm reluctant to start over again somewhere else.
ReplyDelete...you know how it is Jillian D'Onfro, you go on a few dates, commit yourself to moving in, do that give and take thing over several years, then get dumped out of the blue ...at least we don't have to split the furniture in half
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting. Google Plus has been the one thing that has kept me in the Google ecosphere.
ReplyDeleteI have put up with the Google search censorship (mostly shopping results) and ad promotion. I've put up with advertising in gmail, which I've used since beta (and which uas gotten worse, progressivley.) I have put up with the YouTube fee or ads system. (And the comments, ugh). The Google Calendar doesn't work the way I wanted to, and never has. But I use it. I have a Google Play family account that I would never have had without Google Plus.
All this has been based on two things. The integration of Google applications on Android phones has meant that it's more useful to me.
Second, the communication apps:
Losing Google Wave was a setback. That was something that was core utility for me, and prevented me from moving away from Google.
Google Chat, which is now Hangouts, has also kept me in the Google ecosystem. Hangouts has, along with Gmail, gotten less useful over time. Not because of the user base, I need Hangouts until someone comes up with a global replacement for AIM. But because of bloat, constant changes to interface, constant abuse of screen real estate and etcetera.
And now, probably centrally, Google Plus. Google Plus keeps me in the Google ecosystem. It is very probable that without Google Plus I will start to migrate away from using all of the other services. From Gmail and the search to Play and YouTube.
Having been on /g+/ since the beginning, everyone has complained about it being a ghost town. Fact is, it hasn't been. Many people just didn't navigate the security features well enough and posted private a lot. Only recently, have people been posting publicly. The number of posts has increased, but the community has remained small for the hemming and hawing from Google.
ReplyDeleteThe benefits have been this kind of commentary, meme sharing, and generally building communities or fueling content. I've been featured by Google a couple of times for my content. I've consistently held about 38K circlers as a result, though actively, it hovers around 50-60 views per post per day. Unlike the Kardassians, I don't make money from my content on /g+/ from advertisers.
I've used it as a platform for my writing, political commentary, and general banter. I've dealt with trolls and spam bots, but ultimately, the platform has been a valid benefit to my enjoyment of the Internet. I think I review more frequently, and post more consistently, because I discuss a wide range of topics.
In the end, it's a matter of finding a new home that mimics what was here. Facebook has comparable features, but the platform is tired IMHO. It's been oversaturated with features and settings. When I look at it, I just want it to work and be easy to navigate, but it's a Rube Goldberg Machine for Russian Roulette. Tumblr may be where I land, due to my content generation, largess of posting, etc... because I really don't have the desire to maintain a WordPress site that people have to find or I have to advertise. At least on Tumblr, there's some auto-culturing that allows quick finding of new content (https://www.tumblr.com/explore/trending).
A majority of other people I tend to communicate with outside of /g+/ers, have Tumblr. I have a Facebook that I experimented with. I will likely choose Tumblr because of the simplicity and elegance of it over the Mr. Toad's Wild Ride of Facebook. It's presented similarly to /g+/ and the people there are more down to Earth. I don't particularly feel like I'll be oversaturated with family communications or isolated out into weird collections, which is what happens in FB.
I'm big into Privacy, but I'm Open to sharing my mind. I prefer people to either love me or hate me. I also dislike the censorship that's being expressed by FB -- something which isn't happening on Tumblr as far as I'm aware.
We've got 10 months. Like the last time, maybe /g/ will pull back, fix the problem and keep /g+/. If not, people know how to find me... They just shine my calling card into the dankness of the Internet.
getyarn.io - It's in the shape of a giant cock.
I'm not a power-user per se, but have been on here from the beginning, coming over with a few contacts from Buzz. I've been through 3 or 4 of these Google social network experiments where Google likes to stay on the sidelines and let things crash (also Lively). I appreciate Google but I wish they had a long-game for some of this.
ReplyDeleteI'm an infrequent G+ user, but I've always thought of G+ as where the smart people hang out. Ironically it was on Twitter that I learned of the G+ security breach and shutdown. Wish I had spent more of my time on G+, rather thanelsewhere.
ReplyDeleteG+ has been such a wonderful place for higher level discussions and private communities. Why did they do this? Not everyone wants the FB format. It's much harder to find intellectual posts on FB. When you do find a good post on FB, all your narrow minded real life acquaintances get offended. G offers privacy and anonymity when necessary. I love the ability to sort people by Circles. Very sad.
ReplyDeleteIt was the only good social media platform. Twitter censors and bans people for political opinion and "rate limits" people who don't even use the site. Facebook is a police/government facial recognition database, they do not allow "fake" accounts for people who don't reveal their identity. YouTube is probably gonna go down the drain with so many popular content creators having their accounts affected, their fans will boycott if enough call for it, like a snowball effect. I wouldn't be surprised if people migrate away from google all together because of this as a last straw. There is no such thing as "too big to fail". Gab is a far right site and tumblr is a far left site both of which pale in comparison to g+. Reddit is more broken and terrible than this site ever was.
ReplyDeleteI'll make it easy: You can find my reaction here: plus.google.com - +Google+ please don't. If you must, give us a way to download all our conten... I've been with G+ since back when beta users had "invites" to distribute.
ReplyDeleteWell, first of all a lot can and will happen in the next year or so. In many ways g+ has been fantastic for many of us, but the user community did dwindle in size and activity over the last 7 years.
ReplyDeleteI attribute part of loss of users to the meandering strategic moves g+ the executives made over these years.
Plus, you have to understand g+ was seeded, grown from the high tech and cerebral crowd, high social energy but not necessarily a socially adroit bunch of folks.
And somewhere along the way, a couple years ago, g+ executives deliberately steered g+ toward a pinterest model, which only partially works, it misses the socially effective side of things. Early on the g+ executives gave up on circles and ways of managing one's personal network of acquaintances.
And another change was re-architecting the system a couple years back, to be mobile friendly first, whose extreme simplicity thwarted the more complex sort of interaction common here. But on the other hand, people are shifting to a mobile mode, so we all have to adapt. Also, technically, g+ system engineers got smart about controlling chunks of information to be more secure and manageable, but the effect of modularizing info the way they did resulted in over-simplified individual profiles, comments, and other chunks of info, again reducing social cohesiveness.
These comments are just off the top of my head, don't take too seriously.
The Crimson Fucker: Alucard, Lord Ţepeş You get a plus just for that name.
ReplyDeletehttps://lh3.googleusercontent.com/x-jdFY3AEf8K61gdlowzY-mwD1cHHQf-9gyXSQcElsYXk2c21rLYcNrFaOT1GD88COcQLYixsW_RY7c=s0
I've been using Google+ for about three years now.
ReplyDeleteAnd in those three years I've made amazing friends, I found my girlfriend here.
Google+ has such a great layout, with collections and communities.
It's easy to make friends and to express yourself.
I never thought the day would come where I would see the words "google+ is shutting down"
I don't want to lose my friends, I don't want to lose everything I've done here. And I'm sure no one else does either.
I wish google would hear our pleads
Chris Sutton ...I concur....this supposed "breach" seemed to be a "easy out" considering the enormity of resources at Google's disposal! If a diversified open source community can create a secure Linux Operating System, SURELY the same can be done for social media?! Perhaps Canonical could work into Ubuntu OS a de-centralized Peer2Peer social network?!🤔
ReplyDeleteAlso, this by someone who has consulted with Google
ReplyDeletelauren.vortex.com - The Death of Google – Lauren Weinstein's Blog
Azure Mallone
ReplyDeleteHot +1https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/HPMtnGn3oQccD0vXz_aFXs71yivSmfp9SiOLg_XcXZbuhJEdjWD57d79LOAYtaCy1bFG92jBM5NF9FidN6XuqjHGHYwr3qiiHPR9=s0
Azure Mallone
ReplyDeleteHot +1https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/yOw9-LB0_mX5DaEvPUUY7JhVXI_iZDcxogl1Bb_3bGSPNq0Qu4x-8DG676rTyQOXEtPVfxbrwMtnLuvDp0X1e6EklXZjT7O2UU7n=s0
Azure Mallone
ReplyDeleteHot +1https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/mbN5Fdyewyyl89hqpcZMKLxLRoEH0GVGFH3RjjG2sEFSY4YC42VCc5lBaOWL0-DAZCzjeaq-arMJUm_xXOnApGjetG26vTLJbs-w=s0
Azure Mallone
ReplyDeleteHot +1https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/2dFRJjKPYaBBmCKSwASYMENGCcGgjmQFr_mLttdVWbcysefuZ4EonZUisb0xjaQOsUKmSYzr7kXvqboH1QrQjZwcD6abnfyaE9ZQ=s0
Azure Mallone
ReplyDeleteHot +1https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/GytoNmtmQtaPG_l0jITitFz4lNUfnl2yr_kk6-ffTkiJSqvv0oY3iNGFyDhYZ_aQ28VoOvXWTq5wY4k3lnZ5enVUjYbye_X6qG9s=s0
I will be divesting from all Google products and services as G+ dies - it was the only reason I use Google products and services for convenience. I think this was a very bad business decision.
ReplyDeleteFacebook is a way to catch up with people you knew from your past.
ReplyDeleteG plus was a way to find interesting people that you never knew, but have common interests.
Happy to discuss things.
ReplyDeleteWhat Andy O said. I made a lot of new online friends thanks to G+ communities. Now we're being evicted with nowhere trustworthy to go.
ReplyDeleteAndy O that's a simple and accurate way to describe Google+.
ReplyDeleteI for one have found G+ to be an enthralling network of lately intelligent discussions. I challenge anyone to find such a place on facebook.
I find myself eager to read through the day's postings(in chronological order! What madness is this?), And always ended up a little sad when I reach the end of the postings for that day, again, something you could never do on facebook with its never-ending page layout.
Should there be a petition to save G+, I will gladly sign it. Because I've learned so much here, it can't be easily put into words.
blanche nonken I think you can download your data out of plus.
ReplyDeleteG+ houses a large amount of unique original content from every discipline of creative endeavour and every part of the world.
ReplyDeleteThe destruction of this data, created by living and dead, past and present, members of the platform, will count as one of the single greatest acts of bastardry in the modern world.
I've been here since it opened for general use and I'm gutted that it's going to be shut down. G+ is my primary social activity online and I have made many friends here. I don't know what could replace it.
ReplyDeleteI'd be happy to speak with you if you still need people for your article.
Jillian D'Onfro ive been a BIg User since 2011.
ReplyDeleteI was expecting this.
Googles reasoning for closing is a Giant Pretext .
( BIg LIe )
They have been making many negative changes to the experience for 2 years . This Year they weaponized the unwanted algorithmic feed to hide our friends and contacts posts ( to convince the power users of the Ghost Town Lie ). This doesn't even exist for ads or news like in FB .
They want Users to quit so they can shut it down with minimal backlash.
I will never trust Google with another social network again. I will think twice before adding any new google Products.
My first and only foray into social media. For me, Plus and the Internet became synonymous. I know that will sound strange to Facebook Luddites, but it was a lively and engaging place full of intelligent people. No adverts. No sports crap. No celebrity nonsense. Minimal pointless Instragram shots of food. And inasmuch as it's possible, even political discussions tended to be intelligent and thoughtful. Ghost town ? I have >2000 followers and own a community with >850,000 members. It's not a difficult service to use, but you do have to persevere - you won't get hordes of followers overnight, so I can see how it could be mistaken for empty void to a casual observer. But it really, really isn't. Nothing social is ever perfect, but for me it was a fantastic mix of a common interests and a great, diverse crowd. I met people here I never would elsewhere. Losing Google Plus has the visceral sensation of a punch in the gut.
ReplyDeleteThe really dispiriting thing about the announcement was that it was a flagrant pretext to destruction, not an excuse. No other social media site shuts down because of a possible security gap with no evidence of any wrongdoing. No apology has been issued to the active users. Plus isn't being shut down because of some security flaw, it's because Google don't know what to do with it.
It sucks to see Google taking away from non-paying users a product that will live on in pay-for Google Suite (or whatever the name of their commercial bundle nowadays is) of hosted applications - just because it couldn't find a way to make a lot of money out of it. Google is using the public as guinea pigs and free labour to find problems with their products, then pulling the plug. Time to pull out of Gmail - I guess it will follow the same route sooner or later.
ReplyDeleteEveryone should just abandon google. They monopolized the search engine concept too long. Same with YouTube and video hosting. There are other alternatives that can easily replace both.
ReplyDeleteJillian D'Onfro whats your hangout ID?
ReplyDeletemaybe you should allow messages ?
Mike Elgan This seems like it might be up your alley.
ReplyDeleteJillian as a brief history educators in G+ were quite active. Before G suite and GAFE we spun together networked classes across Google+
ReplyDeleteI am running an IndieWeb meet up tonight and tomorrow in the Google+ mass migration group.
Come by if you need a closer in the piece pointing to better future.
Jillian D'Onfro, our Systems Sciences community were having a group shutdown issue on LinkedIn in October 2015, and thus have now prepared for the possibility of any platform shutdown. We've settled on Wordpress.COM (an open source platform with a good commercial business model) for longevity. See stream.syscoi.com - Google Plus (for consumers) shutdown | Oct. 8, 2018
ReplyDeleteDavid Ing the WordPress.com.plans from Automatic are crazy expensive. Why not WordPress.org on your own Domain? You will save hundreds a year
ReplyDeleteGreg Mcverry I already run personal Wordpress sites at http://coevolving.com/blogs/ , http://daviding.com/blog/ and many other places.
ReplyDeleteFor the O2 plugin and theme to work the way that Wordpress uses it internally, it's better to be on Wordpress.COM . In June 2017, I started using Jetpack with O2 self-hosted, and found some features lacking.
We haven't added any additional features to the standard Wordpress.COM platform, so we could theoretically run at no charge ... but paying $5CAD per month for a Personal plan to use our own domain name allows us the option to move to a self-hosted site at a later date, if there's a reason for that.
coevolving.com - Redirection to blog
When I like at the WordPress.com pricing pages seems custom themes and plugins cost $50 a month US. That is crazy expensive
ReplyDeleteGlad to talk to you. I will add the caveat that my first social network sort of construct was a thing called Usenet, going back to over 30 years ago.
ReplyDelete