The way Google Plus used to be. It wasn't unusual for a post to be viewed a million times and for it to be share 5000 times. Maximum comments were 500. So very sad to have lost the momentum. Why did they change a perfectly good product?
If you don't want to download your work, there's an easy fix. Type your name into google images between two inverted commas, e.g. "Tessa Schlesinger." Then type site:plus.google.com next to it, and you should be able to find some of you highlights.
If you don't want to download your work, there's an easy fix. Type your name into google images between two inverted commas, e.g. "Tessa Schlesinger." Then type site:plus.google.com next to it, and you should be able to find some of you highlights.
Kerry Jeon Nothing we can do. They ruined it anyway. The problem is where we are going to go.
ReplyDeleteI remember several of those posts.
ReplyDeleteKerry Jeon How can you stay if they close it down? All of this is going to disappear in April.
ReplyDeleteJoe Leigh-Corrigan Yup. I will never know why they had to change it.
ReplyDeleteJoe Leigh-Corrigan I guess. I always wondered if it was that simple.
ReplyDelete"Why did they change a perfectly good product?" My guess is that either a) it's all part of their new "Do evil" re-tooling; or b) they are so caught up in "product" management by evil-doers without humanity, that they are clueless about all the human experience they helped "produce" or all the time & effort invested by loyal "product" - I mean users/customers. (Who incidentally DID bring revenue by feeding to YouTube, providing eyeballs for ads, and "good faith")
ReplyDeleteYou do know it's closing, right? April 1st they're plugging the plug on this app.. G+ is going dark, lights out. We're closed.
ReplyDeleteDan G. Yup. I was just posting some nostalgia from the good old days...
ReplyDeleteTessa Schlesinger some of the standard Google search operators work in the app but not nearly all of them. There are cheat sheets for them online.
ReplyDeleteDan G. What are the search terms?
ReplyDeleteMax comments are still 500, Google+ announcement for the "sunsetting" is stuck at 500, comments are now disabled.
ReplyDeleteLuke Almanza My point was that routinely people made 500 comments per post. What post has that degree of interaction these days?
ReplyDeleteSic transit gloria Google+
ReplyDeleteTessa Schlesinger I, too, plan to stay on G+ as much as possible until the end. However, those of us who stay should be aware that as of the end of this month, about 2 weeks from now, Google has announced that things will begin to get a bit dicey as parts of G+ will stop working.
ReplyDeleteI have started deleting certain of my Collections that were less popular, not only with followers, but with me, too! The rest are on their way to Flickr and Facebook, some sooner and some later.
I wish I had seen the traffic you describe on early G+. My involvement with G+, unfortunately, began after G+ fell out of favor with Google management.
Jeff Diver I cannot begin to describe to you the glory of Google Plus. I joined on day one. The vibe was incredible. Unfortunately, I was completely overwhelmed. People easily achieved 130 000 or 140 000 followers in the first year. Me? I asked people not to follow me, deleted them, etc. for bout the first 18 months.
ReplyDeleteIf you were any good, you were made. It was heady. You met wonderful people, and you met jerks. It was fast. I have made friends for life here.
I deeply, deeply regret the existence of the assholes who removed the movement of Google Plus in 2014. They basically destroyed it.
Thanks for letting me know about the two weeks. Google plus was down at about 11 pm USA time on Saturday.
Jeff Diver How do you know that Google+ is beginning to remove thingies in about two weeks?
ReplyDeleteTessa Schlesinger
ReplyDeleteJeff Diver probably knows the same way I know - i.e. read the announcement - developers.googleblog.com - Google+ APIs shutting down March 7, 2019
Read the entire article and you see that problems may start as early as January 28, 2019.
Andrew Hatchett I read that, but it was Greek to me! I'm not a developer. So my understanding of that was that if one worked as a software engineer on the web, if you integrated G+ into your websites, etc., then the code for that would be removed, and you would have trouble on your sites.
ReplyDeleteAm I mistaken?
It wouldn't, however, actually affect our consumer experience here, would I?
How wrong am I?
Actually, I just read moments ago, looking at the various timelines, that Hangouts stopped working in 2017. (Yet I just used it and still get requests to "hang out"!) OK...
ReplyDeletedevelopers.google.com - Google+ Hangouts API Support FAQ | Google+ Hangouts API | Google Developers
Michael Fenichel Yup. They totally destroyed this platform. It was the best platform ever created in the first year, then they started fucking up.
ReplyDeleteTessa Schlesinger
ReplyDeleteIf you are on G+ and trying to access those websites through a G+ signon, etc. you might have trouble doing so. Basically, from here on out it is anyone's guess exactly from day to day how things will work. Seems that no one really knows and the ones who DO know ain't telling :)
Tessa Schlesinger - Despite the Hangouts example above, with G+ you absolutely can/will be impacted when the apis - "interfaces" between your device and the varous servers and apps - grind to a halt. For example - and I'm not a developer either - things like being able to click / tap on the Google + button will no longer get you to Google. In theory, same with the Hangouts or other apps which interface with the Google system. "Orphaned".
ReplyDeleteServices will be held at 8...
Oh, but Hangouts didn't stop working, and nobody knows (or is saying) what might happen to web-based content which can now be reached directly by clicking on a link, or google search entry, etc. Wonder how well thought through this has been, to say the least. And the least is what they've shown in terms of respecting THEIR family (sigh) /done
Andrew Hatchett Gee, giving away all my secrets, eh? ;-) Thanks for the link. I should have included it in my original post. I sometimes forget my sources.
ReplyDeleteTessa Schlesinger right
ReplyDeletePersonally I've never had that much interaction ever on G+
ReplyDeleteKerem Go No, of course, not everybody did. It assumes that you had stuff that people wanted to read. The point is that the way the algorithm worked enabled ordinary people who posted popular or interesting stuff to shoot to the top.
ReplyDeleteExcellent comments. But do you think Google is reading any of this?! Respectfully, G+ is not the place to get the word out for changing Google's mind.
ReplyDeleteMike Waters I don't think anyone in the Mass Migration group has any delusions of changing Google's mind... Google has and always do whatever the fuck they want, no matter what their users want/need.
ReplyDeleteMike Waters Nothing we can do. They have shareholders. G+ is not paying. They can use the money for better paying things. Remember we are living in a neo-liberal capitalistic society. It's not what the people want that matters. Itis what the shareholders want that matters.
ReplyDeleteMike Waters Since you bring up the topic, just where is " the place to get the word out for changing Google's mind"? Somehow, I never found it! ;-)
ReplyDeleteTessa Schlesinger As a shareholder (and follower of "how they do things") I am here to tell you - shareholders have approximately 0 influence. And as far as I know they've never passed any user-experience shareholder proposals, things like disclosing "evil" expenditures, etc. I thought to start a shareholder petition on G+, but you need a long time to propose and get on a proxy ballot. I am now convinced the ONLY thing that would even get G's attention would be massive public outcry (not happening) or a big news story about the various petitions out there. No, the public story has always been, "What G+?" No traction, no apparent revenue... bla bla
ReplyDeleteMichael Fenichel I can assure you that thesse 5 people have a lot of clout as per Google.
ReplyDeleteyen.com.gh - Who owns Google? The Top 5 Google Shareholders!
In the same way, Marc Zuckerberg has a lot of say at facebook.
Tessa Schlesinger Sure. And how are they helping? Once upon a time the founders were engaged and supportive. Today there is the "do evil" for $ focus. But if you can get these 5 to act... go for it! :))
ReplyDeleteMichael Fenichel I think you've got this the wrong way round. The shareholders aren't acting on your behalf. The most powerful shareholders are hodling the CEO to make profits for them.
ReplyDeleteI think you misunderstood my meaning initially. My meaning was that the people who owned the company (had massive amounts of shares) directed where the company went, and that was about makign profits.
Tessa Schlesinger OK, but I insist that (as you prove) the ordinary small shareholder has no voice. No leverage. But if you're buddies with those big 5, talk to them! Meanwhile, IMHO it's probably more important to focus on contingencies and next-steps, assuming G+ is bulldozed soon.
ReplyDeleteMichael Fenichel I don't even know why you're talking about it. The reason G+ is being shut down is because it's not making money. No shareholder in his right mind is going to keep open a business if it is draining profits.
ReplyDeleteThere is absolutely no hope whatsoever that Google Plus is going to remain.
To be honest, I'm so sure of that that I'm probably going to deactive my account this week. Just trying to get the courage to do so.
At this point, apart from the loss of friends, it's a waste posting here. I would rather establish myself elsewhere. Hopefully, I will be able to emain in touch with others.
Tessa Schlesinger Not many posts get that level of engagement.
ReplyDeleteI've been looking at Communities data. "Beautiful Girls & Lovely" gets about 250 +1s/post fairly regulatly. "Random Roleplaying or Anything" gets an average of about 60 comments per post.
That's sampled data, not complete (36k randomly selected communities). But gives a flavour of engagement.
Dan G. The date given has been "in April" of 2019. Google have NOT specified WHEN in April. Might be the 1st. Might be the 30th. Might be the 17th. Who knows?
ReplyDelete(Google, but they're not sayin'.)
The Real Slim Shady No, it hasn't got that number of hits the last four years. That is why I said in G+'s heyday. Not any more. I certainly got that number at least 3 or 4 times a week.
ReplyDeleteTessa Schlesinger Understood. I'm confirming your perception from hard data :)
ReplyDeleteThe Real Slim Shady ??? did you actually look at my numbers on the photos attached. It has fuck all to do with my perception. I lost count of the number of my posts that hit 1 million views. Please don't insult me. I have been on G+ since day one.
ReplyDeleteTessa Schlesinger I agree with you. I'm substantiating your statements. I looked at your post. I am not insulting you.
ReplyDeleteWhy are you arguing about any of this?
I've also been on G+ since the beginning, and have done multiple analyses of the site, activity, scope, scale, and activity.
The truth is bigger than any or all of us. And independent of us.
The Real Slim Shady My apologies. I misunderstood. I thought you said that I didn't have those figures.
ReplyDelete