Still Kicking

They were heady days when Google was preparing to launch their answer to Facebook, which had done much to create discontent but which had faced little real competition. It seemed that Google Plus must be a success, or at least a vigorous challenger capable of making Facebook grow to remain dominant. Of course, while Google Plus is still there, it seems to have already passed the point of real viability.

When they were making people sign up for a waiting list or else get an invitation from someone who had already gotten a Google Plus account, it was about the hottest ticket in town. Everyone seemed desperate to get on board, and then came the time when it was opened up to all, and many people did sign up for accounts. Somehow it developed that people came but didn't stay to do anything. This is how it looked to me.

I mainly have envisioned that Google Plus has been as deserted as the social networking sites which preceded and were vanquished by Facebook. Certainly there have been few incidents on my end to suggest that anything's going on there. Recently though, a couple people placed me in their circles, which is a curious version of friending someone that requires no reciprocity. I had a look at their accounts and then at the main page.

I was surprised to see that friends of mine had been keeping up on Google Plus, and that there did not seem to be entire days of inactivity like I had imagined. It's like the dying mall turned out to be bustling, though it had appeared inert from the street, or maybe it's more like a placid fallen log which shows the activity of a termite colony when flipped over. In any case, I must admit that I was wrong in counting Google Plus entirely deceased.