Is Google+ a Failure? One Forbes Writer Says Yes

I wanted to get away from having to deal with multiple sites like LinkedIn and Facebook.  I hoped that google+ would make that happen via circles, which is a great concept.  Unfortunately, none of my contacts have shown any interest in moving to google+.    

google+ is bland & adds nothing new!! its like old wine in new bottle!!

only fb is still popular and google didnt realize group psychology!!

Google+ is still in Beta and as any Gamer will tell you it's just plain foolish to make judgements on a product based on its beta.  The product isn't even finished and Google has done almost nothing to promote it and I still use it more then I use Facebook.  Wait until the Brand pages and the API are live before casting judgment.   Mr. Tassi is like someone who looks at a ship still in the construction docks with half its core still showing and complains that it's not sailing yet.  

Ha. I heard the same thing from a social media marketing guru lately. My feed is full of interesting things.... Maybe both he and Paul Tassi are stuck in people's acquaintance circles.

I find it interesting that people are still approaching Google+ with Facebook glasses. Its a different product. Same industry but still different none the less. And the goal is more akin to Twitter, where you seek inspiration and interesting people. Not friends that passive-aggressively complain about someone they won't out right name, or how cute mr. fluffy is when he licks ice. 

I mean, because the hype and buzz died down, people are all of a sudden calling it a failure, or worse making statements assuming an inevitable demise. Give it a chance, buzz and hype die down, but its not gone. And if your wall is empty, that means you have not tried to use Google+ for its purpose. You have to reach out like Google+ is intended to do.

Look for people who share similar interests (not just your buddies and your family).... its a way to connect strangers and the familiar alike. But don't be upset cause your friends aren't on it and call that a failure. Thats a narrow vision indeed.

If google can't take it mainstream soon it will be a problem. 

Way too early to call it a failure.  It hasn't been promoted enough to people who don't stay on top of tech news. My teenage daughter, for example, had not heard of it before I mentioned it to her. And many of my work colleagues have still not heard of it -- nor are they using it. It has been widely adopted by people in the internet/tech industry, and the general consensus is that it's a great communication tool.

Personally, I love it for networking with people on a more profesional level. For me, it's more akin to Twitter. I follow complete strangers including fellow SEOs, photographers, tech peeps, web developers, etc  -- all the types of people who are of interest to me who I follow on Twitter. It allows for great content sharing beyond a 140 word limit.

I don't think it's done yet! Google will continue to work on this for a long time before giving up on it. There is too much potential to simply give up on it, even if it's not popular at all at some point in time they could easily breath new life into the platform simply by adding new and unique features/services.

Just give it time, it is still an infant in the world wide web compared to Facebook.

I agree with Amy, this was link bait for Forbes. Google + has 25 million plus users in less than two months. It has already surpassed the total user base of Foursquare and Gowalla combined! And remember this is in a limited, restricted beta. it took me two weeks to be allowed in to google + and I was being invited multiple times and attempting to join several times every single day.

It is still far too early to know if it can really compete with or even kill Facebook. But the "launch" has been an unequivocal success. Now, let's see where they go from here. What happens when they start allowing companies in and adding more bells and whistles.

Google+ is suffering from a catch-22.  People don't want to use it because not enough people use it.

Way too early to call. What does he think, everyone's supposed to jump ship at once? The migration from Friendster and Myspace didn't happen that fast, why should this?

Google Plus is not going to immediately beat Facebook because most people are only on social media so they can connect with friends and family. The best place to do that right now is Facebook. So until time passes and people start to check out Google Plus, the masses are still on Facebook.

Regardless of that point, this Forbes writer is a joke and no one should be taking his advice. If you check out his profile on Google Plus, you'll notice he's posted 4 times and has had A LOT of engagement - fully contradicting his opinion. 

All he wanted from that article was exactly what he got... a little attention.

Perhaps the author finds a blank page because he's not interacting with any interesting people. Does he have people in his circles, or is he as lost as many of the early users of Facebook and Twitter?

It's way too early to judge Google+. Comparing its activity to Facebook is silly; people are still figuring out how it works. And, it doesn't have the history and general audience yet. I have had some good interaction on G+ already, and am looking forward to the implementation of all the bells and whistles.

Google+ users haven't had their "aha" moment yet.  It's not a failure yet, but if that moment doesn't happen and to enough people, it will be.

I just can't seem to get into it. I've tried, but I don't like spreading myself too thin on the different social networks and I just down right don't have time for all of them either. As of now, I still prefer Facebook and Twitter.

Whilst my business and my own name is on Facebook, I don't find it the most appealing or immediate social network to use. I signed-up for Google+ and (to my eyes at least) I found myself  looking at a web-page trying very hard to be Facebook; so repeating the chores of Facebook means I've left my Google+ page relatively empty - until I see it take-off.

Twitter and Tumblr, that's more like it.