So young, so promising. It was in its prime, and stood to reap the rewards of all of Facebook’s flaws—and in a weird twist, made Facebook copy Google+ for some of its newest “changes.”
But the fact of the matter is, public posts on Google+ have decreased 41 percent since the social networking service launched a few months ago. Even Larry Page, you know – Google’s CEO – last updated one month ago. And I thought something was wrong with me when I forced myself to post something on Google+ so my friends didn’t think I’d virtually disappeared.
(MORE: Is Google+ Momentum Slowing? Report Says Visitors Spent Less Time on Site)
So what’s going on, folks? Are we hopping off of the Google+ train, and calling it quits? Or is Larry Page having a secret company hangout with Sergey Brin that we’re not invited to, doing CEO-like secret stuff? A Google spokesman didn’t have much to say for Page’s recent lack of activity but did note that “…people are two to three times more likely to share content with one of their circles than to make a public post,” reports TechCrunch.
It could just be that the initial velvet-roped entrance was maybe too private, or people got past it and just realized the only people “hanging out” there were actually a bunch of geeky bloggers (like moi). Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I don’t mind salivating over my neighbor’s cousin’s sun-kissed Fiji vacation on Facebook either.
(MORE: Facebook Makes Another Big Announcement with ‘Subscriptions’)
But the question remains: Can Google+ appeal to the masses? Or will it be the service that ultimately made Facebook better, but is slowly fading into the abyss of the Internet? And more importantly, will anyone hang out with me? It’s getting a little lonely in here.
Erica Ho is a reporter at TIME. Find her on Twitter at @ericamho and Google+. She promises to post more. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.