The Mounting Pluses at Google+

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In an article posted by the Wall Street Journal, who forgot to do a little more homework from my perspective, stated that Google+ has various factors against its potential growth as a social network.  To read the article for yourself you can follow this link at The Mounting Minuses at Google+.

1st – Google+ Is The Infant Social Site

Google+ is a new social site that has only been around for a few months and of course won’t have the interaction or the quantity of users found on LinkedIn or Facebook.  It is in its infancy stage with plenty of room to grow.

2nd – Google+ Early Dramatic Growth

Although visits there are minimal their personal growth is astronomical in comparison to other social sites growth in the beginning. You can’t say it will never overpass other social sites because that is what people stated when Facebook came out and there was a fairly big site at the time called MYSPACE!  Now ask yourself ‘Where is it now and why did it end up the way it did?’  Oh, and just to give you a heads up Google+ has now surpassed over 90 million people.  Not a small number by any means and done within a half years time.

3rd – KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)

That leads into my third point, Google+ has brought the social media experience back to the very basic level where Facebook used to be.  Yes there are some pretty amazing features on Facebook; however there is constant change to the point where you have one feature down and everything is turned upside down on you again.  What’s more is the screen is becoming more and more cluttered with information, tabs, ads, posts, etc. where the clutter becomes more of a nuisance.

I vaguely remember that Myspace become more cluttered and crowded which eventually turned off their users who in turn, flocked to a little known site at the time…Facebook.  It took a few years for this to happen but it eventually did.  Myspace never thought it would lose so many ‘Faithful’ followers because all of their friends were already planted VIRTUALLY.

4th – Online Companies Come and Go

Online businesses come and go in the blink of an eye when critics and business professionals state, ‘These sites will never fail and its here to stay.’  Of course an investor or the corporate leaders will state the positive because that is a driving force for their success. What they don’t share are all the ‘What-Ifs.’  What if another site encroaches on our space. What if people start going elsewhere for business.  Companies are always in a constant push to stay on top and there is never one business that can relax and assume that what it is giving is exactly what the marker wants.  Trends change, the market changes, and technology changes.  All three of these factors can and will impact the growth and prosperity of a company or its potential downfall.

For more examples of online companies, not all social companies mind you, that hit their high note and now have dropped rapidly due to newer, cleaner, and better services here are just a handful to name a few:

• Yahoo / MSN – Google is currently dominating the search engine market but things change mind you.
• Pets.com – Interesting history with this one and how it hit the very bottom and was eventually acquired by PetSmart.
• MySpace – Tell me how many people really visit this social site anymore. Do they visit weekly…monthly…yearly?
• AOL Instant Messenger – Where are they now? Texting on mobile phones or posting on social sites have pushed this business out of the window.

There are many more but the above list should suffice.

Don’t trust that things can’t change. Don’t think that even though a company has attempted to enter the marketplace in the past and failed, it can’t come back with new tricks and learn from previous mistakes. Take advantage of potential trends early on because by starting now you will stay ahead of competitors.  An old grade school statement I remember to this day is, ‘first come first served!’  That is the absolute truth but once your the first you can quickly turn into the last due to various circumstances such as straying from your original formula.  Don’t forget to Like us on Facebook or add us to your Google+ Circles.