The under-used platform never came close to competing with Facebook as a social media to MySpace (which, interestingly enough, still survives, albeit known only when it inadvertently erases almost a decade of material). Google + became something of a joke as Facebook, then Twitter, then Instagram, then SnapChat rocketed in popularity.
source: searchengineland.com
No, for everything Google has done right, Google + faltered.
Since it's going away forever, though, a certain celebration seems in order. Google + might have been awkward and largely unknown, but it was not without its own virtues. Unlike Facebook or Twitter, you could participate in different degrees in a wide variety of online groups. Obviously, religion is one example. As this blog started in 2012, I found several, not just one, audiences on Google+. Many of the 2012-2015 posts appeared simultaneously on the "Catholic Blogs," "Roman Catholics," "Living the Catholic Faith," and occasionally "Theology of the Body" groups. The G+ Catholic Blogs even had a Twitter handle (no longer active). On any given day posts on these groups might range from the overly wordy and wonky like my own to mainstream/leaning conservative spirituality to frankly sympathetic sedevacantism or equally unapologetic left-wing beads-n-sandals Catholics. And those were just the Catholics. There were evangelical Protestants of all sorts, Hindus, Buddhists, progressive politics, and conservatives who revered Steve Bannon. Also, unlike the more popular platforms, it seemed easier to connect with earnest international Catholic participants. Google + seemed to be a gateway platform where many gained their sea legs before moving to the more popular ones.
Perhaps because so few comparatively used the platform, Google + was never monitored as Facebook and Twitter justifiably have been. At any rate, a certain diversity of voices existed among Catholic use of Google +, much like what exists on #CatholicTwitter today.
That was just the start. Some of my other Google + groups ranged from vegetarian cooking (hey, I figured you never know when a good Lenten recipe might pop up) to abandoned building photos to discussions of classical Greco-Roman architecture.
Many of these connections were passive; somebody else would post, I'd read and register support/recognition by clicking the "+1" button. The long-ranging, incendiary battles of Facebook and especially Twitter only rarely flared up. This lackluster response might have been what led many to not even bother with Google +. Where was the argument?
Still, I have seen several bloggers come and go on Google +. Some succeeded wildly beyond all expectations, such as good friend Virginia Lieto. Starting on Google+ (due to a theology course assignment, of all things), she quickly built a following and reputation that has produced a couple children's books. She still blogs frequently on matters of faith and virtues.
My teenagers, by the way, hated Google +.
Maybe that was a factor, too. Google + was a platform for the socially-awkward on social media. It became clear that many posts exuded enthusiasm about a subject, but weren't quite sure how to convey that spirit as smoothly and fashionably as one might on Facebook, Twitter, or even SnapChat. OK, so you don't have the same online skills as your teenagers. That's fine, there is (or was) a place for you.
Since the April 2 doomsday was announced, many have left Google + already. Some, like the sons of Elrond, remain, lingering long after most of their kind have left. One destination seems to be MeWe, a feisty start-up social media platform that offers better functionality and some of the same groupings. The Catholic Blogs Google+ group has moved there in bits and pieces. Connect with me via MeWe here.
That new community will grow and develop its own identity. The Google + cannot, and should not, be replicated. Those of us who participated should enjoy it for what it was.
Social media exudes a certain illusory character reminiscent of Buddhism's anicca. Nothing is permanent. Therefore, Google + can not be mourned; it existed only in virtual reality. Online communities are not real like the in-person ones, obviously, and we do a disservice to ourselves, our "real" communities, and the online ones themselves when we forget this distinction. That being said, I am grateful for the many people I met through it. I learned and appreciated more than I damned and dismissed. But now, like the Ring-bearers sailing for the Undying Western Lands, it is time to move on.
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