Social Media 101: Google+ Demographics, Strengths & Weaknesses

What is Google+?

The easiest answer would be “it’s a lot like Facebook” but that would be incorrect. Google+ leverages all of the other Google services all in one into what they call the “Social Destination”.

It’s harder to summarize in a few lines, but it’s simply that all of the related services of Google are more or less accessible with Google+. You want to share files through your Google Drive. There. Videos from You Tube. Here you go. Maps and more… it’s almost like whatever you do in Google, everyone you specifically choose through circles gets to join in as well.

Demographics Breakdown

• Male 69% Women 31%
• Tends to be Male skewed as noted, but also more likely to be highly educated. A techie. More likely to be around 25-40
• Over 60% of users will be COLLEGE educated

Strengths

• Apparently 2nd largest social network in terms of overall interaction because of the way Google+ aligns users to their interests. In other words, “passion follows passion”
• Will only grow as it is directly integrated to the creation of the Google account, of which is by far the most advanced one due to Gmail, Google Maps, the Android Platform, Chrome, Google Drive and YouTube
• The use and implementation of Google+ is unique. While Facebook tries to equate the behaviour of a user based on prior clicks, Google+ has a near laser like accuracy when it comes to organizing users with their preferred “Google Communities” (DIY, science, politics, religion, etc.). How? By simply following the subject matters of the communities the user chooses, and then combined with geographic relativity.
• Simply by being part of Google+, a user’s presence in Google Search increases much more efficiently than having a Facebook Page. In fact, a “+1” in Google+ instantly increases the ranking score of a given website.
• Google Circles allows a quick indexing of friends, associates and the like along interests and such making mass communication to be very simple
• Better control of content sharing. Content from a phone, tablet or related account or camera will instantly be backed up and sent to an assigned Google backup area, and can then later be selected to be shared as the user desires
• Google+ posts are VISIBLE in Google Organic Searches. As such, say your client writes a post about a sale with his/her store, any organic search will possibly show that event
• Google Hangout – totally unique, the ability to LIVE broadcast video that is automatically backed up on the profile AND YouTube. Up to 9 people can join the broadcast while others can observe. This provides a unique opportunity for clients to directly interact with the public (for example, an event with a celebrity, a tech lesson, a conversation about cars, etc.)

Weaknesses

• Learning curve, not as initially friendly as Facebook
• Not as well marketed a platform compared to Facebook, thus a slower implementation
• Smaller user pool presently but will eventually grow
• No strategic partnerships outside of itself. For example, if you use Google+ to check out a product, there’s no way to sell the product as well.

Thank you to Terrence Lo of Dream Communications for writing this as a featured Guest Blogger.