Google+ is Going Bye-Bye

Google Plus LogoI don’t know about you, but frankly, I’m relieved. I’m already spread so thin between working, writing (more like not writing), life, and social media, that the fact that we are losing one of the places we should have a presence is a gift. And honestly, I haven’t found Google+ to be one of the most user-friendly platforms out there. I never could figure out circles, and I have literally never been able to find the Indies Unlimited group on Google+. Thank you to everyone who has been managing/moderating/running that group. You may now take a well-deserved vacation.

Back in October of 2018, I guess Google announced they’d be “sunsetting” consumer Google+. I know I didn’t see that announcement, because I definitely would remember use of the term “sunsetting.” Love that. In any case, that means Google+ is going bye-bye.

I received an email yesterday with more information on a bug that was caused during an update, and some other technical stuff that makes my eyes roll back into my head so hard I get a concussion. If you want to read Google’s blog post about Expediting Changes to Google+, you can do so here.

While I’m relieved, I think it’s sad anytime something doesn’t work out as someone hopes, but in the end, it’s one less thing I have to worry about. How about you?

Author: K.S. Brooks

K.S. Brooks is an award-winning novelist, photographer, and photo-journalist, author of over 30 titles, and executive director and administrator of Indies Unlimited. Brooks is currently a photo-journalist and chief copy editor for two NE Washington newspapers.  She teaches self-publishing and writing topics for the Community Colleges of Spokane, and served on the Indie Author Day advisory board. For more about K.S. Brooks, visit her website and her Amazon author page.

14 thoughts on “Google+ is Going Bye-Bye”

  1. I totally agree with you about the uselessness of Google +. I found myself only visiting the site once or twice a month, and have never noticed any buzz for my books from posts on Google +. Like you, I will not miss it, and am happy that I now have one less time suck to worry about.

  2. I liked Google+ but just didn’t use it much. Unfortunately there’s several other social media sites I should just let go just cause I can’t do them justice either. Nearing 70, more & more of my focus is on staying fit as I can, the youngest grandchild, and creative work. Oh and eating, lol! 🙂

  3. At least it will now (presumably) be possible to deregister from Google+. I don’t remember ever signing up for it, but they are keen to tell me that I must do Many Things before they delete it. If there is anything of mine/about me on there I can’t bally find it! But yes, there is my skeletal profile. Undeletable. Apparently. Sigh.

  4. I will my Blogger. I had a pretty nice site set up, which I’ll no longer be able to use. Plus, I will lose all my blog posts. Guess I didn’t see that one coming!

  5. I’m a new author and currently trying to figure out my overall marketing strategy. All the do’s and don’ts can be overwhelming and so I’m glad for one less thing to set up.

  6. I got rid of all things Google about 6 months ago and I can’t say I miss any of it, including search. -whispers- Duckduckgo is just as good. 🙂 Re marketing, sadly the platforms I enjoy – like Twitter – aren’t really great for sales, but you have to enjoy your work…right?

  7. At least they sent you an email. All I got was a notice when I went to share something the other day. Glad my daughter warned me over Thanksgiving. (She works for Google) Not going to miss it.

  8. Totally sad. It tells you everything about visual addiction (to FB). Google+ was immensely better.

    (a) Google+ showed your posts to anybody who followed you (vs. FB who wants you to buy ads to show your content to your followers (Google makes so much ad revenue on all their sites they don’t need to restrict subscribers),
    (b) subscribers could cross-promote all Google sites from blogger to Youtube, thereby gaining more followers easily,
    (c) the big visual display was especially helpful for authors b/c it was almost Pinterest like.

    On a personal note: On Google+ I won more followers easily than on any other social media platform.
    Another helpful site gone. :((

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