Most of us already knew Google+ was shutting down but exactly when and how it would be taken away were still unknown. At least until January 30, 2019.
No one can deny that Google is a genius. They created the world’s most awesome search engine. Almost all of us currently own at least one Gmail account. And let’s not forget that they made the most popular operating system in Android.
Yet, social media wasn’t in Google’s favor.
Google+ Suffered a Major Data Leak
As first reported by The Wall Street Journal, Google discovered a bug in the latest software update that gave outside developers access to private data of users with Google+ accounts.
With the discovery of this new bug, Google officially announced the sunsetting of its consumer version of Google+. Later in December, Google stated in its blog post to bring the shutdown forward from August 2019 to April 2019.
Google+ Lives on for Businesses
It should be noted that all of this only applies to personal users. While Google is committed to shutting down Google+ for consumers, it has decided to continue its service to enterprise customers. In fact, Google is planning a whole new look and features for G Suite customers.
Important Timelines
According to this Google Support page, Google+ will be shutting down on April 2, 2019. This is when the process of deleting consumers’ Google+ accounts, Google+ pages, photos and videos from Google+ in the album archive will take place.
Goodbye +google+ pic.twitter.com/L5gOqsK1v7
— A (@A9N2T1) January 28, 2019
Before that, however, as early as February 4, “you will no longer be able to create new Google+ profiles, pages, communities or events.” Blogger will remove the feature to use Google+ for commenting by February 4 and other sites by March 7.
What To Do Next?
You can, of course, download and save your Google+ data, including your Circles, Communities, Streams, and +1s following these instructions.
You can also opt to delete your Google+ accounts or pages.
In case you want to stay in touch with your Google+ followers, consider creating a post to let them know where they can see your content outside of Google+.
Just Another Failed Attempt
If we’re all being honest here, Google+ was no longer at its spotlight. Almost every Google user has a Google+ account. Yet, not many of us use Google+ to post updates or check what friends are saying. We have Facebook for that already.
As a sad result, Google+ has ended up as just another in a long line of social media platforms that flopped.