Blog Oklahoma Podcast / Blog Oklahoma Podcast 059: Goodbye Google+

Happy 2019 everyone. It's good to be back behind the microphone. In this episode we say goodbye to Google+, we find out where I've been for the last couple of months, and introduce you to our brand new website.

Welcome to Blog Oklahoma

Goodbye Google+ 2011-2019

This April 2019, we get to say goodbye to a friend, Google+. Google announced on October 8, 2018, that they will be sun-setting Google+ for consumers. That means you and me. The shutdown process was going to take 10 months to complete. But in December they moved things up and now Google+ will shut its doors in April. As a matter of fact the spin down has already begun by shuttering parts of the Google+ API services.

Why is Google ending this service?

Well there's several reasons. One of the reasons Google says was low numbers of active users. I'm iffy on that one. I still see quite a bit of activity in my feeds, even after the shutdown announcement.

Another reason were a couple of data breaches they discovered one right after the other. Instead of putting in the resources to fix it, they're going to use those resources to end the service.

Google is very well known for ending services. Even really popular ones. Google Reader and Google Talk come to mind. Two services I used on a daily basis. So the announcement of them ending Google+ is no real shocker. It's just disappointing.

I joined Google+ not long after it launched in 2011. Through all it's ups and downs, I really liked the service and stayed quite active on it. .

If you would like to know more about Google+, it's history, and about it's shutdown. I've provided some links in the show notes.

How can you download your Google+ data?

At the time I'm writing this has yet to announce an easy way to do it, but I do have a few options for you.

The first option is a third party service called Google+ Exporter. It's by the people behind Friends+Me, a Google+ cross posting service. It will take your Google+ feed and export it over to WordPress, Blogger, or into JSON file for you.

The other option is Google's own Takeout service. From there you can download all your data from all of Google's services. This includes Google Calendar, Gmail, Blogger, and everything else. Please remember if you do use Takeout, uncheck everything but Google+. Otherwise you'll be downloading for a while.

Again I'll have links to these in the show notes.

So where do you go from here?

Is there a similar social network like Google+ you can move to? Well there are different social networks out there. It all depends on what you want to do with it and what kind of service they provide.

From my perspective, I would say there are three mainstream stream service. Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit.

Twitter is a fine service, but it doesn't have groups or communities. I'm on Twitter quite a bit, I share links, images and thoughts. And I get most of my headline news from it.

Reddit is all about communities, but It's organized like a giant forum. And it has its own quirks and culture behind it that some people may not like. It's a good service, but it's not for everyone.

Facebook I would say is the closest match to Google+. I've even found myself using Facebook more lately. And this is from someone who doesn't like Facebook that much, but that's where a lot of people I know are right now.

Of course, Facebook has its own problems as you may have read in the news. And many notable people are abandoning the service for various reasons. So there's that to consider.

I would also include Instagram under the Facebook umbrella. I love Instagram, but Facebook's influence can seen all over it. As in more ads and a terrible algorithm based feed. Facebook is growing and killing Instagram at the same time. Oh. Sorry that was my own little rant there. Ha.

If you don't want to try those service out, there are others out there. Just search around. For example there's Mastodon or Diaspora Each with their own pros and cons. I like Mastodon and see quite potential in it. And there are new social networks launching right now. You might consider like MeWe or Openbook. In fact I'm currently looking over MeWe and hope to have a full review for you in the next month or so.

So dear Google+ friends it was fun while it lasted. And I know it's a disappointing time with it shutting down and all, but we have options. So let us all say goodbye to our friend, Google+.

I'll have links to all these and more in the show notes at blogoklahoma.net.

This episode's writing suggestion

... is to talk about your favorite social network and why you like it.

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