Who cares about Google+ engagement numbers

Larry Page says that 60% of Google+ users engage with it every day.

Larry Page wasn’t lying about the Google+ engagement numbers

We’re very social animals Google+ is a social network that is being built backwards. Hundreds of millions of people rely on Google, but not its social network. That makes things awkward in a lot of ways, and certainly Google’s efforts to find a foothold in the social space have seemed, until recently, feeble or forced.

via: venturebeat.com

Of course they do. Every time I open gmail the first thing I do is click on the Google status bar to get rid of that annoying red square. I’m pretty sure that’s the dominant use case of most of “Google+ users” and why “engagement” numbers are so high.

While Google+ has some interesting ideas (i.e. instant upload of photos from your Android), it looks a failed service to me. It’s way too complicated (circles, anybody?) for the general public.