Google will officially close the doors on the consumer version of Google+ April 2nd. That is the official date given by Google in a blog post made today. Google+ was the failed (yet popular with millions) social media website that had potential. Now that Google will officially close the doors, most users are exiting ahead of the shuttering.
Many users have migrated over to MeWe, Minds, Mastodon, Twitter, and other social media networks. Still, others haven’t left at all and are waiting until their accounts are deleted. Google says the choice to shut down Google+ were “due to low usage and challenges involved in maintaining a successful product that meets consumers’ expectations.” The company suggests you get to
On April 2nd, your Google+ account and any Google+ pages you created will be shut down and we will begin deleting content from consumer Google+ accounts. Photos and videos from Google+ in your Album Archive and your Google+ pages will also be deleted. You can download and save your content, just make sure to do so before April. Note that photos and videos backed up in Google Photos will not be deleted.
The process of deleting content from consumer Google+ accounts, Google+ Pages, and Album Archive will take a few months, and content may remain through this time. For example, users may still see parts of their Google+ account via activity log and some consumer Google+ content may remain visible to G Suite users until consumer Google+ is deleted.
Google also says that as early as February 4th, you won’t be able to create new Google+ profiles, pages, communities, or events. One of the biggest things users, especially bloggers, should be aware of is Google+ comments. Google really pushed bloggers to integrate Google+ into their comment platform and now that is going away.
If you’ve used Google+ for comments on your own or other sites, this feature will be removed from Blogger by February 4th and other sites by March 7th. All your Google+ comments on all sites will be deleted starting April 2, 2019. Learn more
Google also pushed websites to add the “Sign In with Google+” button and that is also going away but with some exceptions.
If you sign in to sites and apps using the Google+ Sign-in button, these buttons will stop working in the coming weeks but in some cases may be replaced by a Google Sign-in button. You’ll still be able to sign in with your Google Account wherever you see Google Sign-in buttons. Learn more.
G Suite customers will retain their Google+ accounts as Google is looking to shift the social media platform more towards business users now. Here are some of the changes G Suite’s user base may experience with the shutdown of the consumer version of Google+.
- Communities outside your domain without at least one G Suite owner will be deleted. Also, your users will no longer be able to create public communities outside your domain.
- Google+ pages, events, and the Google+ profile field for “tagline” will be deleted for both G Suite and consumer users.
- Previously, upon G Suite customer cancellation, certain customers (e.g.,
edu customers) could continue to use Google+. Going forward, upon cancellation of G Suite, all G Suite customers’ content will be flagged for deletion. - Content from consumer Google+ accounts will be deleted. Consumer users will also be removed from your circles and communities.
- For additional changes to Google+ features such as collections, circles, search, vanity URLs, and commenting
in Blogger and other sites, see the Help Center article.
A new version of the Google+ Android app for G Suite will be released on February 22, 2019. G Suite Android users will need to update the Google+ Android app before March 7, 2019 to continue using Google+ on their mobile devices. Google says that old versions of the app will no longer be supported.
There’s plenty more info at the source link below, if you’re interested. Myself and the staff at Techaeris are all original Google+ users and we’re sad to see the doors closing. For many in the Google+ community, it’s like a slap in the face. So long Ploos.
What do you think about G+ finally closing? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter, or Facebook. You can also comment on our MeWe page by joining the MeWe social network.
[button link=”https://support.google.com/plus/answer/9195133?hl=en” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: Google[/button]Last Updated on February 3, 2021.
