Why Facebook Is Leaving Google+ In The Dust

According to data collected by the Wall Street Journal, Google+ isn’t clicking with people in terms of engagement and repeat visits. As a new social network, it’s “virtually a ghost town” with very few people that are actively using the network in comparison to Facebook.

New data from research firm comScore Inc. shows that Google+ users are signing up—but then not doing much there.

Visitors using personal computers spent an average of about three minutes a month on Google+ between September and January, versus six to seven hours on Facebook each month over the same period, according to comScore, which didn’t have data on mobile usage.

Why are visitors spending so little time on Google+ and more of their time on Facebook instead? One of the great successes behind Facebook is the sharing of information between friends, family, and colleagues. When you’re on Facebook, you know who’s on your friends list, and you’re interested in the information they share.

Let’s say that you’ve migrated over to Google+ and you’re now there. You have Circles but most of the people in those Circles are also on Facebook. They rarely post on their Google+ accounts because they’re used to posting on Facebook, and they don’t have time and the resources to cross-post similar content.

So you see very little activity from your Circles, and you’re aware that the people you want to connect with are still on Facebook, actively sharing information. So why continue spending time and resources on Google+ when Facebook’s got it, and is so much better at engagement with visitors?

That’s why Google+ is falling behind Facebook when it comes to repeat visits and engagement. There are a number of ways that Google+ can do to fix this problem. They’re running TV advertisements, and inviting celebrities and large companies to Google+. Is it enough though?

It could be that Facebook has better brand affinity, and it’s a very well-known quantity to their visitors, and that Google+ can never catch up in this aspect. Right now, it’s too early to call Google+ a failure, but the signs aren’t looking good for the social network.