In a little over 2 years of existence, Google+ has rapidly grown to become the second largest social network in the world. A recent study now estimates that there are more than 1.1 Billion registered users on the social network.
How does that compare to some of the other prominent social networks out there?
Well I’m glad you asked! I’ve actually created an infographic to illustrate just that!
[Click for Larger]
What you see above is an estimate of the top 5 social networks registered users. Facebook’s number represents the number of active users as the number of actual registered users is, for the moment, undetermined.
In my original article, I believe that the Facebook number was the number of registered users, however Facebook is asserting that it is, in fact, their monthly active user number.
What does this mean?
Well, just like when you ask a church employee how many “members” their church has, you know that the number should be taken with a grain of salt. Or maybe several dozen grains of salt? These numbers are rough estimates showing just how large these top social networks have grown to be.
Here’s how the numbers break down—I’ve also included the age of each network according to their launch date:
Pinterest:
- 70 Million registered users
- Launched in March 2010 (3.5 years)
Instagram:
- 150 Million registered users
- Launched in October 2010 (3 years)
Twitter:
- 500 Million registered users
- Launched in March 2006 (7.5 years)
Google+:
- 1.1 Billion registered users
- Launched in June 2011 (2.5 years)
Facebook:
- 1.15 Billion active users
- Launched in February 2004 (nearly 10 years)
Registered Vs. Active
A lot of people will immediately jump in and want to argue about “active users” and maybe even still think that Google+ is a ghost town. Well, I’ve tackled those Google+ Ghost stories before, so I won’t get into it yet again.
Active users are where the real testament of social network success is, but registered users are still a powerful gauge of potential reach and awareness of a given social network. Don’t make the mistake of discounting that.
What I will say is that Google+ has reached this number without releasing an API for third parties. With Facebook and Twitter in particular, there are numerous articles written about the rampant fake, automated profiles on the networks. It’s a huge problem. These fake accounts are being created at a rapid pace and are being counted in all the stats. The reason that this is possible is because they’ve opened up their API to third party developers.
What’s Next?
If you’re looking to grow the reach of your church, ministry or group you can no longer ignore Google+. With the impending YouTube integration (announced this week) and Google+ local (not to mention the current features of Hangouts and Events) it is no question that Google+ will soon become the largest social platform in the world. Yes, I just said that, and I’m not exaggerating.
So are you using Google+ for your church? Why or why not?
April says
I had no idea that many people were using G+…it’s been difficult to get going on it for me, not because I don’t know how but because there aren’t as many users as on FB (or haven’t been) or Twitter.
Dustin Stout says
The thing that most people get hung up on April is that they don’t “know anybody who’s on Google+”. The funny thing about that mentality is that it’s very limiting. A new network is an opportunity to discover and meet new people – something that the church should excel at.
The greatest opportunity for growth resides in one’s ability to make new connections and be a network leader. Being “first to the scene” has immeasurable value.
Khürt Williams says
I guess the forced conversion via YouTube commenting system and Gmail helped push them over the edge.