Comments on: Facebook vs. Google Plus Engagement – You Had No Idea How Bad It Is For … ! [infographic]

By: Felice Linder

Felice Linder — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 01:41:19 +0000

For me, comparing Facebook and Google+ is somewhat like apples to oranges. They are both fruits, but I eat them for different reasons. Facebook is for keeping up with friends. Google+ is for keeping informed. There is a place for both from a user perspective and marketers will figure out how to make the most of each. After all, Duck Dynasty and Downton Abbey have financial support.

By: Ralf Skirr

Ralf Skirr — Thu, 17 May 2012 17:28:57 +0000

Tadeusz, agreed on all points! Just found this today on g+, it illustrates the difference perfectly! (Lol, we plussers are a bit elitist, aren't we?)

Most Talked About People On Social Networks

Source

By: Tad Chef

Tad Chef — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:06:09 +0000

Great comparison! I miss some aspects though. It seems to me that people on Facebook engage ina "quick and dirty" way while on Google+ people lead real debates. I bet the average comment length is higher on Google+ than it is on Facebook.

Also people discuss addressing other commenters on Google+ while on Facebook everybody is commenting on the original post. It may just be me but I'd like to see the numbers compared.

Also on Facebook most people engage with real life friends while on Google+ you also more likely to converse with strangers.

I might err of course, that's just my subjective impression.
Hmmm, my spell check doesn't work inside your form.

By: John

John — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:06:45 +0000

With Facebook going public the investment community is going to start weighing in on Facebook. Google is a known entity in the investment world. We will see in the not too distant future if Facebook is a hit or not!

By: Michael Neuendorff

Michael Neuendorff — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:17:06 +0000

Ralf, Yes, this is anecdotal information that bears further research to draw definitive concusions. However, I've not found ANY anecdotal information that would suggest otherwise than your findings here. So, it may be circumstantial, but it sure smacks of the truth.
I'm especially hip to your comment about a marketer having only 24 hours in a day. One must go for ROI on time invested and G+ looks like a Savings Bond at present. Little cost, little present value.
Thank you for sharing this work. It's valuable and interesting.

By: Ralf Skirr

Ralf Skirr — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:23:26 +0000

Hi Joel. Thanks for your comment. You wrote: “it seems mostly centered on the idea that social networking tools “work” when they produce value for marketers or celebrities”

The marketing aspect is not my focus in THIS post. It’s centered around the idea that everyone who posts something wants to get a conversation about it in some form. Even if you post for hobby, why would you keep doing it if no one cares?

Or, in other words, when I write a piece of content and it gets me 3 times as much feedback on Facebook compared to Google plus, why in the world would I go to g+ instead of sticking with Facebook? Especially when I’m not a marketer!

As a marketer I may find many reasons to post my stuff even when no one engages. But when posting for hobby, I want to have conversations.

The marketers have systems in place to post every piece of content, crap or not, everywhere. I see many Google plus accounts from marketers with daily posts and ZERO interaction for months. Maybe that’s fine for them because they are just there for dropping links.

But a ‘normal’ person wouldn’t be interested in doing that. They like a platform where they can engage and have conversations.

At this time it takes a lot of work to get that on Google plus!

By: Joel Cheuoua

Joel Cheuoua — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:12:22 +0000

Great article, very interesting and insightful, however it seems mostly centered on the idea that social networking tools "work" when they produce value for marketers or celebrities (i.e. audience and engagement).
Granted that this is one big factor of the success of these tools (ask twitter…), I think we tend to forget too quickly the original – and difficult – problems and reasons they are supposed to be out there for: namely how do you make it easier for people to connect with friends, familly and peers so they can to actively, easily and collectively solve problems, get merry or simply chat and support each other.
Until we get back to these fundementals, most of the "new kids on the block" like Google+ and even Pinterest a while ago (I followed them closely when they sarted years ago) will be railed as a failure because they quite simply won't' have the same critical mass or interest that'll make the marketers and social media wonks go bananas … but that it's not a bad thing in my book.

By: Carl Meibergen

Carl Meibergen — Sat, 05 May 2012 15:49:37 +0000

Ralf, as always very thought provoking – and coming from a background in educational research I love the data mining.
With those skills you must love fantasy baseball (said with a smile on my face)

By: Ralf Skirr

Ralf Skirr — Sat, 05 May 2012 13:12:43 +0000

Thanks for your reply, Terry. Those are great questions, and they stimulate a lot of new thoughts on this topic. I will pick them up for a new blog post about the goals and usefulness of social media, especially for small business.

By: Terry Babij

Terry Babij — Sat, 05 May 2012 11:32:59 +0000

Thank you Ralf for this thoughtful mind stimulating post. You put some hard and fast numbers to the G+ space. The engagement numbers are a good measure of interaction. Wasn’t the old rule of thumb 1%? These figures decmate that rule. If I am a small brand with limited reach why even look at Social Media space if I need to attract 1,000′s of fans to hope for 1-2 comments or hares?

Is the goal of brands personal and corp to strive for massive followings to generate engagement or fine tuned followings tailored to their needs?

I came from an industry that knew little about Social Media and still thought there was something there and do not invest too much because you cannot measure however it may be the right thing to do.

Your examples are large personal brands with some engagement. You studied down to the post level would a implement ratio subscribers, fans to “talking about” on FB be as close?

A closing thought on Google Plus. For business the benefit can still be the added Google Juice from having the +1 engagement and higher search results. Flipping the thought might be, will Google hurt its image if it gives higher results for G+ engagement and not looking at other spaces?

By: Ralf Skirr

Ralf Skirr — Sat, 05 May 2012 00:48:29 +0000

Thanks for your nice words, Jo Ann, much appreciated. I googled 'epidemiologist.' Now I'm going to do an 'outbreak investigation' on how Guy got followed by 2 million people! ;-)

By: Jo Ann Kairys

Jo Ann Kairys — Sat, 05 May 2012 00:38:43 +0000

This is a fantastic article. I like that you are careful to point out potential shortcomings of the comparison (like a good epidemiologist!), but the facts are compelling as are your personal perspectives. Thanks for crunching the numbers – great stuff!