The Google+ 'ghost town': Social networking by the numbers
No one is spending much time on the search giant's new digital playground. Has Google+ officially failed?

Google launched its Google+ social network with much fanfare last year in an attempt to compete with industry behemoth Facebook. Today, Google+ boasts an impressive roster of tens of millions of members — most of whom are barely spending any time on the site, according to an embarrassing new report from comScore. Google+ is a "virtual ghost town," says Amir Efrati at The Wall Street Journal. The new statistics underline what an "uphill battle" Google faces in trying to slow Facebook's momentum. Here, a by-the-numbers look at the "mounting minuses" at Google+:
3
Minutes that the average user spent on Google+ in January
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
405
Minutes that the average user spent on Facebook in January
89
Minutes that the average user spent on Pinterest, a hot new upstart social network
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
89
Minutes that the average user spent on Tumblr
17
Minutes that the average user spent on LinkedIn
8
Minutes that the average user spent on MySpace, the hoary social site of yesteryear
10 million
Google+ users in July 2011, mere weeks after the launch
40 million
Google+ users in October 2011
90 million
Google+ users in January 2012
400 million
Estimated Google+ users by December 2012
845 million
Facebook users
$202 billion
Google's market value
$75 billion to $100 billion
Facebook's target market value, following its much-anticipated IPO
Source: Google Finance, Mashable (2), The Wall Street Journal
-
Why Turkey's Kurdish insurgents are laying down their arms
Under the Radar The PKK said its aims can now be 'resolved through democratic politics'
-
Book reviews: 'Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves' and 'Notes to John'
Feature The aughts' toxic pop culture and Joan Didion's most private pages
-
The FDA plans to embrace AI agencywide
In the Spotlight Rumors are swirling about a bespoke AI chatbot being developed for the FDA by OpenAI