Do they not like it, or do they simply not want to conform to a new social media platform? These are just a few of the questions I have after seeing the chart detailing how much members of Google management team use their fledgling social networking site.
The chart, which comes courtesy of The Understatement, is concise and awfully revealing. Not only that, but it begs another question, if Google’s leaders aren’t using it, why on earth would normal folks want to switch over? You’ll notice Randi Zuckerberg, even though she’s moved on from her brother’s creation, still uses Facebook. A great deal, in fact.
So why don’t the majority of Google’s management team not use Google+? Obviously, unless you’re hearing it from the horse’s mouth, speculation reigns. But after you look at the chart in question, it does make one wonder:
The names that immediately pop out are Eric Schmidt, Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Between the three big dogs of Google, there have been a total of 22 posts made on Google+. What gives? Is this a case of securing your name’s page and being done with it or do these guys simply not have time to share everything aspect of their lives on a social network, regardless if it has their brand or not? In his article, Michael Degusta makes a couple of valid observations about their level of interaction:
2. “The board/top management shouldn’t be expected to use Google+”
Yes, they should – maybe not every member extensively, but not even a single post by a single non-executive member of the board? Can you imagine Fred Wilson not publicly using the major new product of one of his companies?3. “Steve Jobs was really active on Ping?”
Ok, fair enough. But a music social network isn’t even remotely fundamental to Apple’s future whereas clearly Google thinks Google+ is central to its future.
With that in mind, would Google+‘s future be brighter if Schmidt, Page and Brin posted more? I’m not so sure that’s accurate either. That being said, seeing a higher level of interest from the group that dominates search would probably only help their social networking venture.