Google+ Versus Other Internet Social Networking Sites.

There is a whole big list of social networking websites, most of which many people are unaware. In addition to the list embedded in the preceding sentence, I found a website that provides the top 15 most popular social networking sites ranked by a combination of continually updated traffic statistics.

Why is Facebook so popular? Or Twitter? Or any of those sites for that matter?

I have used LinkedIn specifically for professional purposes, not for trivia conversations. I have used Twitter to post on a wide variety of interests and for some dialogue exchange to a limited extent. I gave up on MySpace years ago and rarely use my Flickr account.

I have made extensive use of Facebook for myriad purposes. I have even created numerous lists of specific people based on commonality of specific interests to target the audience of who may see what. It doesn't stop there, though. I have also created and/or administer several special interest Facebook groups that include only those people I authorize to join; and I belong to several other groups that someone else administers.

None-the-less, I have found that many people on Facebook are what I call gawkers, using that term very loosely. These folks just kind of lurk in the shadows reading what others write but do not write anything themselves. Gawkers may do nothing at all other than read OR they may click on a like button OR share by re-posting what someone else has written or posted OR they may post internet meme after internet meme after internet meme. These gawkers, as I label them, do not really use Facebook as a means of social interaction.

Additionally, there is way too much drama and bickering on Facebook. People write mean, nasty, rude comments to others. It is unbelievable that there are so many people who write things to others on Facebook that they would never say to them in a personal face-to-face conversation. Those folks disgust me.

Because of my experiences with Facebook, I go through phases of using it and then not using for periods of times and then using it again and not using it. The primary reason I started a Facebook account is the same reason I continue to have a Facebook account. Simply put, I have used Facebook to reconnect with long lost friends and family; to that end, Facebook has been very helpful for me.

I much prefer Google+. However, even after several years of concerted effort, I have still been unable to interest most of the people I know to use Google+ rather than those other social networking sites. I do not understand why people do not switch over to Google+ from Facebook and/or other social networking websites, OR, at least start up a Google+ account in addition to their Facebook and/or other social networking websites. IMHO (In My Humble Opinion), Google+ is a much more useful and friendlier place.