Google+ Took A Hit, But Who Cares?

Google + chief Vic Gundotra, the guy who came up with Google's attempt at social media, quit on Friday, which some are speculating could signal the end of the Google+ service. Don't everybody get up in arms at once! Despite rumors of the social network's impending demise, Gundotra will be replaced by Google+'s engineering executive, David Besbris, according to Re/Code.

Now, in 2013, Google said 540 million people were using Google+. Who are these faceless millions? Does that number include my two Plus accounts that I linked to my Gmail because Google basically forced me to use "Hangouts" to chat with people? Who is in my circles? Who are these strangers adding me to their circles?

Since its launch in 2011, Google+ has been criticized for being a "ghost town," a moniker which really pissed off its (apparently existing) fervent users. The site is no match for the ubiquity of users who spend their time on destination social media sites like Facebook or Twitter.

Actually, it's been posited that the service is mostly a clever way for Google to track what its users are up to across Gmail, Google search, Maps, YouTube, and the rest of its products, because once you get a Google+ account, it becomes the entry point to sign into all Google services.

So basically, thanks to Plus and Gundotra's stewardship, Google knows where you go, what you do, who you talk to, what you watch, and what you search for. NBD.

Gundotra was the guy behind "circles" — Google's attempt to redefine the way people socialize online to make it more reflective of how we spend time offline. The circles concept allows you to categorize friends into different circles and then share things based on who you actually want to share it with and not everyone you've met since high school. It's eons better than Facebook's confusing lists, but unfortunately it still happens to exist on Google Plus.

Another Plus feature, Hangouts, is the amazing place on the Internet where you can virtually put on cat masks while talking to your friends.

You can learn all about Gundotra's replacement David Besbris on his Google+ account, where he recently shared a really adorable GIF of him hanging out with his daughter at Take Your Child to Work Day.