Google+ Engagement Still Way Behind Facebook, Twitter

More damning research has emerged about Google+ user engagement, challenging Google’s spin that the network is growing at a rapid clip.

RJ Metrics looked at the public comments of 40,000 Google+ users and found, among other things, that about 30% of such users who make a public post once never do so again. The report may present a somewhat skewed picture of Google+ engagement since it focuses on public posts. However, based on the data, the service’s user engagement still lags that of competitors like Facebook and Twitter.

Among other findings:

The average post on Google+ has less than one reply, reshare and +1.
There’s a 15% chance that a user will not post publicly again even after posting publicly five times.
The average time between posts is 12 days for active users.
The average number of public posts per active users declines steadily month after month.

In contrast, a the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 52% of Facebook users and 33% of Twitter users engage with the platform daily.

The RJ Metrics report emerges after comScore found that Google+ users spent an average of 3.3 minutes on the site in January vs. 7.5 hours for Facebook.

For its part, Google has been mum about Google+ engagement, though it now boasts 180 million users for the platform. Google released a statement taking issue with the study: “By only tracking engagement on public posts, this study is flawed and not an accurate representation of all the sharing and activity taking place on Google+. As we’ve said before, more sharing occurs privately to circles and individuals than publicly on Google+. The beauty of Google+ is that it allows you to share privately – you don’t have to publicly share your thoughts, photos or videos with the world.”