Understanding the Google+ Shutdown and How it Will Affect You

Google has become synonymous with almost all things that connect us via internet, except social media.

In December 2018, Google announced that it would shut down it’s social media platform, Google+, in April 2019; as a result of low usage of the platform among consumers and a security breach. They explained that the shutdown process will happen gradually in the months leading to April, giving users time to transition their Google+ content to personal data storage devices and services.

Google+ Shutdown Timeline:

Google+ started shutdown measures in January 2019, by removing the Google+ Sign-in button from certain sites, but the process officially began in February.

February 2019

• No new Google+ profiles, pages, communities, and events can be created.
• Comments made from your Google+ will be removed. Comments made on all sites will start being deleted on April 2, 2019.

March 2019

• Google+ Community Moderators will be able to download and save posts from public communities, including post information, content and photos.
• Beginning March 7, 2019, the Google+ Sign-in button will no longer work and the button will be replaced with a Google Sign-in button.

April 2019

• Google+ will shut down; profiles, accounts and their content (including Album Archives) will begin being deleted.

G Suite will remain active and will be getting a new look and features. Google+ content will be visible until Google+ is deleted in April. Users are encouraged to contact their G Suite administrator for additional information.

Developers using the Google+ API or Sign-in, were notified in January about how the shutdown will impact them- and are “strongly encouraged to search and remove Google+ dependencies from their applications”.

For additional information on the Google+ Shutdown, Google has an FAQ to address specific questions and concerns.