Google+ takes second place in social network race

While Facebook is still far and beyond the world's most used social website, Google's own + service has now taken the second place medal, beating out both Youtube and Twitter by a few per cent of the world's population.

According to new data from GlobalWebIndex, Facebook currently has over 50 per cent of all internet users, while Google+ has now tipped over 25 per cent. Comparatively, Youtube and Twitter have just over 20 per cent a piece. Other websites that have significant market shares include several China specific social networks, with the next biggest for worldwide users being LinkedIn, followed by Myspace much further down the table.

This is an impressive feat for Google, which was mocked soon after the site's launch for its lack of users. However at this stage it's garnered over 300 million sign ups, most of them active. Compared to Facebook's well over a billion users, it seems paltry, but then again, it doesn't have quite as many active users as that. Unfortunately since Global Index figures do not take into consideration the under 16s, Facebook data is likely to be a little skewed in terms of active numbers.

Other indications from the data suggest that websites catering to specific countries are failing, specifically many of the ones in China and Germany.

KitGuru Says: Personally I don't use Google+, though I have an account there like I'm sure many do. Do you guys make use of it? If so, do you find it much better than the alternatives?

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