Growth of Google+ and Pinterest in 2013

Google+ and Pinterest changing the social media landscape

Social media has always been a big deal. People like to connect with other people, and businesses love to use these 'social meeting places' as a way to market their businesses. Some networks rise and fall, like Myspace or MyYearbook. Other sites, like Facebook and Twitter, continue to rise in popularity. Now there are two new social media network sites making their rise in the online world: Google+ and Pinterest. What can we expect from these two new sites in the upcoming year? Keep reading to find out.

Google+

Google+ far exceeded expectations in 2012, and it can be expected that they will continue to become bigger, better, and more efficient. Many people believe that this site will take control of the local social media scene. Since the site is becoming ever more business-friendly, it can be expected that, if nothing else, Google+ will become one of the number one necessary items for any businesses social media marketing strategy.

If you haven't read about how fantastic Google+ has actually been doing in the news, you'll probably be shocked to hear that Google+ has just hit another milestone by crossing into 500 million total users, which includes 135 million active users. A lot of people may not understand what a fast, shocking rise in popularity that is, but allow me to further explain by throwing you some numbers. In September of 2012, Google+ only had around 400 million users. In June of 2012, they only had around 250 million. All the way back at the start of 2012 (in January) the company reported only 100 million users. That's a 400 million increase in users during a single year! If they continue to rise at that rate, they'll have around 900 million users by the end of 2013. The number one social media site, Facebook, reports 1 billion users. If Google+ can keep the momentum of their rise, they may be able to rival Facebook in upcoming years.

Pinterest

Pinterest has already launched business pages, and many followers of the up and coming social media site believe they will soon have an API. It appears that Pinterest is taking the very same route Facebook originally took to become such a success. One can only suspect that the site will see the very same results as they have already shown businesses that they are able to generate leads, and as such, help gain sales.

Another big deal for the once small social media site happened but days ago, when they landed another $200 million dollars in funding. This additional funding puts the network at an estimated value of $2.5 billion. With such a massive amount of funding, the site is sure to continue expanding and updating all of their old tools to become an even better site for social media marketers and businesses.

December of 2012 saw Pinterest launch a campaign against the spammers which had previously plagued the site. As sites gain a rise in popularity, these 'spammers' or 'trolls' undoubtedly come out to play...and annoy everyone else they come into contact with. In December, Pinterest said that they had begun to permanently delete spammers and their accounts...forever. As part of this campaign Pinterest has also begun exploring options that can help stop spamming accounts from ever being created in the first place. The prevention of annoying spam on the site will undoubtedly help the social media site gain popularity.

Current data from the end of the previous calender year shows that Pinterest began to jump onto the data usage charts, which are charts that show a combined average of all daily visitors and page views per day and over time. They were ranked number 16 in the United States, 28 in Canada, and in the thirties in a handful of countries around the world. Our best guess is that Pinterest will continue this rise in popularity to become one of the biggest name social media sites. My guess is that Pinterest will rise around ten spots on this data usage chart and rank up there with Facebook and Twitter. That would put them at the number six spot in the United States, and the number 18 spot in Canada. Unrealistic expectations? I really don't think so. Pinterest is a site you need to keep an eye on in 2013.

Author:

Arlene Brill is currently working with SociaLink Media, a leading social media marketing services company based in Chicago, IL. She love to read motivational books and hiking with her dog in her spare time.