I’ve followed Thomas Hawk’s photography for years. He’s quite active on Twitter (@ThomasHawk) and has a huge presence on Flickr with over 20,000 contacts.
(fun side note: I randomly connected with him in a “hangout” in g+ a few nights ago. Such a great feature.)
Thomas recently ran a test where he posted the same photo to five different places:
- Google+, where he has 1,861 followers.
- Flickr, where he has 21,125 contacts.
- Facebook, where he has 3,161 friends.
- 500px, where 1,558 people subscribe to his photos.
- Twitter, where he has 19,285 followers
He wasn’t able to track photo views in most of those locations, but he could track interactions (likes, comments, etc). At the end of the day, Google+ provided far more interaction than any of the others, even though he had far more followers at some of them. Why?
It could be because it’s new and people are playing with it more, and while that might be part of it, Thomas tends to think that the awesome lightbox that display photos on g+ are a major factor.
Of course, time will tell. After the newness of g+ starts to wear off and more people join, it’ll be interesting to see what happens with users like him. Be sure to check out his full post for more details on the experiment.
What do you think was the reason for his success on g+?
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I would definitely guess that it’s due to the newness of G+. I just signed up last night, so I’ve spent a lot of time messing with it, looking for people to add, and trying to see how it works, while barely checking Facebook. I assume that’s the same for most new users. So it’s natural that anything people do on it is going to be noticed more right now.
J.R. — I’d agree with that. I’ve certainly been ignoring Facebook and Twitter quite a bit while I play with g+. I’m really curious where a test like this will be in six months. Tons more interaction on Google+? Or has the hype died down and people gravitate back toward Facebook and Twitter? It’ll be fun to watch!
Yes, I’ve discussed this with other people, the real ultimate test of G+ won’t come until it’s been opened to the public. Right now it’s got all the hype because it’s new and still in the test stage. So it’s like an exclusive night club, everyone wants to get it, specially because they can’t get it. Once I announced that I’d gotten in I’ve been inundated with requests for invites. People are curious. Now, I think it’s wise for Google to wait until it’s as functional as possible. but I hope they don’t draw out the beta trial period too long, they need to strike while the iron is hot.
Google+ is both new and a very “focused” community at this time. The invitation “exposure” was limited and forced people to reach out to their closest friends. Although I have noticed most people are highly tech involved, the range of other gifts and interests has been fascinating. The photo circle has an initial hook because it is one of the first four choices at the top of the page. Of course the quality of work, decent cameras in phones and in “real” cameras is helping us all to enjoy this part of the community.
Doug — Good point about the hook at the top of the page.
The interesting thing about Thomas is that he’s produced rock star-quality work for years, and has much bigger audiences on the other networks. What is causing the great level of interaction on Google+?