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Google finds Vulnerability in G+ API. Sunsets G+ in response.

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wraith808:

The most damning thing?

Google did not initially disclose a Google+ security bug when it first discovered it this spring because it feared regulatory scrutiny and reputational damage, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing documents and people briefed on the incident.

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(from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/08/google-reportedly-exposed-private-data-of-at-least-hundreds-of-thousands-of-plus-users.html)

Google is shutting down Google+, a social media service it launched in 2011 that few people used. Google made the announcement the same day that the Wall Street Journal published a story about a bug in the unpopular social media service that allowed outside developers to access users private data. According to The Wall Street Journal, Google first learned about the breach in March of 2018, but quietly patched the bug and decided not to tell anyone for fear of a regulatory backlash.

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(from https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/qv9xmb/google-plus-is-shutting-down-after-security-bug-exposed-user-infoc)

Google's statement can be found on its blog at https://www.blog.google/technology/safety-security/project-strobe/

G+ was actually the only social network that I used.  I liked the fact that even though I didn't trust Google, they didn't really require much to register.  My account used was a throwaway account, so the security breach didn't matter.  I also liked the fact that they were pretty open with communities, for those times that I really didn't feel like signing up for yet another forum to discuss another niche subject.
 Facebook requires you to sign up to see anything and requires your personal data, so I have a different feeling towards them.  As a result, I had several communities that I used on G+, but avoided any on Facebook.

I know that it never really caught on... did anyone else use G+?

Deozaan:
Interesting news.

I know that it never really caught on... did anyone else use G+?
-wraith808 (October 08, 2018, 03:18 PM)
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I used it a lot when it was new, and tried to get others I knew to join me there (or forced them to if they wanted to see my posts/pictures/whatever). But I've hardly touched it for the past 2-3 years or more.

At this point the news of it shutting down can only make me respond with "it's about time."

wraith808:
Interesting news.

I know that it never really caught on... did anyone else use G+?
-wraith808 (October 08, 2018, 03:18 PM)
--- End quote ---

I used it a lot when it was new, and tried to get others I knew to join me there (or forced them to if they wanted to see my posts/pictures/whatever). But I've hardly touched it for the past 2-3 years or more.

At this point the news of it shutting down can only make me respond with "it's about time."
-Deozaan (October 08, 2018, 04:25 PM)
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What real alternative is there, though?  If you want to do the whole social networking but don't want to give all of your info?  A couple of my communities created FB groups, but... FB.  A couple of others were mentioned... WeMo, Mastadon, Discord, Slack... but they all seem to be different animals.  The only real thing for public communities that opposed it was pretty much G+.

Deozaan:
You don't have to give a lot of personal information for Facebook. But they'll datamine it out of everyone they can based on your friends and tagged posts, etc.

That said, your use case seems to be different than mine. I was never really into any of the public communities. They never held much personal worth to me.

Shades:
Same here, tried to like it when it was new. But lost interest in social media completely, not just Google+. Visiting my Facebook and linkedIn profiles I do once or twice a year. I do not even have bothered to create accounts for the other socials.

Following Will Wheaton on Google+ (for his youtube channel 'Table Top') was fun for a while. But as I said, lost interest completely. Ah well, at least one icon will be removed from Android... :p

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