Google+ Sunsets

Toward the end of last year, in Goodbye Google+, Hello Twitter (October 2018), I wrote,

I don't know when Google Plus will close, but Google doesn't waste time when it takes action.

The official notification arrived this week in the form of an email:-

Date: 01-Feb-19
Subject: Your personal Google+ account is going away
From: "Google+ Team"

You've received this email because you have a consumer (personal) Google+ account or you manage a Google+ page. In December 2018, we announced our decision to shut down Google+ for consumers in April 2019 due to low usage and challenges involved in maintaining a successful product that meets consumers' expectations. [...]

On April 2nd, your Google+ account and any Google+ pages you created will be shut down and we will begin deleting content from consumer Google+ accounts. Photos and videos from Google+ in your Album Archive and your Google+ pages will also be deleted. You can download and save your content, just make sure to do so before April. Note that photos and videos backed up in Google Photos will not be deleted.

The message included a few useful links like the following:-

• 2018-12-10: Expediting changes to Google+ • 'In October, we announced that we’d be sunsetting the consumer version of Google+ and its APIs because of the significant challenges involved in maintaining a successful product that meets consumers’ expectations, as well as the platform’s low usage.'
  
  
• Frequently asked questions about the Google+ shutdown

Sunsetting! What an ugly use of a beautiful concept. 'Google+ Team', lift your heads away from whatever mobile device you use and look at the natural world around you. It is far more awesome than your contrived technology.

I also received a notice from Blogger.com -- that's the backend product that I use to maintain my blogs -- with info specific to the blogs:-

• 2019-01-30: An update on Google+ and Blogger • 'Google+ Profile: In March 2019, Blogger will revert to only having Blogger profiles. Users that have selected a G+ profile in the past will appear as unknown authors until they next login to Blogger and supply a new display name and avatar.'

As far as I can tell, that's the only part of the shutdown that I need to watch. That leaves me plenty of time to enjoy a real sunset.