On Google Plus, Zuckerberg is leading

Two of the world’s most famous social network creators are on Google+ and they are each gaining large followings in two very different ways. They are Myspace co-founder Tom Anderson and Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg.

In the last two and half weeks, Anderson has ruminated on the new social networking platform with more than 37,000 people, particularly focusing on what it means to Facebook.

“Google+ seems like a ‘reaction’ to Twitter/Facebook,” wrote Anderson on July 2. “But Google+ really seems to be primed to make good on that original premise–that everything gets better when its social. And unlike Facebook, Twitter, or anyone else, Google already has the most advanced set of products.”

This post gathered more than 200 comments and 1,000 shares, with Anderson responding to a handful of comments personally. Yet for Anderson, this sort of personal touch is nothing new.

Anderson, who kindly declined to be interviewed for this piece, was every new users first friend on Myspace. He smiled in his photo, responded to messages regularly and helped make Myspace the premier social network without having to call it an “Anderson production.”

Yet despite his social graces, Anderson sits at number 13 on Google+’s top users list. The top spot is owned by Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, who has beefed up security on his account and has yet to post one morsel of information.

What is it about Zuckerberg that continues to capture people’s attention — 225,000 on Google+ — after a blockbuster movie, a small library of books and countless news articles have revealed almost every last detail of the man’s life?

Maybe people want to be there when he finally breaks his Google+ silence, the same way 38,000 people follow NBC Nightly News Anchor Brian Williams on Twitter despite his lack of activity.

Or maybe it’s because Google+ is the cool new toy that every techie needs to have. How Zuckerberg managed to amass a larger following than Anderson may depend on taste. The fact of the matter is, Anderson looks like he’s having more fun.