Kanye West and Jay-Z both have massive Twitter followings, but each has fewer than 1,000 followers on Google+. Other celebrities who are frequent tweeters ranging from Sarah Silverman to Rainn Wilson don’t even have Google+ profiles.
Beyond the obvious question of how performers like Jay-Z and Snoop Dogg circumnavigate Google+’s strict pseudonym rules is this: Will Google+ be able to challenge Facebook and Twitter as a place for entertainers to promote their latest projects?
Google+ is growing at a rate of about 1 million visitors per day, according to comScore, and clearly finding a niche. And there is widespread speculation that once Google launches brand pages, it may be more conducive to sharing information with fans.
But there have been hitches so far, including confusion among fans over whether or not they’re following Lady Gaga’s real profile to an apparent lack of interest in Google+ among perennial tech early-adopter Trent Reznor. Then again, a look at Kanye West’s Twitter feed could raise questions about celebrities’ enthusiasm for social media in general: West, who was once a frequent Tweeter and maintained a huge followings on both Twitter and Facebook, hasn’t tweeted since July 21 at this writing.
“G+ for techno geeks?” marketer and digital public relations specialist Kiki Rizki asked.
