If you have been using Google Plus recently, you’d have got the notice that “Google+ account is going away on 2 April 2019. Downloading your Google+ content may take time, so get started before 31 March 2019.” If you have not got this notice but you have used Google+ before, you’d still take action now as your data in Google+ may be lost after April 2019.
Launched in 2010, it was once a promising competitor to, or at least Google’s hope in creating a social media platform to counter Facebook. It is obviously not as successful as Facebook, but do have many users who created vibrant communities using its rather straight-forward methods based on emails in sharing data, mostly photos. I used it a lot in sharing photos of trips with friends who could easily contribute theirs too. It is therefore a pity to see it go. But things do come and go in alarming rates in the digital world, and we just have to embrace the changes and ensure that our data are protected and backup.
Below is an excerpt of Google’s instructions to download your data under Google+, refer to their link here for details, but do it ASAP and before end March 2019
Download your Google+ data
You can export and download your Google+ data, including your Google+ circles, communities, streams and +1s.
Important: Downloading your Google+ content may take time, so get started before 31 March 2019.
Note: Downloading your Google+ data will not delete your Google+ profile. Learn how to delete your Google+ profile.
Download all your Google+ data
You can download an archive of all your Google+ data at once, including your Google+ circles, communities, streams and +1s. Your Google+ archive includes your photos and videos from Google+.
Go to the Download your data page. You might have to sign in. Your available Google+ data will be pre-selected.
Click Next.
Choose a file type.
Choose how you want your data delivered.google
Click Create archive.
Note: If you want to download Google+ Pages content, sign in as the Google+ Page.
Download specific Google+ data
Instead of downloading all of your data, you can download specific Google+ data, such as your photos, posts, communities or events.
Important: If you want to download your photos and videos from Google+, make sure that you select Photos under ‘Google+ stream’.
Go to the Download your data page. You might have to sign in.
Next to the type of content that you want to download, such as Google+ stream, click the down arrow Down arrow.
Click Select specific data.
Select the specific data that you’d like to download.
Click OK.
Click Next.
Choose a file type.
Choose how you want your data delivered.
Click Create archive.
Note: If you want to download Google+ Pages content, sign in as the Google+ Page.
Sources and Credits
Si, S., & Google+, H. (2018). Google+ Shutting Down: What You Need To Know To Save Your Data. Basic and Advanced SEO Tutorials and News – SEO Hacker Blog. Retrieved 17 March 2019, from https://seo-hacker.com/google-plus-shutting-down/
Download your Google+ data – Google+ Help. (2019). Support.google.com. Retrieved 17 March 2019, from https://support.google.com/plus/answer/1045788?hl=en-GB&authuser=0