# Google+ shutting down **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 3, 2019, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-shutting-down/828887 "2019-02-03T17:38:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mislav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mislav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mislav)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2019, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-shutting-down/828887/1 "2019-02-03T17:38:28Z")
I recently received a notification saying that my Google+ profile will be deleted by April 2nd. I found a more detailed explanation here. > **[Google sets April 2 closing date for Google+, download your photos and...](https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2019/02/01/google-close-google-social-network-april-2/2741657002/)** > > Google will close Google+ on April 2, nearly eight years after it launched the social network, in an attempt to compete with Facebook. I would just like to know will that affect my gmail and YouTube account somehow? Just curious. Thank you in advance. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2019, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-shutting-down/828887/2 "2019-02-03T18:15:34Z")
Logically, it will not. To confirm: > **[Closure of Google+: everything you need to know](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/feb/01/closure-google-plus-everything-you-need-to-know)** > > Social network’s demise has confused many Google users. We answer the key questions > [@](#): > > The deletion does not affect other Google services. Photos and videos stored in Google Photos, for instance, will not be affected. Your Google account, which is linked to services such as Gmail, YouTube and Maps, will continue to work, but your Google+ account, which was only used for the social network, will be deleted. Right now, they couldn’t kill gmail without basically committing suicide. I much preferred the way it worked to facebook, whose interface and navigation metaphor and lack of guest logins makes me consider it to be a piece of feculent sludge. Unfortunately, the fact that it gained traction overrides all such considerations for a social media site. thus, I put up with it along with everybody else. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2019, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-shutting-down/828887/3 "2019-02-03T18:50:24Z")
Right. Functionally it was much better than Facebook, which got its traction just because it came first. With Google+, you could control what was seen with much more flexibility–like having different accounts for different purposes, which required some thought process. Facebook, on the other, catered to simple-mindedness, and it became the standard. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2019, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-shutting-down/828887/4 "2019-02-03T20:40:29Z")
They required you to have a Google Plus account in order to comment on YouTube. If you no longer have a Plus account, how will commenting be controlled? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2019, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-shutting-down/828887/5 "2019-02-03T21:01:06Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > They required you to have a Google Plus account in order to comment on YouTube. If you no longer have a Plus account, how will commenting be controlled? They claim: > [@](#): > > Changes to using YouTube with Google+ You don’t need Google+ to use YouTube, including for uploading videos, commenting, or creating a channel. If you have a Google+ page or profile associated with your YouTube account, you can delete your Google+ profile without worrying about losing any features or content. [https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2663685?hl=en](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2663685?hl=en) Note that one of those bullet items is “Commenting with outdated versions of the YouTube mobile app”. It appears they had to tweak it a bit to decouple it from Google+. Also “Channel art and channel icon editing on mobile”. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2019, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-shutting-down/828887/6 "2019-02-03T21:36:42Z")
You might want to check if you have a **Google Apps For Education** account, GAFE, since G+ is not shutting down over here for GAFE users. The last number I have is that roughly half of US K-12 use GAFE, so that is quite a lot of students and staff that are not affected. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2019, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-shutting-down/828887/7 "2019-02-03T23:12:47Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Facebook, on the other, catered to simple-mindedness, and it became the standard. Betamax vs VHS. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-shutting-down/828887/8 "2019-02-04T16:18:00Z")
Shutting down G+ is mostly just a formality, since even without it, they’re still the largest social media company in the world, by a long measure.