Google Plus is just the latest social media network to fall and close its doors. Who can remember Friendster, MySpace (still live but lost its popularity), Google Buzz (the predecessor to Google Plus), plus a host of now defunct social networks. Although at the time of this writing LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook (which includes Instagram) are the dominant social networks, it is impossible to predict where they will be in a few years. Facebook already had a number of crises in recent years and is struggling with maintaining growth while battling privacy and security issues.

Google Plus was backed by the biggest Internet company in existence today. Yet here is the email announcing the decision to shut down the social network:

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. We want to thank you for being part of Google+ and provide next steps, including how to download your photos and other content.

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 process of deleting content from consumer Google+ accounts, Google+ Pages, and Album Archive will take a few months, and content may remain through this time. For example, users may still see parts of their Google+ account via activity log and some consumer Google+ content may remain visible to G Suite users until consumer Google+ is deleted.

As early as February 4th, you will no longer be able to create new Google+ profiles, pages, communities or events.

See the full FAQ for more details and updates leading up to the shutdown.

If you’re a Google+ Community owner or moderator, you may download and saveyour data for your Google+ Community. Starting early March 2019, additional data will be available for download, including author, body, and photos for every community post in a public community. Learn more

If you sign in to sites and apps using the Google+ Sign-in button, these buttons will stop working in the coming weeks but in some cases may be replaced by a Google Sign-in button. You’ll still be able to sign in with your Google Account wherever you see Google Sign-in buttons. Learn more

If you’ve used Google+ for comments on your own or other sites, this feature will be removed from Blogger by February 4th and other sites by March 7th. All your Google+ comments on all sites will be deleted starting April 2, 2019. Learn more

If you’re a G Suite customer, Google+ for your G Suite account should remain active. Contact your G Suite administrator for more details. You can also expect a new look and new features soon. Learn more

If you’re a developer using Google+ APIs or Google+ Sign-in, click here to see how this will impact you.

From all of us on the Google+ team, thank you for making Google+ such a special place. We are grateful for the talented group of artists, community builders, and thought leaders who made Google+ their home. It would not have been the same without your passion and dedication.

As you can see, if a business would dedicate countless of hours to create content and build their presence on Google Plus, all that time, money, and effort would be lost. Is that social media platform that last to be scrapped? No. We can only speculate which social network will lose popularity or be sold to another company that will mismanage it.

As a business owner, you want to create a brand that you have full control over. You do this by selecting the best domain name for your brand and getting a professional website built that you control. And use social media to attract attention and traffic to your website and brand.