I had a little downtime over the weekend and while sitting on the beach unwinding and perusing Motor Trend magazine, I was instantly sucked back to work and the internet. You see, Motor Trend publishes their social media statistics in their magazine. They have a table listing each social channel and their total followers, connections, contacts. One of the stats jumped off the page at me: the connections on Google+ are almost three times the number of Facebook followers.

Perhaps you’ve seen the white board photo circulating around the internet, I think I first saw it on Facebook (many months ago) “Social Media Explained” offering explanations for each social channel as related to donuts. Here is what it said:

Twitter: I’m eating a #donut

Facebook: I like donuts

Foursquare: This is where I eat donuts

Pinterest: Here is a donut recipe

YouTube: Here I am eating a donut

LinkedIn: My skills include eating donuts

Last FM: I’m listening to “donuts”

Google+: I’m a Google Employee who like donuts

The take away concerning G+ apparently is that only Google employees are using Google+. This same graphic was actually presented at a social media seminar I attended last week; it brought chuckles when G+ users were mentioned. Now Google has some strong arm methods for building membership… using any of Google’s services gets you set up with a Google account with access to G+. However, I don’t think they are also compelling their members to +1 Motor Trend, follow Motor Trend or add them to our circles. Google Plus is slowly but surely building an immense following. With the benefits it can offer any website with respect to rankings assistance, the smart business owner should be actively participating in this ever emerging channel.

If you’re not on Google+ join now and start building your circles. You may find that some of your friends are secret Google employees that like donuts too!