THE POWER OF THE PLATFORM: VISUAL STORYTELLING ON SOCIAL NETWORKS 119 Google+ Facts and Figures • There are now over 250 million Google+ • A great majority (42%) of users are young 162 accounts with 150 million active users adults, mostly 18 to 24. 157 • Video is the second most posted content across the globe. • Google+ has now overtaken Twitter as the type on Google+, whereas on Facebook, 158 world’s second largest social network. video is less likely to be in the top 4 content • Google is the world’s favorite search 163 post types. 159 engine, with 80% of unique searchers. • Overall, the top brands on Google+ reflect • People in the United States, India, and there being a stronger male audience with 160 Brazil are the most active on the site. traditional male brands doing well—for • Google+ users are likely to be students, example, car brands, football clubs, pinups, developers, engineers, designers, and 164 gaming companies, and tech blogs. 161 photographers. so much more than just a social networking site. “It helps with manag- ing our calendars, networking internally and externally, and keeping us updated with current events. This allows us to add real-time content to our clients’ digital accounts as well as our own.” Yolanda Shoshana, the “Luscious Lifestyle Diva,” runs a lifestyle com- pany for women. She’s a speaker, consultant, writer, and wedding officiant, and she uses her Google+ page primarily as a marketing tool. She says the platform has presented her with multiple business opportunities through networking with other professionals: “Through Google+, I have been rec- ommended for writing gigs, and I’ve been invited on a few shows as an expert. I actually got a high paid column gig for six months because some- one on Google+ had been following my work and recommended me.” And, of course, there’s one key advantage to utilizing the social media platform of the world’s biggest search engine. Ashli Norton, cofounder of SimpleLeap Software, the company behind Workitywork—an app that