Does anyone actually remember Google+? Even if you had an account, which most of us did, you’ve likely buried that "social media experiment" deep in your memory. Honestly, there’s a good reason for that.

The platform was the evolution of a project by Orkut Büyükkökten, a Turkish software engineer at Google. It started as Orkut, then passed through iterations like Google Buzz and Google Wave before finally becoming Google+.

For me, the biggest issue was the forced integration: you had to have a Google+ account just to comment on YouTube videos. That move alone sparked such massive backlash that many users abandoned the platform out of spite. But even if you caved and made an account to stay active on YouTube, it wasn't enough to make the site a "community." I remember literally forcing myself to check my feed just so I wouldn't forget it existed.

It serves as a reminder that even a tech giant with infinite resources can fail to build an engaging product. When Google finally pulled the plug in April 2019, I didn't know a single soul who cared. Google+ stands as a permanent lesson: you can’t force people to be social thourgh your platform, and money doesn't guarantee a successful product.