So it turns out that last week, Google+ turned one year old. What does it mean to Tech enthusiasts? Well, several things.

For Google, its their super hero product they are promoting every inch of. (Google Maps just switched to Google+, did you notice?)

For Facebook lovers, Google+ is still the villain that never gave a real blow. They know it can, but it never did. They know it will some day. But that day never happened so far.

For social media enthusiasts, Google+ is an experimental platform. There are lot of activities there but no one finds it addicting like Facebook or Twitter, well, of course except for the celebrities Google signed up with.

According to Edison research, 8% of Americans 12+ (well over 20 million people) had ever used Google+.  That puts it just a bit smaller than Twitter (10%) and LinkedIn (13%) in terms of penetration.

It took Twitter at least 4 years to get to 8%; Google+ did it in a few months. Quite a remarkable score that.

And here’s the interesting thing about Google+: Google+ isn’t like most social networks in that they don’t require you to “use” the service everyday to get your eyeballs. That isn’t really the game. (Oh! Boy..) Once you signed up for Google+, you pretty much did all Google needed you to do–tie your demographic/profile information to your search activities. Once you did that, it really doesn’t matter how much or little you use the service–your profile data is being factored and figured into every Google search you do, and your search results are influencing–and being influenced by–your friends.

Sounds promising, doesn’t it?