Google+ could become the second-largest social network within a year

Google+ is quickly rising up the ranks of social networks. 13% of U.S. adult online use the search giant’s latest foray into social networking, which launched June 29, according to a new survey by research firm YouGov PLC. That compares to 14% of U.S. online adults on MySpace, 18% on Twitter, 19% on LinkedIn and 71% on Facebook.

For now, consumers can join Google+ only by invitation, which figures to limit its growth until Google opens it up more broadly. However, the percentage of consumers who plan to begin using the social network within the next 12 months stands at 9%. If those numbers hold true and 16 million U.S. online adults join Google+, the social network will pass LinkedIn, Twitter and MySpace to become the second-largest social networking site in the United States within the next 12 months, the report says.

The consumers most attracted to Google+ are relatively young, male and educated. The social network has three men for every two women (Facebook has one man for every 1.2 women). Additionally, 43% of Google+ users are between the ages of 18 and 29 (compared to 31% of Facebook users), 59% have a college degree (compared to 37% of Facebook users) and 48% are single (compared to 33% of Facebook users).

“Google+ is tracing a path similar to Facebook’s initial growth—building excitement in a core group of early adopters,” says Michael Nardis, head of YouGov Investment Products. “For Facebook, it was college students. For Google+ that path is young, educated, single men who are heavy Internet users.”

The survey also found that those early adopters are highly engaged. 45% said they read content on the site at least once a day. Only Facebook, at 62%, beat Google + on that account. 46% said they post a status update, share a link or create other content at last once a week. That’s slightly more than Twitter, at 42%.

As consumers increase the amount of time they spend on Google+, Facebook could potentially suffer. 30% of Facebook users who already use Google+ said they plan to cut down the amount of time they spend on Facebook this year.

YouGov conducted the online survey of 1,003 adults from July 29 to Aug. 2.

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Employers Look to Facebook for Job Recruits

Companies are starting to view Facebook as a legitimate option to find new employees, as LinkedIn and more traditional job boards face unexpected competition from the mammoth social network.

According to analysts, companies now drift to Facebook because the social network boasts 750 million users, many of whom are potential employees. Employers are no longer looking to spend hundreds of dollars to put up job postings on paid websites or in newspapers when they can reach millions of people for free by advertising jobs on their Facebook pages.

LinkedIn is still the dominant form of social networking for professional businesses, but more employers have found Facebook’s larger user base and more personal profile system invaluable when looking for job candidates.

Houston-based environmental services company Waste Management, for example, says the majority of traffic to its career website comes from those who have clicked over from Facebook. The company now adds videos of current employees to its page, and uses recruiters to speak more directly with Facebook members in its attempt to hire 1,500 new employees.

But Facebook can also be a doubled-edged sword when it comes to looking for employment. The Federal Trade Commission recently set a standard when it gave the Social Intelligence Corp the green light to screen job applicants based on their Facebook and Twitter postings. The SIC is now able to keep track of negative findings about a person’s Facebook activity, such as joining a racist social networking group, and keep it on file for up to seven years.

Employers who don’t go through the trouble of getting background checks that have information collected from the SIC are still likely to check up on potential employees’ Facebook profiles. Even if a user’s profile is set to “private,” a simple Google search could bring up the applicant’s Facebook pages, showing applicants’ “Liked” pages, personal information and photos.

People looking for a job can now go to more employers’ Facebook pages to inquire about or apply for a position, but they may want to double check their own pages first.

This post originally appeared at Mobiledia.

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