There seems to be conflicting data about Google+ and its user base. There are some who say that it’s a ghost town, while others argue the social network’s strengths. Regardless of what camp you’re in, a new report from Umpf has revealed some interesting data.

The social media research firm analyzed 100 random online entertainment, health, business, technology, and general news stories and tracked how many times each story was shared on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, and Twitter. The sites, which included Forbes, Mashable, TechCrunch, and others were required to use the social sharing buttons of the four platforms.

For the results to have an impact, it’s important to know the size of these social networks. Reported numbers of active users are as follows: Facebook, 955 million (at the time of the study, this figure was only 901 million), Google+, 170 million, LinkedIn, 161 million, and Twitter, 140 million.

Unsurprisingly, Twitter had the best results. For every 100 million users on the platform, about 197.3 people were likely to share an online story. That’s five times more than Facebook, which saw 41.8 people per 100 million, and 13 times more than LinkedIn with only 15.2 people per 100 million.

Considering Google+ surpasses both LinkedIn and Twitter in terms of active users, it was a little surprising to see it place last, with only six people per 100 million likely to share an online story. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that Google+ is a ghost town. It’s possible that there are less public stories being shared than private — after all, wasn’t that the point of Circles?

Additionally, Google+ might not be the platform where people turn to share news. Twitter is an obvious winner as the real-time service has had its share of live events, breaking news, and so on. It’s possible that people turn to Google+ for discussions, collaboration, and Hangouts more than trending topics.

Still, something does seem a bit off about these findings, which could lead to more debate in the future. But while Google remains tight-lipped about key data (such as actual usage statistics), many individuals and businesses alike are satisfied with their growing Google+ communities. It’s important that you don’t let data like this deter you from testing new social waters.

You can find more statistics from the study in the infographic on Umpf’s website.

[Via: Umpf]