Research from the U.S. has suggested that those who are signed up to Google+ will eventually overtake Facebook users when it comes to the amount of content they share amongst friends. Furthermore, Searchmetrics, the group behind the study, said that this could happen within the next three years.

The results of the study are based on a direct comparison between the monthly growth of the number of Google+ ‘plus ones’ and the growth of ‘shares’, Facebook’s equivalent, between November last year and April this year. The figures revealed that Facebook’s shares grew by nearly 10% a month. Google’s equivalent, however, grew at nearly double that rate.

If this obvious gap was to continue, Google+ users would be generating more shares than Facebook users by February in 2016. By May of the same year, they would be sharing 1,096 billion pieces of content a month, compared to Facebook’s 849 billion.

Searchmetrics’ founder, Marcus Tober, said of the sharing shift:

“Facebook is growing from its extremely large base to something larger and is therefore slower. But it’s remarkable that Facebook is still growing. And that’s why the blue giant appears to be unquestionably ahead of the market right now. But our data shows Google+ can catch it if growth rates for sharing activity continue as they are.”

Seeing as Google+, which was launched only two years ago, is still a relatively new player in the social media field, its growth is likely to continue, but only time will tell whether that stretches to 2016.

Facebook is also upping its efforts to retain its sharing dominance. The company recently introduced a video upgrade to its photography app, Instagram. Also, the Android version of Instagram’s biggest rival, Vine, has also received an update, allowing users to share their creations with Facebook friends.

Graeme Parton

Graeme has experience creating content for online sources and for the radio, and at university he studied Multimedia Journalism.