Well it's finally here: the Google Social Network. And I for one am so excited that I could just ... zzzzzzzzz.
I'm sorry, I dozed off there for a second. Probably from those cold meds I've been taking. What was I saying? Oh yeah.
[ Also on InfoWorld: Check out Cringely's account of an earlier tussle between Facebook and Google over -- what else? -- your data. | For a humorous take on the tech industry's shenanigans, subscribe to Robert X. Cringely's Notes from the Underground newsletter. ]
In case you missed the news, Google finally unwrapped its loooooong-rumored answer to Facebook, the oddly named Google+ project ("Real life sharing, rethought for the web"). The official blog entry announcing the project starts with a Hallmark Cardesque introduction that is totally out of character for Google:
Among the most basic of human needs is the need to connect with others. With a smile, a laugh, a whisper or a cheer, we connect with others every single day.
Another basic human need: the need to gag when something cloying gets stuck in your throat. I'm starting to feel that need right now.
Today, the connections between people increasingly happen online. Yet the subtlety and substance of real-world interactions are lost in the rigidness of our online tools.
In this basic, human way, online sharing is awkward. Even broken. And we aim to fix it.
We'd like to bring the nuance and richness of real-life sharing to software. We want to make Google better by including you, your relationships, and your interests. And so begins the Google+ project ...
That's right, Google+. Not to be confused with Google+1, which lets you tag search results you like (if not "like") and see which results your friends tagged. Or Orkut or Buzz or Wave or any of the other social media tools Google has churned out over the years.
