Google+ Project Brings "Real-Life Sharing" to the Web

The same-name game continues. First there was Chrome the web browser. Then Google GOOG announced Chrome the operating system. Earlier this year, Google unveiled the +1 tag feature that allows you to show your support for anything you see on the web. Now Google has announced the Google+ project, a social networking entity. Google launched the project today with a lengthy blog post explaining the new new site, along with several YouTube videos: “Among the most basic of human needs is the need to connect with others,” Google wrote on its blog. “With a smile, a laugh, a whisper or a cheer, we connect with others every single day. “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.” Google is pushing many specific features, including +Circles, which allows you to “share what matters, with the people who matter most.” Google notes that, since most relationships are not created equal in life, we typically prefer to share one thing with our college buddies, another with our parents, and “almost nothing” with our boss. “The problem is that today's online services turn friendship into fast food—wrapping everyone in ‘friend' paper—and sharing really suffers,” Google writes, adding that the current format is sloppy, scary, and insensitive. “We only want to connect with certain people at certain times, but online we hear from everyone all the time,” Google said. “Every online conversation (with over 100 “friends”) is a public performance, so we often share less because of stage fright. We all define ‘friend' and ‘family' differently—in our own way, on our own terms—but we lose this nuance online.” Google certainly has a point; Facebook is a great communication device, but the site is more than happy to share everything about its users with the entire world. In addition to +Circles, Google is touting +Sparks (which it says allows you to “strike up a conversation about pretty much anything”), +Hangouts (“stop by and say hello, face-to-face-to-face”), +Mobile (“share what's around, right now, without any hassle”), +Location (add your location to every post – “Or not. It's always up to you”), +Instant Upload (add photos to a private cloud album immediately after they're taken), +Huddle (“a group messaging experience that lets everyone inside the circle know what's going on, right this second”), and +You (Google's dedication to putting “you” first, “all across Google”).