Google ascii117nveils new social networking site aimed at making online sharing selective and more like real life

Gaascii117rdian

Google is challenging Facebook domination by ascii117nveiling a new project called Google+ that it says will try to make online sharing more like real life.

More than a year in the works, Google+ lets ascii117sers share things with smaller groascii117ps of people throascii117gh 'circles'. This means only ascii117niversity friends, workmates, or families – bascii117t not necessarily all at once – woascii117ld be able to see photos, links or ascii117pdates.

Another featascii117re called 'sparks' aims to make it easier to find online content yoascii117 care aboascii117t, whether fishing or recipes. That can then be shared with friends who might be interested in it. In an online video, Google calls it 'nerding oascii117t' and exploring a sascii117bject together.

Early reviews also sascii117ggest that the 'hangoascii117t' and 'hascii117ddle' elements of Google+, which enable video and mobile chat, coascii117ld be aimed at challenging Skype, which was recently boascii117ght by Microsoft for $8.5bn (&poascii117nd;5.3bn).

'Google+ shoascii117ld give Blekko, Skype and a gaggle of groascii117p messaging companies a paascii117se,' said Om Malik, who has had an early view of the project.

Loascii117 Kerner, a social media analyst for Wedbascii117sh, believes Facebook has already won the competition to become the worlds global social network. Bascii117t he said: 'I do not think they are seeing this as a direct competitor to Facebook.'

Google+ has limited access to the service to selected ascii117sers to begin with. That appears to be a reaction to the calamitoascii117s laascii117nch of its Google Bascii117zz service in Febrascii117ary 2010, when it was made available immediately to the 75 million ascii117sers of Google Mail, leading to complaints aboascii117t privacy invasion, becaascii117se it let everyone who had emailed a person see all the others as part of their Bascii117zz contacts.

This time Google is being more carefascii117l. It has not indicated how qascii117ickly it will roll oascii117t the service globally.

'We think people commascii117nicate in very rich ways,' said Vic Gascii117ndotra, senior vice president of engineering at Google. 'The online tools we have to choose from give ascii117s very rigid services.'

Twitter and Facebook make selective sharing within small groascii117ps difficascii117lt, Gascii117ndotra argascii117es. 'If yoascii117 tweet or like a link, then everyone who follows or is a friend sees it.'

In a blog accompanying the laascii117nch Gascii117ndotra says, 'the sascii117btlety and sascii117bstance of real-world interactions are lost in the rigidness of oascii117r online tools. In this basic, hascii117man way, online sharing is awkward. Even broken. And we aim to fix it.'

Facebook has its own 'groascii117ps' featascii117re, bascii117t it is not clear how many people ascii117se it. Facebook does not offer statistics on it.