Google rumoured to be readying social network

Google is reportedly preparing a social networking site dubbed 'Me'

Google is developing a social networking service to rival Facebook, according to reports from two Silicon Valley executives who say that the company will launch a service called 'Me' in the near future.

Kevin Rose, founder of news aggregation site Digg, cited unnamed but "very credible" sources in a Twitter post as being behind the reports, which have now been backed up by former Facebook chief technology officer Adam D'Angelo.

D'Angelo said in a posting on his Quora web site that the impending service is not a rumour, but in fact a "high priority" project at Google.

"They realised that Buzz wasn't enough and that they need to build out a full, first-class social network," he wrote.

Such a network would not be Google's first venture into the social networking space. Since 2004 the company has operated Orkut, a social network that has seen little success in the US or Europe but has enjoyed popularity in nations such as Brazil and India.

Earlier this year, the company ventured deeper into the social networking space with Buzz. The service linked Google's Gmail platform with the company's other properties such as YouTube, Blogger, Picasa and Twitter.

The service received a less than stellar reception from users and privacy advocates, who accused the company of violating user privacy by automatically opting Gmail users onto the service.