Google remains undaunted in its bid to create a flourishing online community

Google remains undaunted in its bid to create a flourishing online community that can go toe-to-toe with social networking powerhouse Facebook.

The California Internet titan’s popular products and services will increasingly be woven into its nascent but fast-growing Google+ social network to make joining irresistible, executives said Thursday.

Google+ has attracted more than 40 million users since it opened to the public about a month ago, but has a long way to catch up with Facebook’s membership of approximately 800 million.

In the coming days, programs offered as online services at Google Apps will work with Google+ accounts, which will eventually synch with other popular offerings such as YouTube.

Google+ will also eventually allow people to use pseudonyms on accounts instead of their real names, he said, touching on one of the criticisms of the social network.

Google is moving slowly and cautiously to make sure its social network is a safe, stable haven for families, friends, and other associates who connect with one another in “circles” created at the service.

Google+ launched with a requirement that people use their real names online in order to let others find them more easily, according to executives.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin said that he initially thought Google+ was too complicated, but has come to like the online community that lets users create “circles” of contacts depending on intimacy.

Source AP