Google’s desire to expand its reach to social media is no secret. Through its numerous acquisitions, Google has tried and tested different approaches but nothing so far has proved particularly promising.

Buzz, Wave and Orkut have all raised some interest at their time, but never caught on with the masses. However, if Google manages to combine the best features of its previous ventures, the rumoured Facebook challenger ‘Google Me’ could prove to be the real deal, a PC World article speculates.

Google Buzz’s strength was its ability to incorporate location data into a social network. Its ability to be readily integrated with Google Maps proved a considerable competitive edge against Twitter and Foursquare.

Google Wave, the PC World article continues, might provide Google’s imminent social effort with a more interesting version of Facebook’s wall and messaging system.

Orkut, meanwhile, has a more ‘robust’ delete function than Facebook. And in Orkut, you can see how many people have clicked, viewed or trashed the items you have promoted.

According to the article, privacy is one of the key issues to tackle for a new social media platform – but also an opportunity. Facebook’s recent problems with confusing privacy settings and inconsistent approach towards privacy issues creates a chance for a new platform to shine.

To add to the mix, Google has recently acquired Jambool, a virtual currency platform, to make it easier for users to buy apps and games.

According to PC World, social gaming seems to be an important part of Google’s plans, as they already own also ‘Slide’, the developer of the hugely popular Farmville.

Read the full article here:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/203499/how_google_could_build_a_better_social_network.html