Rumors of a Google social network fizzle

(PhysOrg.com) -- Rumors. I bet that you thought that they were the domain of high school students with too much time on their hands, but really they seem to make the tech world go round. Everybody wants to know what is new and hot, and what is going to be new and hot in the next few months.

Reporting on rumors is an important part of a forward thinking journalists job, and as long as you clearly label it as a rumor, and have at least some reliable sources on the details, there is nothing wrong with those pieces. Over the weekend ReadWriteWeb posted about the launch of a new google-based social network called Circles, in a piece titled, "Google to Launch Major New Social Network Called Circles, Possibly Today", it was clearly not marked as a rumor. It was listed as a product launch announcement that was expected to be made at the South by Southwest Interactive event in Austin, Texas.

This turned out not to be true at all. A report, posted on All Things Digital which cited interviews with Google employees, including the one who was supposed to have had heavy input into the project, said that no such project even exists. Not only that, but Google is not launching anything at South by Southwest Interactive this year.

Of course, this is not the first time that the rumor a Facebook killer, to be launched by Google, those have been flying around for months, or possibly years. Is Google working on a social network, or at least a social layer for their existing products? Probably. Should you hold your breath based on one posting about it, probably not. Wait for the official release to cancel your Facebook account.

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