Sure, Gmail is a proven leader in sharing information among social and business contacts. But it hasn't been able to compete with social networks like Facebook and Twitter when it comes to up-to-the-minute reports on personal status.
This week, though, Google will try to amend this shortcoming by introducing add-ons to its Gmail service that let users post and view messages about their day-to-day activities, according to The New York Times.
Despite many high-profile efforts aimed at adding social success to its search dominance -- Sidewiki and Google's Profile service, to name a few -- Google is in the unfamiliar position of playing catch-up on the social media front. Until now, Gmail users could post a brief status message through the service's chat function, but full shareable status updates were not supported. The new service options indicate that Google is not yet ready to sit on the social sidelines.
"It might look like a minor feature advance, but this is another blow in the war against Facebook," said Jeremiah Owyang, a partner at technology consulting company Altimeter Group.
