Google has been researching social networking patterns, in what is believed to be preparation for the launch of its new social network, ‘Google Me’, according to reports.

Last month Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg, started a rumour that Google was to launch a new social network, tweeting: "Ok, umm, huge rumor: Google to launch Facebook competitor very soon "Google Me," very credible source" on June 28.

Ever since technology pundits have been speculating as to how a new Google social network might work.

According to technology sites, Mashable and TechCrunch, the search giant has been commissioning research into social networking habits, as preparation for the new launch.

TechCrunch’s tip-off leaked that the study is to take place at Google’s Dublin office and will take 60 minutes with pollsters receiving 60 Euros per survey. The questions are believed to centre around how social networking affects people’s lives both off and online.

A Google spokesman was unavailable for comment.

Paul Adams, Google’s lead user-experience researcher, recently posted a presentation of his onto the web which seems to reflect similar patterns of interest around social networks. In one section he looked at: ‘How interactions on the web are changing’.

He said: “The next stage of the web won’t have destinations, it will be a distributed network of content and people that will get reassembled depending on context and relationships. The increase in people interactions on the web will mean that building and managing communities will be important for responding to customer suggestions, queries, and complaints. Communities will need to be embedded in consumer experiences and not built at a new destination.”

TechCrunch’s Leena Rao said: “While the survey doesn’t confirm the existence of ‘Google Me’, it certainly is another piece of evidence pointing in that direction.”

Last week both Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, and Matt Brittin, Google’s UK chief, failed to deny that the company was creating a new social network.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/go...works.html