A couple months ago, it was revealed that Google will actually be launching a new social network of its own. Now, the search engine giant is moving forward with the plan by buying out Angstro and hiring the founder of the company, Rohit Khare, to help build Google Me. What made Khare the perfect candidate for Google?
For starters, he has been a leader in building several relevant social network features and products that will be of great use for Google. According to the LA Times, “his vision for an ‘open, interoperable social networks,’ [makes] Khare a good fit for Google, which has championed that approach over Facebook’s ‘walled garden.’”
A message posted on the home page of Angstro by Khare late this week confirmed his transition to Google. Angstro is a company that builds services that help Internet users get the right information on their friends and other contacts. The stories these users get are directly related to their own friends, rather than strangers with the same name. Although the plans for Google Me are still being developed behind closed doors, we can get a sense of what initially attracted Google to Khare.
What Khare will be doing while sitting next to Max Levchin from Slide is still in question, but it won’t be long until the public can finally participate in the next social network that Khare has helped build. The focus, however, appears to be on a more open platform for communication. It is also clear that Facebook is in for a major battle and will soon compete for the spot for the most popular social network on the web.