• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer, December 1, 2010

Tech reporting seems to involve a fair amount of speculation, conjecture, and flat-out rumor-mongering nowadays. This is the result of a few converging factors. First, there's the speed and ease with which information can be published and disseminated on the Web, which lowers the bar for what passes editorial muster. Second, there's the general ravenous hunger for scraps of information, however insubstantial, about new products and business models which could impact readers' professional lives. Third, there's the super-tightlipped approach of large, established players like Apple and Google, which obsessively control information about their super-secret products by plugging leaks faster than Richard Nixon.

At a certain point it all gets a little absurd. For example, consider the latest rumor about Google's rumored social media push. Apparently, it's late. It seems someone, somewhere (maybe within Google's ranks, maybe not) told Mashable that it won't debut until Spring 2011, several months later than the original projected launch date in late 2010.

This follows several months of reports which have disclosed precisely zero (0) actual details about Google's social media initiative. Here's my review of what scant information has actually been revealed. Back in September Eric Schmidt confided that "we are trying to take Google's core products and add a social component," adding, "If you think about it, it's obvious. With your permission, knowing more about who your friends are, we can provide more tailored recommendations. Search quality can get better." Subsequently Hugo Barra, Google's head of mobile product development, told reporters at the Monaco Media Forum that "We're not working on a social network platform that's just going to be another social network platform." He seemed to mean that it will not just be a Facebook knock-off; of course, saying what something is not isn't exactly descriptive. Google has also made some high-profile acquisitions and partnerships with casual game developers, and now it wants to buy group discount site Groupon for $6 billion. Summing up, it has something to do with search, it's not like Facebook, and it may involve gaming and coupons.

So there you have it: a nameless, formless entity with no attributes which can be discussed, and whose very existence has been confirmed in only the vaguest possible terms, is apparently going to miss the original deadline which was never publicized or acknowledged, and may instead appear at some later date, which has also not been publicized or acknowledged.

Personally, I'm going to be over here not caring. I will report back if A) the Google social media thing actually launches or B) some details concerning its attributes, timing, or purpose are made public. Otherwise I believe what we have here is a big pile of nothing.