This short little tweet was posted late Saturday night from Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg:

Is Google really going to try and compete with Facebook? If the rumors are true, then Google really has some work to do. Rumored to be called “Google Me,” the site would be faced with the challenge of converting avid and established Facebook users.The problems are:

1. It’s a social-networking site; people want to be on a site they know their friends are on.
2. How do they get the already 450 million Facebook users to switch to “Google Me?”

To me, it seems as if Google has previously tried to do something like this, but with limited success. Remember Google Buzz? Launched back in February 2010, Google Buzz aims to provide Gmail users the option to share photos, updates, videos and more, right in Gmail. Unlike other social-media sites, Google Buzz doesn’t require much set-up, since it pulls information from users’ contact lists, as well as pulls suggestions. This application of Gmail also provides individuals a way to check their Twitter, Flickr, etc., without traveling to multiple sites.

According to Google, within the first week, Buzz averaged more than 160,000 comments/posts an hour. Along with these numbers came complaints, particularly over privacy issues, which were quickly addressed. Despite its big achievement in numbers, Buzz attached to Gmail seems to be an enhancement to e-mail, rather than becoming the primary source for social interaction. So did this failure push plans for “Google Me?”

Google has been good at many things, but social networking? In my opinion, no one will ever come close to Facebook.