Age: One day.

Is it like Google, only that little bit more so? It's like Google, but with faces.

What does that mean? Google+ is a new social networking platform integrating several of the company's present services.

OK. What does that mean? It's Google's version of Facebook, basically.

Why do we need it when we have Facebook? You may have a point. 500 million people already use Facebook.

Not me. I quit last month because I was afraid someone might steal my identity to do terrorism. You may be paranoid, but you are not alone. Recent figures suggest Facebook participation may have peaked, with the number of users down 6 million between May and June.

So what has Google+ got that Facebook hasn't? Google+ allows users to put contacts into groups according to status, and share content only with certain "circles". It also has "hangouts" where only permitted friends can have live video conversations.

Sounds more like social exclusion than social networking. There's also a feature to connect strangers with common interests, called Sparks.

But Facebook and MySpace have been around for years. Isn't Google a bit slow off the mark? Actually this is Google's latest stab at social networking, after the failure of Google Wave and Google Buzz. As one research analyst put it: "They've been throwing stuff against the wall for several years and so forth nothing has stuck."

I'm not normally an early adopter, but Google has helped me accidentally find a lot of porn over the years, so I'll give it a go. Where do I sign up? You have to be invited first.

So it's like a VIP club, is it? A whole special internet for Stephen Fry and his mates? Typical. They're just testing the latest version by releasing it to a small number of users. If all goes well they'll furnish it to the rest of us.

Do say: "Let me know when you've got all the kinks worked out."

Don't say: "Hi @Google+! Want to be #facebook friends?"