UPDATE 2/25/17: Well, that didn't work out as planned.
Less than a year after announcing Spaces, Google announced this week that it will shut down the service effective April 17. "Thank you to everyone who used Spaces. It was a tough decision, and it's tough to say goodbye," the company said. Our goal with Spaces was to create a better small-group sharing experience, and we'll use what we've learned to improve other Google products and services."
As of March 3, Spaces will be read-only, meaning "you can't create new spaces, posts or comments. Also, new invitations can't be sent, and new members can't be added to spaces," Google said.
From now until April 17, you can see, save, print, and delete your content; delete content and people from Spaces and leave Spaces you joined; and report abuse or block people. After April 17, though, everything will be deleted.
Original Story 5/16/16:
Google has largely surrendered the social media space to Facebook and apps like Instagram and Snapchat, but it's trying one last time ahead of Google I/O this week with Spaces.
Those who use Spaces can find and share articles, videos, and images without leaving the app since Google Search, YouTube, and Chrome are built-in.
"From book clubs to house hunts to weekend trips and more, getting friends into the same app can be challenging," product director Luke Wroblewski wrote in a blog post. "Sharing things typically involves hopping between apps to copy and paste links. Group conversations don't stay on topic, and things get lost in endless threads that you can't easily get back to when you need them."
Spaces, however, aims to eliminate that by keeping subjects separate and users engaged.
Into comic books? Love tiny homes? Planning a trip to Paris? Individual spaces are just a tap away: Create and name a new space, invite friends and family, and search for and share pertinent content.
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Participants can respond to articles, photos, videos, and comments, adding their own links and images to the conversation. And when you need to reference something—book suggestions, a realtor's name, hotel reservations—the quick-search function finds it.
Spaces is rolling out now on Android, iOS, desktop, and mobile Web for all Gmail accounts. Google I/O attendees can also experiment with the new feature during this week's conference.
"We've created a space for each session so that developers can connect with each other and Googlers around topics at I/O, and we've got a few surprises too," Wroblewski said.