Oops: Microsoft accidentally reveals secret social project

Last month Microsoft likely acquired Social.com for $2.6 million[1], then this domain Socl.com through the same company. Suddenly this domain has a social site on it (still in Google Cache) and they claim it's just a MSR project? Not a chance.<p>1: <a href="http://fusible.com/2011/07/rumor-microsoft-to-launch-its-own-social-network-company-acquires-socl-com-from-same-broker-as-social-com/" rel="nofollow">http://fusible.com/2011/07/rumor-microsoft-to-launch-its-own...</a>

I have trouble believing all these "accidental leakages" are actually accidents. The new trendy marketing gimmick?

looking at the screenshot, and actually reading the content of the small tiles, this does not look like G+/facebook/twitter, but more like a wikia/knol/stack*/quora.<p>I mean, there isn't anything in this single screenshot suggesting this as a new "generalistic" social network , so why are so many comments to this submission trying to frame it so?

Part of me wants to see this come into fruition, and I think that's the same part of me that wants to look at car accidents on the side of the road as I drive by.

Sounds more like a Quora competitor than a social project. If it weren't for the fb and twitter logins, I'd suspect this was aimed more at the corporate user base than as a public site.

It would be more surprising to me if they weren't working on something like this.

Help me out, fellow pedants.<p>Shouldn't it be either "makes finding what you need and sharing what you know easier than ever" or "find what you need and share what you know _more easily_ than ever"?

tulalip? that had better be a codename.

History will look back at this decade as the age of social networks

For all you social types, are you weary yet? I guess I am finally being rewarded for being somewhat introverted...one less website to sign up for.

Microsoft Research projects seem to rarely turn into real projects. This will probably be the first and last we see of this.

".. secret social project"<p>And THIS, THIS is why MS just doesn't "get it", yet. I won't count them out, but the time to get in is getting pretty slim.

It looks as though Microsoft feels pressure to rush and start "leaking" their social presence to counter Google.

I'm not too familiar with ASP.Net, but if you view source on socl.com that is some jacked-up output.

"Microsoft Oops" is a great product name

Accident my ass, this comes just in time for the rumors, thrill, and "social need" to combat the with the release of Google+

Microsoft-

Balkanization ho!

I'll never use it

There is one social "network"/site I won't ever have an account =)

I guess lime green is the new orange.

Everything microsoft attempts is so desperately uncool that the very concept of Microsoft doing social is futile.<p>There is literally no way they could make this work. It's another Ballmer "car crash in slow motion" initiative.<p>/popcorn

I wonder if socl.com was available or bought for $s!!! Mostly bought, because thats too cliche a name to be left lurking.