Avatar-based social networking platforms like Second Life will get some competition from Google, as the IT giant announces "Google Lively" straight out of left field.  Google Lively will allow users to create customized avatars which then visit persistent online spaces to interact and communicate with other users.  These spaces are in the form of equally customizable rooms, which other users can visit if invited.

The backbone of Google Lively will be a separate 10MB client, and users will also need to install some plugins in order to access the service through their web browsers.  Google Lively does not strictly require logging into a dedicated website, and can instead be accessed directly through other places like social networking sites and blogs (without leaving the actual sites) if they wish.

According to Google's head of 3D operations, Mel Guymon, Google Lively has been in development for over two and a half years, and is based around Emergent's Gamebryo engine.  It's already compatible with Facebook, and support for MySpace is currently in the works.  Google Lively will boast a "couple of hundred thousand items" to collect and trade with other users... all for the glory of killing time, we guess.  For example, some items include television sets which can be set up to run Youtube videos.  To be sure, users can't create rooms and items from scratch themselves yet, as these are currently designed by "vendors working for Google".  Google Lively may support actual user-generated content in the future.  At least it will be free, and there's no online advertising to wade through... for now.

All this might sound familiar to PlayStation 3 gamers, who will be getting a taste of social networking of their own with the impending release of PlayStation Home.  From its announcement, Home is designed to host customizable avatars and online spaces, which serve as bases of operations for chatting and online multiplayer PS3 gaming preparation.