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It seems to really be the strategy that was discussed early on for Google+ which was hampered by the existence of a special G+ app and, moreso, the need for an "enhanced" G+ account: the social layer is tying together existing Google accounts and products, with added social functionality both in the individual products and in new products which tie them together in new ways.

Even FB has given up the "one app to rule them all" approach to social, and Google was never very good at that.

> It seems Google is now approaching social as "throw endless piles of new social apps out there until one actually becomes popular".

That's precisely what they did before Google+, though.

I haven't played with Communities much, but as I was reading this I kept thinking it was Google's take on Slack.

I suppose it depends whether it's more geared towards post-sharing or immediate chat.

Not Just Slack, but also WhatsApp/Telegram/etc.