CALIFORNIA, USA: Google is trying once again to capture some of the momentum surrounding social networking companies like Facebook and Twitter by adding new features to Gmail, its popular e-mail service, say reports.

According to a New York Times report, later this week, Google will introduce add-ons to Gmail that let users post and view messages about their day-to-day activities. Citing a source at Google, who briefed on its plans, the report said this simple tweak to Gmail would allow Google to mimic the status updates that have driven much of the success of Facebook and Twitter, as people return to the services again and again to check out what their friends and co-workers are doing.

Google’s chat service, which is part of Gmail, already allows users to post short 'status updates', similar to the messages they can post on Facebook or Twitter. The new features would allow a more vibrant back-and-forth among Gmail users.

Though this is seen as a move to to turn the tables on Facebook, analysts are of the opinion that the task would be bit difficult.

“Anything Google does with Gmail should be seen as a defensive maneuver,” a Financial Times report quoted Ray Valdes, an analyst at Gartner, as saying. “In non-work settings, the trajectory favors Facebook. Increasingly, people are staying inside [the social networking site],” he said.

Google has been trying to fashion Gmail into more than an email service for years. It currently lets users set an "away message" - which can be a link to a Web site - that their friends see when they message them.

The new stream will eventually include content that a user's connections share through Google's YouTube video site and Picasa photo service, according to a Wall Street Journal report, quoting one person familiar with the matter. But whether those features will be announced in the coming days remains unclear.

No one is clear as to what are the new features that Gmail would embrace. Anyhow, Google is inviting reporters to a launch event Tuesday on its Mountain View campus promising “some innovations in two of our most popular products,” according to an e-mail sent to reporters.

Do you think Google will be able to succeed in its attempts to rival Facebook?