Google thinks that more and more people are using the web to socialize, and they’d like to let you know about a new virtual reality world they’ve created for just that purpose.

It’s called Lively, and it’s basically Google’s answer to Second Life.

What’s that?  You don’t know what Second Life is?  Well, your kids probably do.

Second Life–and now Lively–is an online environment where people create rooms and buildings to hang out in.  You get an avatar–character–to control, and you walk around the virtual room having conversations and such.

A key difference is that Lively, like most Google products, is completely free to use.  Second Life requires a membership fee.  So many are speculating that Google is out to sink Second Life.  I think it’s probably more likely that they just saw room in that virtual environment marketplace and wanted to carve a slice.

It may not seem like much, but Second Life is quite the thriving business–bands have played virtual concerts there, and Fortune 500 businesses have held virtual press conferences in Second Life as well.  As businesses embrace new media and new web technologies, the virtual social sites will only grow in popularity.

Anyway, you can read more about Lively here.  Or you can go directly to Lively here.  Just promise me you won’t let virtual socializing replace, you know, real socializing.