Still Smarting from Wave Disappointment, Google Temporarily Shuts Down Invitations to New Social Media Network

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) has temporarily shut down invitations to its new social network, less than two days after announcing the Google+ service.

Perhaps still smarting from its first social media effort - Google Wave - the company is likely protecting itself from an uncontrolled release. The new network was announced on Tuesday.

Google Senior Vice President of Engineering Vic Gundotra said the company has temporarily "shut down invite mechanism" for the Google+ service, in a note posted on Wednesday evening.

"Insane demand. We need to do this carefully, and in a controlled way," Gundotra wrote.

The aim of the Google+ project is making sharing online more like sharing in real life. The service will have collaboration tools, text and video chat, and other new features that slightly alter the social media landscape.

Facing intense pressure from the likes of Twitter and Facebook, Google has already made attempts to break into the social media industry. Its previous iteration, Google Wave, failed as users largely eschewed the product for more reliable alternatives.

Google said in an emailed statement that the service could be unlocked at any time.

"We launched Google+ in a Field Trial in order to test the product out and gather more feedback. As part of the Field Trial, we may open and close Google+ to new users at any time. We're thrilled so many people are interested in trying out a new approach to online sharing."