Google’s latest project came as a response to what we call today the social Web, a dynamic virtual world that helps people experience the Web in a new form, express themselves without using the dull text messages and become part of a community.

Lively is in many ways Second Life’s little brother, in terms of appearance, 3D camera controls, personalization possibilities, all in the users’ very own browser window.

As Google said in its blog, the social Web is more fun in a 3D environment, with real-time avatar interactions. Google Lively helps people experience another dimension on the Web, and helps them express themselves with or without words in the Web places they’re most familiar with.

Personalization is a key element in this project, as it allows people to express themselves not only through their avatars, but also through the rooms they can create. All it takes is a Google account (which is free and fast to set up) and a new set of possibilities awaits the user.

Using it is not rocket-science, and considering it’s still in testing, maybe it explains why my first experience with Google Lively ended in a “I’ll try again tomorrow” note. My browser didn’t seem to like it too much, as it crashed and burned the first time I opened it, while the background music kept on playing…

Apart from that, when I did manage to connect, I experienced…well…another brand new set of frustrations as it took endless minutes to load a room and personalize my avatar (actually, I got tired of waiting and I decided to quit and try again another time, hoping for better luck).

According to Google, the project is still in its testing period, and maybe I got my expectations a little bit too high at my first attempt, but I’ll give it another chance… In the meantime, Google expects some feedback from its users here.