(CNN) -- Does the Web have room for one more social network? Microsoft thinks so. With Facebook hogging the spotlight last week and Google working to stay in the game with Google+, Microsoft has quietly launched So.cl, which it describes as a social-search tool to share information and meet people with common interests. What it's not, Microsoft says, is a rival to Facebook. "So.cl is an experimental research project focused on the future of social experiences and learning, especially among younger people," Microsoft said Monday in an e-mail. The tool was launched late last year for students at a handful of colleges and universities. Last week, the company quietly made it available to anyone for a public beta test period.
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Microsoft's social search tool, So.cl, is now available to the public
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The tool (pronounced "social") lets users share Web content with others
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Designers say it's not meant as a Facebook competitor
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Social had been available to some college students since last year
Google and smaller rivals have struggled to gain a foothold in a social-media landscape that @placeholder dominates.