Kesha wrote a really good review of this.

Basically, Google+ is a social network that integrates with your Gmail account. It's in an invitation-only public beta right now, but if you want to join, just PM me or Kesha. So far it looks pretty good, because it does many of the useful things Facebook can do without a lot of the bad (the stupid apps, the hyper-commercialism, and some of the privacy issues). I doubt it'll ever be something I use all the time, however.