Google seems to have this uncanny ability to come up with something innovative just when:

1. You're mildly starting to get used to what they've already offered, and

2. You think, "There's no way they can add a new feature to that..."

I have been using Google Reader to track my RSS feeds for a few months now. And while broadly I've been an extremely satisfied user, interest sometimes wanes.

Rahul Gaitonde first came up with this post pointing out how I could share my Google Reader reading list and make it appear on my blog. I have gone ahead accepted his suggestion - so that 'Read List' you see in the right pane is a list of items that I've shared on my Google Reader.

Post this (promise, not intended) however, Google seems to have done something to rejuvenate the 'Share' functionality on Reader. Reams have been written about Google's masterstroke, in bringing Reader and social networking together so seamlessly.

I see posts that my friends (from my Gtalk list) have shared, and vice versa. It is akin to suddenly being exposed to a variety of very interesting pages/blogs on a host of interesting topics that I would otherwise have not stumbled upon. Stealth social networking or otherwise, as long as the feature's making me wiser, I'll live with it.

Now that that's out of the way, let's look at a few suggestions I (with my limited technology background) have:

1. I'd like an option to append a short comment with items that I am sharing with my friends.

I have started to realise that I am thinking about the stories that I am sharing - that's perhaps the reason I am sharing them in the first place. So when I am thinking, I'd like to express myself as well. What about a nice 'Append' window (not unlike the 'Reply' window on Gmail) that lets me add a limited number of characters (say 1024) to every story that I am sharing. Just a small take, maybe a quick opinion.

2. I'd like to see an option which lets me comment on items from within the Reader interface, without having to navigate to the site from which the item originates.

I'd like this for my reading list, as well as items that my friends are sharing - essentially, all items that are showing up on my Reader. The first impression is that sites that rely on impressions, hits or page visits will take a hit (!!) - wonder if there's a workaround though.

Lastly, let's see if we can integrate the two together - perhaps allow me to share my comment on a particular item along with the item itself.