Sure, you can tweet, but can you Buzz? Google Inc. is tapping its huge network of Gmail users and Web searchers to create a product that it hopes will help it catch up with online social networking leaders Facebook and Twitter, Reuters reported.

The maker of the world’s top search engine on Tuesday launched Google Buzz, which allows users to quickly share messages, Web links and photographs with friends and colleagues directly within Gmail, the company’s popular e-mail product. Also, a new arsenal of products make the new social networking features compatible with mobile devices such as smart phones based on Google’s Android operating system.

Google’s new technology mimics some of the key features of popular social networking services like Twitter and Facebook, which are increasingly challenging Google for Web surfers’ online time. By integrating Buzz directly into Gmail, Google hopes to jump-start its social networking push by leveraging the large pool of Gmail users.

“There’s always been a giant social network underneath Gmail,” said Google Product Manager Todd Jackson at a press event at the company’s Mountain View, Calif., headquarters on Tuesday.

Gmail is the third-most-popular Web-based e-mail system in the world, with 176.5 million unique visitors in December, according to comScore. Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Live Hotmail and Yahoo Inc.’s Mail were No. 1 and No. 2, with 369.2 million and 303.7 million unique visitors, respectively.

Google has tried to ride the social networking wave before, launching the Orkut social network in 2004. But although Orkut is big in certain overseas markets like Brazil, it has failed to attract as many users as social giants Facebook and MySpace in the United States.

Google will roll out Buzz to Gmail users over the next few days, company officials said.