Ready for a Facebook- and Twitter-like Gmail? It seems like not even search engine giant Google is immune to the social networking bug. Reports said Google is set to unveil a new and improved Gmail as early as this week. The changes will give Gmail the capability to allow users to share videos and photos, as well as post status updates very much like what one can do on Facebook and Twitter.

Under Google’s plan, Gmail will have a new module where status updates from people included in a person’s network would appear. The same concept is used by Facebook and Twitter.

Google had previously rejected the social networking concept. However, the popularity of Facebook and Twitter has made the geniuses behind Google incorporate more social networking dimensions to its products in the past few years. The threat of Facebook overtaking Google as the most popular Web site, no matter how farfetched it is at present, may also be behind the move to “socialize” Gmail.