Google Reader, the online feed aggregator provided by the Mountain View search engine giant, is becoming more of a social platform thanks to the recent changes that have been made to its commenting feature. The option to comment on shared items was introduced to Google Reader in March with the goal of encouraging people to discover and share new content. That functionality has now been tweaked and enhanced.

“We’re happy to introduce some changes to how commenting works, including the ability to start sharing with any of the people who comment on your friends' shared items. Have you ever read a comment on a friend's shared item and wondered who that person was? In the past, there hasn't been a way to interact with these people besides reading their comments on your friends' shared items. Not anymore!"

All you have to do is hover your mouse over that unknown person’s name and you will be provided with the following info: profile picture, links added by that person to their Google Profile (which recently received vanity URL and appears in the search results page). By clicking the “Start sharing” link you will be able to share items with that person, thus expanding your circle of friends. Assuming of course that the person you want to socialize with accepts the option to view your shared items and activates the option to share his/her items with you.

“We've also made comments more visible and more flexible from within Reader. Now, you'll be able to see comments on shared items while viewing “All items”. You'll also be notified when new comments are made by the small speech bubble icon in your left sidebar, even when your Friends' shared items module is collapsed. While making comments, your options for formatting have been increased. Try using asterisks or underscores to spice up your comments with bold and italic text,” explains Google Reader .