A Paul Allen-backed startup by the name of Plum today is introducing Plum Groups, a new way for like-minded individuals tin small groups o securely share status updates, photos and videos with one another.

“Services like Facebook and Twitter are powerful ways to broadcast to large groups of people, but they stop short of keeping real-world groups like families, close friends, schools and co-workers connected in a more private and intimate way” said CEO Hans Peter Brondmo. "In real life we all belong to many social groups, and what we share and discuss with our family is different than what we share with our friends or co-workers."

Plum -- with offices in San Francisco and Boston -- raised more than $5 million from Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures and Levensohn Venture Partners last year.

The company -- which also operates private communications networks for Sears, Mobissimo.com and others -- describes its service as "micro-sharing networks" where people can establish groups around specific topics or interests. In a way, that's similar to Seattle's Wetpaint, which allows people to create wikis where people can share information on various topics. Ning also is floating around in this space.