@hansw Yea I think I see what you mean.

I think we might be able to do that by combining groups and circles. Groups currently can already do private groups, they aren't public. but they dont add the level of control that circles adds either.

In other words if a group is private you can not see posts to the group if you aren't in the group, and you cant get into the group unless the owner lets you in. So groups would get you part of the way to what you want.

But I agree there needs to be a little more added on top to make it work int he way you envision, which would be nice.