Is It Private?

It appears that using the +1 button makes all items public--and limiting visibility for an item doesn't change that, which isn't intuitive. If you want to share privately, use the Share button from Google's black navigation bar, which allows limited visibility, and doesn't "+1" the article. A different option is to use the Email button for sharing. Click it, enter the email address of the person you'd like to share with, and add any note you'd like to include. It works the same way it did in the past, and as long as you type the correct email address, it's completely private.

'Send To' to the Rescue

Another option is the Send To button. Check your Reader settings and you'll find a tab for configuring Send To, which has 14 built-in services you can enable. Check the ones you'd like to use--which include Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Delicious--and you can send an article to that service, where it likely can be shared using that service's tools. You can even add custom services to the list. I added Evernote for easy archiving of research articles, and Remember the Milk as a way to create a reminder to read a post. There are bound to be many others, perhaps some that can replace the missing "Share", and maybe even some that everyone in your business already uses.

In the long run, we'll all find new ways to share with our colleagues, perhaps even better ways than we had. In the short term, it's hard to develop new habits, and when something is working, why break it? I loved how Google Reader functioned before and like the new look.