Google does not really offer a space where people can come together to create communities or discussion threads. However, with the introduction of Perspectives, it may do so later.
So—despite the dumbass title (article’s fault, not OP’s)—explicitly not an alternative to Reddit, where literally the whole point is to create communities and discussion threads.
Also remember this is useless without complementary security measures:
If you are relying on “Legally they’re not allowed to,” instead of, “They simply can’t, despite all they might try,” then you’re not doing it right.