Google Buzz

When Google speaks, people listen and their latest product launch “Buzz” is no exception. The product has created quite a buzz of its own across the internet and is begging the question – Why?

According to Google’s blog the answer is simple, “If you think about it, there’s always been a big social network underlying Gmail. Buzz brings this network to the surface by automatically setting you up to follow the people you email and chat with the most.”

It is clear Google wants to grab a piece of the social media pie, notably the increasing revenue of highly targeted ad sales being enjoyed by Facebook. But, does the world NEED –or even WANT another social site? If you are already tweeting and linking and facebooking why would a user want yet another platform to upkeep?

The answer is they don’t. However, Google seems to agree with this – and doesn’t view it as a problem. Their goal is to bring the social sites to the already established, intimate setting that is your email. It is not another forum or a separate social community. It is an obvious step, for an already established community of over 170 million users to simplify their sharing experiences.

Google plans to connect you in more ways with the people you are already connecting with on gmail, google talk and allow you to easily share videos, images, thoughts that you might already send through gmail. Now you can take those items a step further and offer them up to the whole of your contacts if you so choose.

The fact that it will, theoretically, simplify things by bringing your existing applications onto one platform will clearly be a selling point.

Who do I connect with?

Google Buzz sells itself on the fact that you already have a community and connections built in through your gmail system and the product simply allows you to connect with them in a bigger better way. However, gmail is used for a number of reasons not all of which are personal. If you communicate with clients, co-workers, employers through your gmail -do you really want to know how where they enjoy their coffee or personal anecdotes? You may already have a gmail “community” but the question Buzz’s success hangs upon is, how much more do you want to know about your contacts?

Is it really innovative?

Not really, Google is often heralded for its innovation and leadership online but Buzz seems to simply grab ideas from the collage of applications out there today and put them together on one forum. If you look closely you can see bits of Facebook, Twitter, Picasa, Foursquare and other up and coming applications built into the platform.

How do I connect to other sites?

The answer here is surprising, you cannot. Clearly, Google is worried about Facebook and even though they do not currently compete Google is salivating for a fair piece of the market share. Google’s Buzz ignores the existence of Facebook and could prove to be an enormous flaw. Another surprising fact is you cannot yet connect to other sites such as Linkedin and Twitter, though its rumored to be coming it seems that Google should have taken the time to put these simple connections in place before launching an application boasting a “simplified” experience.

Posted by admin
Categories: In The News
Tags: buzz, google buzz, google sharing, google social media, new google product, social media