Google's Social Media push ~ Buzz

by Jeremy on February 15, 2010

Wagon
Creative Commons License photo credit: madmolecule

Yes it’s true, I’m going to jump on the bandwagon and write about Buzz.  In case you haven’t read about it yet, Buzz is Google’s push into competition with Twitter/Facebook/etc in the Social Media realm.  Google is definitely trying to get into this market at every turn.  Of course, they are having issues because there are quite a few other options out there.

I really thought that Google was quite smart in making Buzz very easy to connect to.  When they turned it on, it just appeared in your Google Mail menu list.  They then used a couple of methods to point out the new link.  A couple of clicks later… you were using Buzz.  Google made it very easy to start following people that you shared email with, followed in Google Reader, etc.  They also make it pretty easy to search for other people.

The integration between Google Reader and Buzz is pretty cool.  If you like or share an item Buzz reports that to your followers.  It’s also quite simple to have Buzz pull in updates from Twitter.  The integration is very simple.  Apparently you can easily add Flickr and Picasa as well (not a big user of either so I haven’t tried it.

Apparently, there are already apps for Android and iPhone.  Unfortunately my Android phone hasn’t been updated to 2.0+ yet so it’s not fully supported.  I think is another required piece for Buzz to be successful.  Social media will absolutely explode in the mobile realm in the next few years.

Personally, I would like to see Google work on creating a messaging dashboard.  I want to be able to see GMail, Voice, Buzz, and Wave (once they fix it up) all in one place.  That way I can simply go to my messaging dashboard and see everything going on.  I truly believe that is how Google will really be able to take over in the Social Media realm.

All in all, I think that I like Buzz.  I am interested to see how many people adopt Buzz.  Will it take away people from Twitter?  Will it pull interest from other avenues?  Those are questions that will be interesting to watch going forward.

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Tagged as: Buzz, Google, Google Buzz, Social Media, Twitter

  • http://www.rickcartwright.com Rick Cartwright

    Jeremy,
    I am with you .. wait and see. I do not use gmail, and can’t see myself signing up just to access Buzz – unless it gains significant traction. That said, it is an interesting strategy.

    Thanks,
    Rick

  • Kevin Lozano

    Personally I feel that Google Buzz’s submission was a little premature, especially with the privacy issues. I also think that Google’s possibly going down the path that Windows experienced around the era of Windows ME. The past few products and products appear to be less and less planned and I also feel that rushed in an attempt to be 1st to market, and or compete with its competitors releases. The privacy issue was an issue that didn’t require a rocket scientist to figrue out, a very simple review session would have identified these issues. Do you think Google may have received too much credit last year?

  • http://www.refocusingtechnology.com Jeremy Lattimore

    Kevin, thanks for the comment.

    I think that is definitely a valid point on Buzz. I also think that Google has taken a ‘roll it out quickly’ mindset, without fully considering faults and impacts. I truly believe that Wave is perfect example of that mindset. Buzz seems like a decent tool that really needs to mature.

  • http://www.refocusingtechnology.com Jeremy Lattimore

    Rick ~ I think a lot of people will take the wait and see approach. My hope is that the tool matures during that time. I think it’s also possible for Google to acquire someone (maybe even Twitter) to assist in the process. They’ve done it many times before.

  • http://www.rickcartwright.com Rick

    Jeremy,
    I agree. It will be more interesting to see what happens on the legal front. Take care.

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