東西 | dongxi

I was more than thrilled to find the “Buzz” option available on my Gmail this morning (after the countless refreshes yesterday). While I did get to play around with Buzz on my iPod Touch, the Gmail integration added a whole other layer of depth.

So for those who are still unfamiliar with Google Buzz, it’s Google’s new (re-)attempt into bringing social networking to their users. A combination of Twitter, Foursquare, Google Reader, and Google Wave, Buzz compiles thoughts, photos, feeds, and statuses from one’s list of contacts, while allowing users to comment and engage in a “public” forum via your Gmail. For me, this resulted in a ever growing list of random thoughts, articles, and conversations (via commenting) by friends (and acquaintances) that I found myself checking several times throughout the day. Then again, I’m comfortable with social networks such as Twitter and Foursquare so Buzz wasn’t as much of a leap for me.

So far, I have to say I do like it.  Given my pre-existing and active community on Twitter and Google Reader, Buzz seems to allow for continued engagement on random topics tossed in throughout the day while also bringing in new faces. That for me was the biggest change – the number of new people being added in. Previously, my core group of people I shared with on Google Reader ranged in the 20s; after today, I found that list doubled. Most strange was seeing several of my non-tweeting West Coast friends (who I have to say are much slower to adopt social network-based services) join in the loop.

A few issues/quips that I do have so far:

1. No Facebook integration – The product DID just come out, but it’ll be interesting to see if Google and Facebook will work together, or work to keep their products separate from one another. As a user of both, however, it would be great to have my status updates synced.
2. Functionality/Too many windows – Issue one is just part of a larger problem with Buzz.  While Buzz DOES bring in feeds from Reader, Flickr, Twitter, etc., it doesn’t replace it, at least not yet. I can’t see @replies on Twitter nor will my Buzz updates show up on Twitter; shared Reader articles show up on Buzz, but I still have to go back to read all my other feeds. At the end of the day, Buzz is yet another page I have to keep up with, alongside my tabs of Twitter, Google Reader, GTalk, Foursquare, etc. Whether or not Buzz brings in (or replaces) some sort of unique functionality will be something I’ll be looking for the next few days.
3. Privacy – This issue is almost less about me than it is about others. I’m pretty open and public about my info, though I’m sure there’s several people who are concerned with personal information that may be sent out via Buzz, as Google leaves the default sharing setting at “Public.” A large reason why I use Twitter is the ability to follow some of my favorite personalities and organizations, such as leaders in technology, news, etc. Currently Buzz is tied to one’s personal Google email account, leaving several big names hesitant to adopt, at the risk of revealing their personal info (and getting bombarded by fans on their personal email account)
4. Organization – Already, my Buzz feed is flooded with entries (maybe it’s just because everyone’s home due to the blizzard). I’ve sorted through my contacts to only follow the ones I want to follow.  Still, compared to Twitter or even Facebook, my Buzz list is a big and intimidating, with giant boxes scrolling seemingly endlessly down my browser.  As the user base grows, it would be nice to compact or sort “buzzes” in a more digestible manner.

Still, all in all, it’s a nice step forward for Google, to keep pace with how the landscape is changing.  And at the very least, it seems to have invigorated a whole new audience to the Google world.