I have been messing with Google Buzz pretty much all day today and thought why not post my impressions. Obviously Google recognizes the potential of social networking and their services before Buzz really did not capture what Twitter, and Facebook has on a social level. Enter Google Buzz, a service that borrows heavily from Twitter, Facebook, and some of Google’s own services, all wrapped up in your Gmail website. Is Buzz worth all the fuzz I mean fuss? Let me give you my take and you decide for yourself.
Buzz will integrate into your Gmail account, which makes getting to it and using it pretty simple. In this image, you can see it shows up right under your Inbox. So score one fro Google by making it pretty easy to see and get too. When you click your Buzz tab, it will bring to an interface like Twitter and Google Voice all mashed up into one. You will see your followers messages where you can comment, @reply them, email them, you can even “mute” a post if you do not want it in your timeline. Mute comes in handy when Vic spams your timeline with articles he has “shared”, which I’ll get into later. The timeline update sin real-time like Twitter and like Google Wave. Although you do not see your followers typing like in Wave, it updates in real-time. At first the time line will throw you off, at least it did for me, because your posts are shown chronologically, but also by popularity. What I mean by that is if you have a post that is commented on often, it will appear at the top of your timeline. In my opinion this is a good thing so you can stay on top of what people are talking about and eliminates the need for “in reply to” option like in Twitter. The whole conversation will be right here for you to see easily. It works nicely, but defiantly take some getting used to coming from Twitter and Facebook where everything is strictly shown in chronological order.
Notifications are also handled right through Gmail. So if someone @replies me, I will get an email in my inbox with a link to the buzz. From this link you can reply and join right in with the conversation. It works right from your email and even worked from my HTC Hero. Just click the link and you’re there. I have yet to find a setting to turn this off, as some people might get annoyed every time someone @replies them. I think this is why Google chose to use the conversation method vs @replies back and forth. It is cleaner and keeps you from getting you inbox spammed. Speaking of @replies, there is no tab specifically for @ messages. They will all go to your inbox, so coming from Twitter, this takes some getting used to.
A major difference from Buzz and other social networking is what types of things you can post. At the top of your feeds you will see a section for you to post like the one below.
From here you can post text, images, links, videos and all types of stuff. Unlike Twitter, where you post text and links to things, Google Buzz puts your items inline. One really nice thing is if you use Google Reader, if not start right now!!!!!!!!!, you can share items from reader and they appear in your timeline. This is a great way to share interesting news and posts. The picture below is an example of Vic spamming my timeline with the news he shares.
So say Vic’s posts are getting annoying and you don’t want to see them, just click the post and choose “mute” this will remove that post from your timeline. It is a nice way to tone down the “noise” on your timeline. Therein lyes my first issue with Buzz, it is very overwhelming to look at, at first. It takes sometime to adjust to seeing all these pictures, links, videos, and maps on your timeline. If you are used to twitter, where all you see is links, than Buzz can be sensory overload. After a few hours of messing with it, you will start to get the hang of it and Buzz does not look so foreign anymore.
My second issue with Buzz is the way it handles followers/profiles. I like that it uses Gmail and integrates with my Google services, but there is no easy way to add followers unless they are on your timeline. I mean you could post you Google Profile, but http://www.google.com/profiles/MobileMike01 is a lot to type/say. Also auto follow is not cool with me. I hate the way Gmail auto adds people I call and email to my contacts list. It really pisses me off. Yes, I might reply to someone or comment on their post, but that doesn’t mean I want to follow them. Add that to the fact that I have yet to be able to use Buzz’s built in search engine to find a profile. I have found people in my contacts, but not when I search profiles using their Gmail address. Many people have also told me they could not find me either. Hopefully Google will sort this mess out.
I really like Buzz and see there is a ton of potential, but I see two major hurdles with it. One is simplicity. Twitter is so easy to use and get the hang of. It has a clean interface that is free of clutter and very manageable. Buzz is doing a whole lot at one time which is great, but can confuse none tech geeks and your Mom. The other major hurdle is change. People have gotten so used to Twitter. We have a Twitter app for every major platform, we use Twitter for our businesses, and Twitter has set the standard for quick social networking. People hate change, and Buzz is a large pill to swallow.
Ultimately what will make Buzz a success is Google’s ability to integrate features users want and make it accessible and easy to use. They have done a very smart thing by building it into your Gmail, so its right there in your face. You have no choice but to look at it and in most cases, use it. Will Buzz over throw Twitter? Not anytime soon.
