So Google I guess decided Wave was a whole mess of wtf, but still seemed to be on the right track. Buzz is actually something of a downgrade from Wave, in a sense, but in reality it's probably nearer to what it should have been from the start.
Google Buzz is a social integration tool by Google, designed to integrate into the company's web-based email program, Gmail. Shared links and messages show up in the user's inbox. Buzz focuses on integrating photos, videos, and links as part of the "conversations" aspects of Gmail like conversation threading.
Buzz allows users to choose to share publicly with the world or privately to a small group of friends each time they post. Picasa, Flickr, Google Reader, and Twitter are currently integrated. The creation of Buzz was seen by industry analysts as an attempt by Google to compete with social networking websites like Facebook.
If I read right, it's partly social network in a sense? ;o
I don't really use email enough for this sort of thing to affect me at all.
You realize the whole notion of "social networking" as we know it is pretty damn superfluous, right? Amongst terms like web 2.0 and cloud computing and such, social networking has got to take the throne in its narrow-sightedness.
We've seen web technologies making a huge joke the very concept for years now. And yet the delineation, as ridiculously flimsy as it it, is still attributed with near-religious significance. Ugh.
But your answer is yes, basically. Even if it seems like a stupidly obvious development, really.
new feedback: so it's just email + facebook? I like to separate the 2; some people I need to email (school/work) I don't want to know on FB. At the same time, facebook almost removes the need for an email (since it has private messaging, public messaging [wall posts], and a chat). Buzz just adds a bunch of (what I consider to be) unnecessary programs. Picasa = pictures, Flickr = picture/viedos, Google Reader = RSS feeds, Twitter = mobile status updates. Facebook already has all of this (cept for maybe the RSS feeds).
The only feature that this has is the "share with the world" part (if you choose so..). Might be decent for a phone, but for a computer... meh. Buzz could be better than FB, if it had come out at the same time. However, FB is already established, so I doubt it will lose many people to Buzz
Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Feb 10 2010, 6:19 pm by fat_flying_pigs.
If all my friends were on Buzz, I would be on Buzz. They simply aren't going to be, and moving everyone isn't going to be easy. I predict that Buzz is going to die, either very slowly or very quickly. I'm guessing the latter based on how ridiculous and unnecessary Wave was.
I see little wrong with Facebook, and I can see Buzz being better than Facebook, for the purposes I use Facebook for. It's just a matter of whether or not they get the user-base, for me.
I personally have never liked any of Google's applications, except for Google search. I don't like how unnecessary and annoying to use most are. That's just my opinion though.
They already have a user base: Everyone who uses gmail. And it compliments email well as a way to broadcast messages generally rather than sending them to specific people. Which appears to be all it does, at the moment.
You should probably try it out before deciding. Personally, I find it a tad feature-deficient at the moment, and a lot of their UI is oversimplified as always, but it seems to get the job done. Which I guess is all they're aiming for, at the moment.
I hope they can start finding ways to gracefully migrate some of their Wave technologies to it, eventually. I'd like to start doing funky stuff like posting wiki-editable messages, embedding widgets, and all that jazz...
I don't use Gmail, and I don't know very many people, besides a teacher or two, that use Gmail. I think that nesting Buzz into Gmail for the user base was a good idea, but that alone I do not think will suffice.
Due to a lack of contacts that I speak to regularly and who are on Gmail, the usefulness of Buzz is limited for me at the moment. I've tried using it a little but it seems more like a well-integrated blogging system than a social networking tool.
Yes, I know Buzz =/= Facebook, but what is it really?
Yes, I know Buzz =/= Facebook, but what is it really?
Useless, for the most part.
If people can't discern a real use/application/purpose for a tool then it won't take on, and with everything 'social', purpose fails when there's no one to use it.
If you google buzz.google.com, you can see some short descriptions under each of the results:
"A new way to share updates, photos, videos, and more right in Gmail." "Start conversations about the things you find interesting. Share updates, photos, videos and more with your friends." "Google Buzz is a new way to share updates, photos, videos and more, and start conversations about the things you find interesting."
Yes, I know Buzz =/= Facebook, but what is it really?
Useless, for the most part.
If people can't discern a real use/application/purpose for a tool then it won't take on, and with everything 'social', purpose fails when there's no one to use it.
But it does have a use: Google now owns your shit instead of Facebook/MySpace/Whatever.
Ah but seriously if they can just get over a few stupid design choices and finally get their API up and running, there ought to be a lot of uses for this.
Not that it much matters anymore, since I'm beginning to reach the realization that every damned web service today may as well just be meshing together into one big amorphous blob of cross-pollinated web technologies. It's so piss-easy to mash site content (e.g.) nowadays that you're only really distinct if you just don't have any API at all.
Post has been edited 3 time(s), last time on Feb 18 2010, 8:26 am by Tuxedo-Templar.
NudeRaider -- SEN doesn't rely on spammers initiate its sleep cycle. It hat fully automated rest and clean-up phases. Please understand that this is necessary for the smooth operation of the site. Thank you.
[2024-5-18. : 3:45 am]
Sylph-Of-Space -- Does the shoutbox get disabled when there's spammers?
