Google’s latest foray into social media has me leaving wanting less. Translation: I could live without Google Buzz for now.
When the social media add-on to Gmail launched on Tuesday, I was excited, like many other early adopters. Wow, here’s an aggregator for all the social media bombarding us, I thought.
How wrong I was. Well, sort of. Google Buzz does indeed allow you to share media you would otherwise email, such as Flickr photos or links to quirky news. You can connect Buzz to Picasa, Google Chat, Google Reader, and even Twitter (but only your tweets show up on Buzz, but your “Buzzes” don’t show up on Twitter). Similar to Facebook, a field at the top of the Buzz page allows you to “share what you’re thinking.”
Want to know what I’m thinking, Google? In the past 48 hours, I’ve been wondering why anyone would want to use Buzz as a social media destination.
First, it auto-follows the fellow Gmail users I chat/email the most, such as colleagues or friends from school. It auto-followed around 13 people, a paltry amount compared to my Twitter followers or Facebook “friends.” This auto-follow thing also treads on privacy issues – the people you follow and the people that follow you have been made public to anyone who looks at your profile.
I had to go deep into my profile settings to switch this feature off, even though Google should’ve been smart enough to make us opt-out of this feature automatically.
Next, the design is simply blah. Buzz resembles a long comment thread, and you often have to click open closed items that have been grouped together. Perhaps Google wanted Buzz to closely resemble Gmail messages, but in my opinion they should’ve gone with a slicker design. Sure, you can see Buzz items separates by the specialized icon or your friend’s profile name, but it’s easy to miss someone’s update or post since everything is grouped in such a lackluster manner.
Every time someone I follow adds a new Buzz post, I get an email in my Gmail inbox and my Buzz tab. Why both? It seems unnecessary. Google should’ve gone with one or the other.
I should note how quick it is to post material. Photos and links appear instantly, and I haven’t endured any bugs with commenting or “liking” another’s post. It is somewhat fun to read through comment threads of friends, even though I don’t know the other people commenting (but that’s like Facebook, so no points off there).
After I added a few more followers, I begin to look through all the Buzz posts. Most of my friends were pooling their Twitter feeds into Buzz, something that is only impressive if I’m not following them on Twitter already. In fact, most of the posts I’ve been seeing so far were critiques of Buzz’s features, including lines like “I hate that there is no option for me to private share with those I’m following.” (I second that motion).
When I tried to gauge interest on my own posts, it came as a big fail. A pic I posted garnered two comments, and then a link I posted moments afterward didn’t win any love (no “likes” either). I thought to myself: “If I posted this stuff on Facebook, I’d be reaching 880 more people and likely get a more immediate reaction.”
If Buzz doesn’t start to integrate Facebook content, I might look on it kindly. Facebook is where I spend most of my social media time, and it only makes sense to aggregate the second most popular website in the world. But Sergey Brin couldn’t even bring himself to mention Facebook during the Buzz launch, so we’re left to wonder what’s got Google scared about working with Facebook.
Looking at the content Buzz is piling on me, I can’t help but complain about the avalanche of social media inundating me now. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, social news site like Digitaljournal.com…it’s a lot to manage. And Google promised Buzz would be the orderly maid to this media mess. So far, though, Buzz is just adding more garbage to my social media life and wasting the time I could be spending adding photos to Facebook.
Note: This reviewer did not test the mobile version of Google Buzz
