Last week, Google started rolling out a new feature to Gmail users…Google Buzz. For now, those using Google Apps to manage their domain’s email miss out on Buzz, but Google have promised that they will be enabled in due course. Buzz is Google’s first serious entry into the social networking space, aimed squarely at the likes of Facebook and Twitter. Whilst Google have long been expected to expand into this area, Buzz ended up sneaking in under the radar somewhat, perhaps because Google didn’t want another high-profile damp squib on their hands (remember Wave)? But you can be sure that Google is serious about Buzz, and sees it as a core part of it’s future strategy.
Since Buzz, in appearance, has more in common with Twitter, let’s compare the two.
Where did they come from?
Click on the Buzz folder in Gmail, and you are likely to find that you are already subscribed to a number of people’s updates. How come? Well, Google has taken an, ermmm, ‘interesting’ approach to building your Buzz network. Rather than needing to find and add contacts as you do in Twitter, Google instead utilises the existing list of contacts in your Gmail address book, automatically subscribing you to the public feeds of those who use Gmail. Of course, you can search for and add people not in your contacts too, thus building up your network in the same way you would with Twitter.
Unsurprisingly, people have objected to the fact that, by default, anyone can see your lists of subscribers, and more importantly, the list of people (Buzzers?) you are subscribed to. In essence, some of your personal address book was publicised for all to see. Whilst for most this is no more than an annoyance, it has affected one or two more seriously. Google have now addressed this by making changes to improve privacy; hiding those people who do not have public profiles and letting you choose whether you want to publicise your follow lists. A further change has also stopped the initial auto-follow of contacts, instead suggesting that you might want to follow certain people and asking you to confirm this.
Making your point
On using Buzz in anger, probably the first difference to strike you is that there is no character limit on status updates, and you can also post pictures and videos in addition to links. Some might argue that the 140 character limit of tweets that forces people to be concise is no bad thing. Personally, if required, I prefer to use more words to ensure I communicate my message accurately rather than performing textual gymnastics. Will this mean that people will stop blogging and start buzzing? Possibly in some cases, although I suspect and hope that pithy and precise updates will still be the norm, and that links to websites and blogs will remain for times when people wish to elaborate on a point.
You may also notice, when posting a Buzz, that you have the option of making it public or private. This is similar to the concept of replies and direct messages in Twitter, although it’s more powerful in the sense that you can choose to direct the message at as many individuals or groups as you like In Twitter there is always that 140 character limit to restrict things.
Linking it all up
As you might expect, Google have integrated Buzz with other Google services such as Picasa, YouTube and Google Reader out of the box. So if, for instance, you add some photos to a public album in your Picasa account, you can have them automatically posted to Buzz too. Other company’s services are available too, such as Flickr and, of course, Twitter. With Twitter the flow is only one way, into Buzz. You can’t (yet) have your buzzes automatically posted as tweets. I have no doubt whatsoever that more services will be added over time.
It would appear, then, that Google is positioning Buzz as the place to go when you want to see everything that a person is sharing online. Whilst this can be achieved in Twitter, or even Facebook, in reality there can be a certain amount of work involved in setting it up and, in some cases, each time you post something new. Google is aiming to minimise the work involved by subscribing to each service, and pulling new content into Buzz as it is posted. The thing is, this is exactly what FriendFeed does, so how does Google hope to add value?
The power of search
Google may have come late to social networking, and the automatic adding of existing contacts to your feed is at least in part designed to give you an immediate reason to look at and use Buzz. However, there is one are where Google has a huge advantage over other players, namely search. Remember a little while back when Google starting including Tweets in search results, and people assumed it was a natural result of the popularity of Twitter? Well, might there have been another reason for making that move? Might Google have realised that indexing social networking feeds was going to be required if Buzz was going to make headway against more established social networking services, like Twitter? I think so. But that’s just the first step in bringing Buzz to the masses.
The age of the smartphone
Looking at Google’s activities over the last 6-12 months, it seems quite obvious where Google perceives the future to be. ChromeOS is designed to run on relatively low-powered computers that have constant access to the internet. Android is another operating system designed to run on even smaller computers with constant internet access and built-in GPS, namely smartphones. Google search on your mobile will now factor your location into results. Whilst not ignoring the bread and butter of static PC search requests, Google is actively driving the proliferation of smartphones in the market (why else launch the Nexus One?) and ensuring it is in the best position to benefit from this.
Where does Buzz fit into this? From day 1, Google has ensured that the Buzz experience on smartphones is as compelling as it can make it. Fire up Buzz on your Android or iPhone handset and you get a couple of features not available on your PC/laptop. Firstly, unless you actively choose not to do so, Buzz will geo-tag every post you make from your handset. Secondly, Buzz will allow you to easily see what’s happening around where you happen to be at that point in time. It’s a feature that Mike Elgan calls “virtual graffiti”. The upshot is that you will be able to participate in virtual, highly localised communities as you travel around. They may be social, or business or commercial, that remains to be seen. But all the ingredients are there in Buzz to make it happen. In comparison, Twitter also offers geo-tagging, but the minimal user interface doesn’t make much use of this information yet, instead relying on third-parties to build appropriate services. This is fine, except that take-up will be restricted simply because users will need to sign up to the third party service.
Now what?
Will Buzz succeed? It’s difficult to say at this stage. I’m sure Twitter is keeping a very close eye on it, and there is actually no reason why the two can’t co-exist. However, a wildly successful take-up of Buzz is bound to have an adverse effect on Twitter. For that to happen, though, Google certainly needs to separate Buzz from Gmail (which they have suggested they may do). They also need to allow Buzz to hook up to many more services, a la FriendFeed. I can certainly see Google actively encouraging the mobile side of Buzz in a big way, as that brings something pretty new to the market, if you ignore the hint of bluetooth spamming that mercifully seems to have abated now. On the business side, the likelihood that Buzzes will feature at least as highly as Tweets in search results will be important in gaining market share too. I, for one, won’t be ignoring my Buzz account just yet.
About the author
Colman Carpenter is Director and Owner of Four Lakes Internet Services (@fourlakesuk), a company that develops Wordpress-based websites and resells the Google Apps collaboration suite. He is also a Director of Voicespan (@voicespan), a provider of Asterisk-based telephone systems for small and medium businesses. If you’d like to Buzz him, search for colmanc.
Tags: Buzz, google buzz, twitter
Will ‘buzzing’ replace ‘tweeting’? http://businessontwitter.co.uk/twitter/2010/02/will-buzzing-replace-tweeting/
http://tinyurl.com/y9536dw Will ‘buzzing’ replace ‘tweeting’?
[...] Google Buzz, the Internet has been buzzing with speculations. Colman Carpenter sheds some light onthe similarities and differences between Google’s newest web feature and Twitter and explains how Google Buzz may change the course of Social Media in the [...]