Google Buzz

Posted by Richard Smith - February 12, 2010 – 2:43 am
google-buzz

Google went and did something very clever here. They woke up one day and realised that they are the owners of a massive social network. It took them so long to see it because it was all over the place. They had a way for users to send messages to each other called Gmail. The had a place to upload your photos to called Picasa, and a little thing for videos called YouTube. They had a homepage and chat. Everything that people use in Facebook. The difference was that you log into Facebook and it’s all there. It’s all part of the same website. It isn’t lots of services scattered across the internet. Google Buzz brings it all together in a nice little social networky kind of way.

Remember FriendFeed? It’s like Twitter only better. They were never as big as Twitter but they offered features that you sometimes forget Twitter is missing. It’s a micro-blog just like Twitter, but you aren’t limited to 140 characters. Yes I understand that the whole web 2.0 thing makes limiting yourself a cool thing. Almost a bunch of internet hippy crap. There are so many things I’ve wanted to say on Twitter but haven’t been able to break it down to 140 characters. There are those out there who would say “You know, if you can’t say it in 140 characters then it isn’t worth saying.”. Get lost. What if I use some really intelligent big words? What if I want to say something very complicated? I’ve always preferred the opportunity that FriendFeed provides.

On top of that FriendFeed also let you post links, images and pulled in data from 41 (I think) other sites. It’s FriendFeed that recognises a new post on Simply Syndicated, posts it to my FriendFeed and then to Twitter. If I post on YouTube it’s FriendFeed that posts a link on Twitter. I never understood why it was Twitter that took of and not FriendFeed. I suppose that’s a testament to the raw talent that is Ashton Cutcher.

Anyway, the point to this? Well, Google Buzz is FriendFeed. Or at least a very basic version of it. That’s all well and good but what’s so special about it? They only went and built it into Gmail. That’s right, it’s right there below your inbox button. Google went and launched a social network that already had hundreds of millions of users. It has everything that Facebook has only better.

If you want to upload a photo, you don’t upload to a photo section of a website. Facebook’s photo upload feels like not much more than a WordPress plugin. On Google’s network you upload a photo to Picasa Web Albums, the online companion to the popular photo organising tool for Windows. Facebook’s video section leaves a lot to be desired, but Google are offering you YouTube, server of over 25% of the internet’s videos. It’s fair to say those guys know what they’re doing with video. The messaging system is the world’s greatest online email service Gmail.

Right there at the heart of it you’ve got Google Buzz pulling it all together. If I post on YouTube it now shows up on my Buzz and my Google Profile. The same goes for anything I post on Picasa, Flickr, Twitter and even my Gchat mood message. There’s even an android app and iPhone/iPod web app.

My favourite part is the message commenting. When I make a post, other people who follow me can put a comment on the post. That turns posts into mini conversations. In the 24 or so hours since the launch of Buzz I’ve seen more conversations surrounding my posts than ever before on Twitter.

Don’t get me wrong, Buzz isn’t without problems. When I post on Twitter it takes around six hours before it hits Buzz, resulting in a barrage of tweets from the day. The posting from other sites is unpredictable too. The most annoying thing it does is to send posts with replies to your Gmail inbox. You can avoid the problem with a bit of labelling and filtering, but it’s a pain and it would be nice to have a check box to turn it off. I fully expect these problems to go over time.

Trust me on this, Google will get it right. Buzz has the feeling of a very early beta. There are problems but they aren’t going to be there forever. One thing that looks like being there forever is Google. They’ve got time and they’ve got the resources. They aren’t going anywhere and neither is Buzz. It will change and evolve over time but it will always be there. Facebook and Twitter need to be very worried about this. They will be worn down by a greater power. Let me be super geeky and leave you with a quote from Doctor Who:

“Water is patient, Adelaide. Water just waits. It wears down the cliff tops, the mountains, the whole of the world. Water always wins.”

When you look at Google Buzz you’re looking at the first drops of rain starting to fall.

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This entry was written by Richard Smith, posted on at 2:43 am, filed under Geekery, Technology. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.
  • cohnee

    I always assumed tweets were limited to 140 characters so that you could Tweet via text message. It wasn’t that long ago you could get updates via text message as well.

    I see Buzzs potential but I think Facebook is a harder nut to crack than you think. Facebook doesn’t care what email service you use, Buzz requires you to have a Gmail/Google account. Facebook has a whole raft of games, apps, etc (useless as they may be) that I can’t see Google going for, but help to bring users back to their site. Facebook is fairly ingrained into peoples conscious as THE social network site.

    Time will tell, but I think is just a handy feature for those of use Googles other services, not a Facebook killer, the way Facebook killed Myspace.

  • token bg

    Cheers for explaining what the fuss is all about Rich. Also, given that you have a solid bank of geekery knowledge, I personally love the fact that in summation, you used a quote (and a good quote) from a show you ostensibly dislike.