![The Big Lebowski (Limited Edition) [Blu-ray Book + Digital Copy]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/512F90yEqdL._SL75_.jpg){kind=small}
Wednesday
Feb102010
Serenity Now: Google Buzz is Google Wave Light, a Non-Starter
Young Urban Professional
Those of you who know me or have been reading my work for awhile are probably well aware that I love Google products - especially Gmail. I even stopped using Google Reader in favor of subscribing to email newsletters from the blogs I care about so I can peruse/search them there. One less inbox that I have to manage is a good thing.
So, with that, you would naturally assume that I would love Google Buzz. Well, I just got it in my Gmail today and my first take is that it's Google Wave Light. Is the technology great? Sure. However, it's way too complex for the masses. It doesn't organize social information, it makes it even more of a mess.
Like it or hate it Facebook offers what Jeff Jarvis calls "elegant organization." Twitter, while less organized, is equally simple. Google Buzz is only a service a mother could love - maybe Sergey Brin's mother. It's the Anti-Friendfeed. Here are five things wrong with it...
1) I can't easily find my content within Gmail. I have to go to my profile page to find it
2) I can't easily hide the items from my inbox. This requires a filtering hack that mere mortals do not know even exists
3) Noise, noise and more noise - there are no lists like in Twitter or a news feed in Facebook that tells you the "top stories" or even "Best of Day" feature that Friendfeed had. A way to organize social content? A productivity tool? Hardly
4) It slows down Gmail somewhat - what happened to Google's mission to speed up the web?
5) Finally, it shows in some ways Google is losing their focus. They're getting too big and therefore launch half-baked products that take them away from their core. They are feeling the heat from Facebook and Twitter instead of remaining true to their mission to organize the world's information.
In short, Google Buzz leaves me crying Serenity Now - and I am a social enthusiast with his hands in lots of pots!
Call me when this is baked but once again Google is showing that social is really their Achilles Heel. Google Social Search is a winner. Google real-time search is also a winner. They show what Google does well. This product shows Google at their worst. So, now that I have it, I don't see Google Buzz taking off and I am tempted to even turn it off. How about you?
Reader Comments (28)
I'm still waiting to get a chance to explore Buzz, but I do wonder why Google is so focused on getting social right. You're absolutely right - it's not what they do well, and it doesn't fit into the core of their business model. I really don't need yet another place to stream my information - I've got that covered with Twitter and Facebook - and, oh by the way, that's where ALL my friends are. I'd still like to get a chance to read more about the product, and actually use it myself, but I'm not very hopeful.
That's my impression as well. I do suspect that if it does have a distinctive value, it will emerge (as in emergent behavior..) from how users deal with it, which may surprise all of us!
It's clunky. My gripe may sound trivial but I was annoyed that I had to "click" to post vs just hitting "enter" as I do with facebook and twitter. Right now, I don't mind managing these communities separately because they are different.
I agree with you Steve. It appears that it was hastily put together to make the media and public think they're on top of the social media channels and networking. Should have done more R&D with before launching the service.Mark K.
@LevelTen_Colin Google's core business is advertising and gaining insight on web users to improve targeted advertising. Facebook is getting much better at targeting advertising as it builds profile information on users. Google has some information based on what you've searched on and what you say in email, but those sources of data are becoming less important to advertisers who are always wanting to target better. Google has to be able to build better profiles on users and they need to undermine Facebook (if they can) to keep from losing advertisers. There's a likelihood that search advertising will be as ineffective as pop-up advertising in a few years and social advertising will be 800 pound gorilla. Google needs to establish a presence in social and they are trying everything they can to do so. In the end, they should just buy Twitter. All these efforts look like a repeat of Google Video and that ended up with them buying YouTube.
I agree it clutters things up a bit. I already had my hands full with twitter and facebook and now I have to juggle buzz? Not Yahoo buzz mind you, but google buzz. I don't think so.
It seems to me that Google Buzz is essentially FriendFeed, but with support for less services.
Aaron, Its not just less services!! No posting/sharing to twitter (or another service), no advanced search, no My Discussions, no groups/lists or tags, no embedded widgets, no moderation and no hide. What about email preferences? Where do I go to search for Buzz about my site? I could go on but that's my starter list.. I've got to play more and dig deeper.
As I watched the Google announcement yesterday, I wondered what the Steve Rubel reaction might be. My initial reaction was, Buzz might work for someone like you, who lives in Gmail, but didn't see what benefit it offered to the ordinary user. I'll need to poke around with it a bit before I form my own opinion.
Buzz is for external use - among friendsWave is for internal use - among co-workers.Buzz will die down. Wave hasn't maximized its potential yet.
I agree, buzz definitely seems half-baked. Lots of chaos and its kinda difficult to navigate/organize.
Rarely do I disagree with you Steve, but this is one of those times! I'm loving Buzz, and while I'm already compiling a laundry list of ways they could make it better -- and I bet some of the weaknesses you point out above will be addressed down the line -- I'm having a blast playing with it.Lots of people didn't get Google Wave; this is crack compared to that.
Buzz will have much more power in the mobile arena.
I hate Buzz. I looked for a "remove" option, but can't find it. When I'm dealing with email, I want to focus on just that. Heaven knows it's hard enough to keep up with all the social media services without having it foisted onto you in your email program too.You're right about it slowing Gmail down, Steve. I used to love Gmail because was fast, and removed most spam messages. I'm dreading Gmail becoming a horrible, slow mess.If Google keeps turning email into something it isn't, I'll be switching to another email program... Think I'll start investigating other options for email...
Angie, take a look at the bottom of the page. There's a way to disable it.
Turn it off. I'm planning to do the same as soon as Google successfully lets me link my main blog to Buzz. Then I'm done. I added another few items that I didn't like with Buzz in this FriendFeed thread. btw, the link on "his hands" is broken. :)
Steve, I agree with you 95%. Gmail is now slower, and I am experiencing some crashes where Gmail just hangs, which it never used to do. The 5% where I disagree is on the point of Google in general and social media - I think they need to be in this space, and I think Gmail was the place to integrate Buzz, but it is not quite there yet. The funny part is that I feel compelled to go back and embrace FriendFeed after using Buzz - probably not what Google intended. I think the most frustrating thing about all the social media products, and something I have discussed with you before, is that I have too much stuff spread out all over the place. I really want one bucket. and I think until we have a unified social messaging platform (think RSS or POP for social media) its gonna be rotten for everyone. As long as Twitter, Facebook, et all remain islands of information, no one wins.
ehy, dont worry, be happy, the buzz is just that, an wave, a tiwtter a fbbook, doesn't matter, just another microblogging system on the web, now integrated with google , exactly on gmail. :D I think that is cool using that inside gmail, cause really twitterGadget to gmail is not funny, instead of buzz :D. now i'm enjoying buzz :D
You've managed to highlight almost every fault I found with Google Buzz in my initial trial. While I had high hopes for the service, they were quickly dashed by my main complaint, which you share: It doesn't organize social information, it makes it even more of a mess.Hopefully Google takes in all of the feedback that they're getting from initial users, and rapidly updates and adapts the service to address these major concerns, since I still think it has some potential, but I also think it has a LONG way to go before any kind of mainstream user would get value out of the service.
I could see the potential of Buzz immediately. As you do, I read a lot of influential blogs and always check to see if the author has a Google Profile, if they do..I follow them in GReader.Influencer's will often get a mention in blog posts, again I check for a profile and if I like it..I follow them in Reader. This got to the point of following 160 people that are at the top of their respective fields.I muted all 160 of those people in GReader because their combined "Shared Items" is just too much to take in.However, when I turned on Buzz...whammo, a whole lot of conversations taking place around influencer's (I did unfollow scoble pretty quickly)For example, how does this info tie in?"This is the network of connections Google uses to identify relevant social search results. It is based on a combination of the following":Direct connections from your Google chat buddies and contacts Direct connections from links listed on your Google profile such as Twitter and FriendFeedSecondary connections that are publicly associated with your direct connectionsAnd this "Add people who you want to include in your social circle to the Friends, Family, or Coworkers groups in your Google contacts. Any public content that those people have linked to their Google profile can start showing for your relevant searches. Note that it may take up to a few weeks for new connections to start showing in your social search results"I think there is a lot of potential there, but it will take time to nut out just what the relationships are between following profiles and having folk in certain Contacts folders.This above info comes from: http://www.google.com/s2/search/socialAnd here's the help article for Social circle: http://bit.ly/bJRT0ABuzz is not for the faint hearted, it forces you to learn Google's Social circle methodology, but I think it could reap rewards for those willing to dig in.I can see it being very useful in a Google Apps environment, where everyone is on GMail by default. There maybe more granularity available to Apps administrators, seeing as it is possible to tap directly into the API's from the tools.It's lacking threaded discussions, needs better follow management..but it does perform fairly well in Google Chrome on Windows Vista.By taking responsibility for what you allow into the stream and following folks that do likewise, Buzz becomes a good resource *I hope*
Google are missing the point with Buzz, Google = search to masses -Buzz should be integrated in search, not Gmail.
as an aside, good article by the way, the link to your google profile is broken. You mispelled "profiles" as "profies"
here's my official response :)http://susanbeebe.posterous.com/buzz-eated-ma-inbox
must be the winter weather. all tech critics seem to be in a crappy mood. why else would the tech savvy immediately gripe out all the misgivings of a 2 day old service which is not available to everyone even yet. constructive criticism is great but you can't expect Buzz to be Twitter or Facebook out the gate. If anything the competition will make Twitter, Facebook, and others better. Did you all not vent enough with the release of the iPad. Have a coke and a smile, jeez.
Thanks for your insight, Steve. I was unimpressed by Buzz and sometimes wonder whether we are seeing early signs of fading glory at the Google factory.