Google Buzz
Monday, February 15th, 2010
Google Buzz, the latest contestant in the ‘Social Media’ circus, has come out with all guns blazing this past week, and the feedback has been as good as it has been bad.
The initial reaction was it has potential. There was never any doubt, that when Google decided to come to the table with its new product, it would make a splash, I mean, Google is everywhere so the integration possibilities give it a huge head start to the other platforms-rather than a new platform, Google Buzz is effectively an ‘Add on’ to any of the many products Google has already got us addicted to.
Google has already released the numbers thus far: Over 9 Million posts and comments in the 56 hours since it launched the new Buzz, and most interesting ‘over 200 mobile check-ins per minute (300K per day)-proving it may just be the year of the “Mobile Internet evolution’ we get promised every year!
Some highlights of the new product include:
- Integration with other social networks such as Twitter, but not Facebook…weird
- Integration right within your Google Mail interface
- Easy and simple interface
- Easy to follow/unfollow users
- Smooth Mobile Interface (Actually better than the web version IMO)
Some of the low lights to surface over the past few days include:
- Lots of noise with so much going on within your personal ‘Stream’
- Auto following of anyone you have emailed
Overall Google Buzz is very interesting. It will certainly change the way we use our gmail accounts, but whether it will put a significant dint in the Social Media landscape remains to be seen. As with many Google technologies, I have a feeling it will grow on us all-and we’ll soon be Buzz-ing regularly.
Tags: Google, Google Buzz, Social Media