I’ve started using Google Buzz. I was never a Twitter user, except that someone created a Twitter account that is linked to this Weblog and I have no control over it. I can’t figure out how Google Buzz is better than Twitter.
As I understand it, Twitter can be easily updated and viewed via SMS from a mobile phone. I can’t find any of that in Buzz. Buzz seems to offer a richer environment to present content, hyperlinks, in-line media…. just like a Weblog. But I already have a Weblog. Google Buzz does give me a private Weblog, I guess, but it says that photos are uploaded to a Picasa album. Is that a private album or can anyone then view it?
I’m following most of my friends. Almost none of them have anything interesting to say, it turns out (except you, Andrew; thanks for linking me to this video).
Since I’m already a Gmail user, Google Buzz is convenient and I don’t have to log in separately.
The lack of context-sensitive help is aggravating now that Google offers so many services. If I’m in Buzz and click top right for “Help” I get a generic screen that offers help mostly with Gmail. They have tacked in a link to a video (sounds like it was narrated by one of the South Park creators), but the video is promotional rather than instructional.
I have no idea where I’m going with Buzz. You can follow me in this aimless voyage by searching for “pgreenspun”.
The idea is that Buzz lets you collect most of your online activities and lets you decide if these are displayed to the general public or to a list of friends. It uses Picasa since it has access control lists, you are allowed to mark a Picasa album as either public, private or restricted.
I don’t see is as a weblog, it is more of a meta feed, that can be controlled from within Gmail. In reality what they are doing is recreating within Gmail a product that they already own: friendfeed.
And yes, they are working on mobile phone clients, the iphone version was available at launch.
Phil,
>You can follow me in this aimless voyage by searching for “pgreenspun”.
it’s just “greenspun.”
Pedro: A mobile phone client for one brand of phone is not a substitute for SMS access. As a fraction of installed base, smartphones are an insignificant percentage of total phones. Even for new phone sales, smartphones are only about 14% of the market (see http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1126812 ). Twitter is therefore something that almost everyone can use while out and about; Buzz seems tied to the desktop/laptop for now.
It’s integrated with Android as well. Supposedly http://buzz.google.com/ works on arbitrary mobiles.
What Pedro said about per-item privacy controls.
Also, mobile buzz posts can be geotagged.
Threaded comments/discussions are a big improvement over twitter’s @-reply ambiguity.
They promise to do salmon: http://code.google.com/apis/buzz/documentation/.
Well, there’s this piece of hoopla: How Google Buzz for Mobile Will Change Your Life: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/02/12/urnidgns852573C400693880002576C8007B7D43.DTL
but trying it on my Droid 1.5 (not supported), I can’t do the ‘Nearby’ thing (“can’t find location” — though GPS and Google maps can), which seems to be the point of the mobile app. …
>In reality what they are doing is recreating within Gmail a product that they already own: friendfeed.
Friendfeed was purchased last year by Facebook, not Google. It was indeed co-founded by an ex-Googler, Paul Buccheit. Great product this FF, but Facebook saw its potential to be a competitor, and have already started moving FF’s acquired engineering team to other projects.
I have an Android phone. I just searched for “buzz” in the marketplace and found nothing relevant (except for a “web shortcut”).
Try using the Google Maps app on your android. Tap your current location. You’ll see a “Post buzz” option on the menu. That’s what I meant by integration. I’m using Maps 4.0.0 #4046 for what it’s worth.
I haven’t noticed any other integration sites, but I expect the Share feature from Contacts, Browser, and Gallery will eventually support buzz in addition to Facebook etc.
Also: visit http://www.google.com/. Notice the buzz icon to the right of the more link at the top. Tap that.
Buzz is Google’s yet another attempt at winning a foothold in the big-name social network scene: everyman’s personal social circle right in the mail window. They failed big with Google Wave, which, to be usable, practically required a 24″ or larger screen and ambition to be a geek; so now they are trying to integrate it in email, the killer app of the Internet. It’s early days yet, so it’s not very usable, but, on the whole, if I am to participate in any mechanized social gathering, I’d rather it be within the confines of something that I (think I) control.