Buzz-Worthy? Google’s Attempt at Becoming the King of the Internet

February 16, 2010 | Written by Priyanka Mathew

Recently, Mashable hosted a Web Faceoff Series in which participants were asked to vote for their favorite networking site: Facebook or Twitter. Facebook won 48% to 40% but this was before a new contender was released into the online arena, Google Buzz.

On first glance, Google Buzz may just look like another copy-cat of Twitter, but upon further investigation, you may discover that the Buzz is more like a Twitter-Facebook superhero, combining the strengths of the two, without any of the weaknesses.

Unlike Twitter, Google Buzz is not restricted by the 140 characters that drive so many of us crazy, and like Facebook, links attached to the post will include a summary and image. Photo sharing is made easy by allowing simple incorporation of Flickr and Picasa photos and videos. Like Twitter and Facebook, Buzz is available on mobile, and yes, all of your information can be private or public, as you wish. Of course, the most compelling aspect of Google Buzz is the same as what compels us about Gmail, Gchat, and all things Google: simplicity with very few bugs. Since anybody who is anybody has a Gmail account, it seems logical that this social network will be the one to send Facebook and Twitter into the cyber junkyard of Friendster and MySpace. But that’s up for debate.

As failure-proof as Buzz seems to be, there are some major obstacles it will face. Although Buzz has already overtaken Twitter, it still has to contend with Facebook. According to a poll taken in September 2009 by Nielsen Online, users spent an average of 2 hours a month on Google, which was 3 times less than the time they spent on Facebook. Mashable is also currently taking a poll asking their audience who would win in a fight among Facebook, Twitter, and the Buzz, and the results so far show Facebook as the clear winner. A major issue against Google Buzz, with good reason, has been privacy. Because Google Buzz has access to your entire email contact list, it automatically follows friends you’ve most interacted with. But just because you always email your mom, that doesn’t mean you want her following your Buzz updates. However, Google has been extremely fast in responding to concerns and has outlined ways to privatize your Buzz posts or turn it off completely.

So what’s your opinion on Google Buzz? Below are a few thoughts from the RFI community.

“Google Buzz is seemingly the ultimate and most transparent social network but I can see the issue of hyper- transparency. Some users are uncomfortable with putting it all out there, and for Buzz to be maximized, it needs to know everything from interests to personal contacts.” Megan Levi, Social Media Analyst

“Good to see that Google is jumping into the social networking racket under the radar but launching Buzz the way they did feels slightly sneaky. For instance, before they fixed it they had all of your contacts pre-loaded as your ‘network’. Unfortunately this is made visible to anyone else in your network. That feels like a bit of a violation of my address book, and I was especially pissed off when I saw that everyone had access to my 10-year old’s email address. I figured out how to turn it off but it was a big blunder on Google’s part big time. It even put political dissidents and people in harm’s way.” Scott Schneider, Director of RFI Studios

“Personally, when I update Buzz, it’s a completely different update than Facebook or Twitter. This is going to people I know – and people that I know well. Here I feel I can really tell what’s going on in my life, without feeling like I am over-sharing… it’s not a 1000+ people that I might not even know.” Renee Barone, Senior Interactive Strategist

“Email is the most well-established, ubiquitous, open, and interoperable social networking platform that has ever existed.  With Wave, Voice, and now Buzz, Google is tearing down the walls between historically separate digital/social channels – and melding them into a seamless flow of content and conversation.  Facebook has made recent moves in this direction as well.  And both Google and Facebook are taking a page out of the playbook of the ‘poster’ child of email-powered social media – Posterous.” Tyler Pennock, SVP of Social Media