Google Buzz just dropped. Yes, today is a breaking news blog-post day.
Google Buzz is Google’s latest push into the social network space. It’s been rumoured that Google would implement social networking features into Gmail for some time now, and today we got our first look at what Google is calling “an entire new world inside Gmail”.
An entire new world inside Gmail? Oh fucking yes! That’s exactly what I’ve been waiting for. I was only saying the other day, “I bloody love Gmail, but what it really needs, IS AN ENTIRE FUCKING WORLD INSIDE IT”. Although having seen a couple of the promotional videos, it looks pretty cool actually. Sorry about that.
Here, according to Buzz’s Product Manager Todd Jackson, are the five key features that define Google Buzz.
- Key feature #1: Auto-following
- Key feature #2: Rich, fast sharing experience
- Key feature #3: Public and private sharing
- Key feature #4: Inbox integration
- Key feature #5: Just the good stuff
So here’s Google Buzz in a nutshell: It’s like FriendFeed, but with Twitter @replies and Facebook-style ‘commenting on a story’ features.
Users can create private or public Buzz’s – a little bit like Google Wave in that respect – but that’s also quite similar to creating different lists in Twitter, and also having different friends lists in Facebook.
You can populate your Buzz by importing Picasa or Flickr photos, your Twitter feed (although currently you’re not able to Tweet from within your Buzz) as well as many other importable objects (RSS feeds, blogposts, that kind of thing)
Comments on your Buzz feed show up in realtime, mixing some of the great features of Google Wave with some of the more common features of Facebook.
Now reading that doesn’t really excite me; it just seems like a new social network with a mixture of features you’re already using across a couple of other platforms, but it’s the mobile version of Buzz that does look interesting. Just go to buzz.google.com on your mobile device and you open up a whole load of mobile navigation features that aren’t currently available on the home platform. Google Maps for instance now has a ‘Buzz Layer’ which opens up to show nearby ‘Buzz’s’ as well as recent status updates with links to show where the status was updated.
Google realised that usually people Tweet to say where they are, or what they’re doing in an exciting place. Google Buzz allows you to Buzz your location as well so your friends can see where you are, and meet up. A click on a Buzz navigation link opens up Google Maps showing you where that person Buzzed from, but also shows reviews for nearby restaurants, cinema times close to the Buzz, as well as directions to your friend. It could also be used for stalkery purposes, so I’d be careful about that. Always carry a rape-alarm. I do, but then have you seen this? *points to self* Exactly. If you have that on tap you’d be worrying too. All I’m saying is, be careful. You never know who is about.
Another neat feature – although one I doubt will work every time (and will probably get you into severe trouble when drunk Tweeting) is the Voice Recognition feature. Just hold down a button and say the Tweet Buzz you want to broadcast and it’ll recognise your voice and post your Buzz. Of course it’ll never work correctly. Come on. My voice is bad enough on a good day, imagine my poor little phone trying to translate a pissed up-southerner? It’ll never work.
One feature which I’ll be turning off straight away is receiving an email everytime someone comments on your Buzz. Although clicking on the email does take you straight into your Buzz, which is pretty cool.
So yeah, that’s it, another Social Network we’ve got to get to grips with. The initial response to Google Wave wasn’t very strong at all (although I now use it weekly for SPOnGcast stuff) but I’m not sure if this’ll be enough to take people away from either Facebook or Twitter. But maybe it’s meant to live alongside them? Either way, it looks pretty nice. And as long as you don’t have to swap personal email addresses with everyone you want to follow or be followed by, then it might be an interesting diversion.
Google Buzz should be appearing in your Gmail Inboxes over the next three days. Hopefully I’ll get mine soon.
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