Yesterday's grand unveiling of Google Buzz, a new Twitter-like social networking feature accessed through Gmail, generated, well, tremendous buzz and speculation. Tech mavens even wondered if the new application might not steal Twitter's mojo. But now that everyone has had a chance to kick the tires, many commentators are declaring Buzz more of a "buzz kill" than a revolution in social networking. Will the new app suffer the same dismal fate as Google's past social networking attempts, or have techies just not adjusted to its brilliance yet? (Watch Jeff Jarvis talk about Google's new frontier of social media)
Ugh, how do I block this thing? Great, another thing that's supposed to "make my life better," but instead just makes me "want to start screaming," says Daniel Lyons in Newsweek. By releasing Buzz, Google has taken a "perfectly wonderful email system" and polluted it by giving "people I don't really even know" yet another means of pestering me. Remember, Google, your job isn't to "provide us with ever-more-pointless chores."
"Google Buzz? More like buzz kill"
Don't give up on Buzz just yet: "It’s hard to judge Google Buzz" so soon after its release, says Shane Richmond in the London Telegraph. Yes, people have been "underwhelmed" so far, but Buzz still has "one key advantage — the potential to tap into a huge, already-existing network" through people's Gmail contacts.
"Google Buzz: social networking for the anti-social"
Buzz has a major, major flaw: The problem with Buzz goes deeper than whether or not people will like it, says Nicholas Carlson in Business Insider. The service comes pre-loaded with a "huge privacy flaw" that, because of the Buzz's "auto-follow" feature, allows all of your friends to see who you chat and email with most. Of course, users can fix this by simply changing an option in their Buzz settings. But it's oversights like this that will cause Buzz to fall flat.
"Warning: Google Buzz has a huge privacy flaw"
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SEE MORE OF THE WEEK'S RECENT GOOGLE COVERAGE:
• Will Google Buzz topple Twitter?
• Steve Jobs vs Google
• What Google tells us about China
• Apple vs Google: The war begins?
