Abuzz about an unsocial fight
Question: If you were going to challenge Facebook for dominance in the social network world, who would you like to be?
Answer: Google.
Two months ago, this is the fight that began when the search engine giant launched Google Buzz, a social network addition to its popular Gmail e-mail which millions of us use. According to Google, Buzz is “a new way to share updates, photos, videos and more, and start conversations about things you find interesting.”
Google embeds its Buzz social networking feature right into its users' Gmail page. The new service, meant to challenge other social network sites -- most notably Facebook -- was launched in Februrary. (AP Photo/Google)
It utilizes the built-in base that Gmail users have of people they regularly correspond with, and it allows them to expand their offerings to the world if they like. Since it’s built into the existing Gmail home page, users have nothing new to set up ,nor new usernames or passwords to create, nor a new list of friends to create.
Some Differences
Google promotes features that go beyond Facebook’s status updates, including the ability of Buzz to pull images directly from links (doesn’t Facebook already do that?) and to play videos “in-line” as well as galleries of still photos. Users can also link their Buzz to other social network sites like Flickr, Picasa, Google Reader, and Twitter. Oops — no Facebook. Understandable since that’s the service Buzz is dueling.
Buzz delivers responses to comments right to the user’s Gmail inbox, meaning that your mailbbox can fill up fast if you use Buzz as much as most people use Facebook. You also respond to the responders right from your Gmail box. So, as yet, there is no separate Buzz site; your Gmail inbox is it.
Buzz also sends “recommended” posts and updates and users can select them if they like.
Like Facebook, Buzz users can access the feature from their mobile phones. That application, however, has become the focus of a new lawsuit for both Google and Facebook.
Last month, Bloomberg.com reported Wireless Ink Corp. filed a suit seeking cash compensation and a court order to prevent Facebook and Google from allowing users to join the sites from their cell phones, according to an article by David Glovin and Susan Decker.
A Patented Fight
Wireless Ink, which owns the Winksite service, claims it has an exclusive patent linking cell phones to social network sites, and that the patent was issued them last October. The New York software firm has created Web sites that can be accessed from users mobile wireless devices such as cell phones. Wireless Ink. claims it has 75,000 registered users already. The company said it first made the application public in 2004, so Facebook and Google knew of its existence when they began linking their sites to mobile devices.
Like every other new Web 2.0 creation, time will tell if Google Buzz is superfluous or offers enough uniqueness to interest large numbers of users. Some are skeptical, however. Writing in Laptopmag.com, for example, Dana Wollman says the following:
“Personally, the idea of having my updates indexed in my Google Profile is oddly scary to me, even though my tweets are all public as well. I think the difference, for me, is that someone has to be on Twitter, seeing my tweets in their timeline, to become aware of me. My Google Profile appears every time someone searches for me on Google.”
Method to Madness?
Others note there is a method to the seeming madness of adding yet another social networking site. Chris Foresman writes on arstechnia.com that, “Buzz is designed to bring the fire hose of social media and status updates down to a useful trickle of the most ‘interesting’ bits.”
And Google’s Todd Jackson calls it “a Google approach to sharing.”
Whether you like the idea or not, betting against Google and its resources is not the safest way to go either in this world or in the virtual unknown.
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Comments
I am a facebook user and do not think that the Google Buzz could ever compete with facebook. Facebook is constantly updating and finding new things to improve their ways. They are also looking at their competitors and trying to figure out ways to improve what they already have to make them selves stand out more than their competitors. I fell like Facebook is so far along that no one can really compete with facebook. Even though Google Buzz has millions of users already with their G-mail accounts and different Google accounts i still do not feel that they will be able to compete with Facebook and take them down because of the comfort level that has been created with users on Facebook. Facebook I feel like has matured the online social networking from Myspace. Which also gives facebook the edge because it shows that they can still be classy and cool at the same time where as Myspace isn’t. Therefore giving Facebook the edge over Google Buzz.
Even before reading this blog, I have pictured in my mind the top to sites that I spend most of my time on: Facebook and Google. They both compete for my homepage as well as my top visited site in my history. Both are great sites so it is no wonder that they are in such high competition of each other. Although I feel that Google will have an extremely hard time topping Facebook for the amount of members. First off, Facebook has been around longer than Google email which you need to access its own new social networking. Second, Google is providing if not all but most of its features that Facebook already provides which still wouldn’t sway my decision to start a new email with Google in the first place. Although Google has come out with its own smart phone which has “one-upped” Facebook, but it’s not competing with Apple and Verizon against their smart phones. I think it’s safe to say that Google leads in the most visited search engine site; however it’s just a baby in the world of social networking, communication and seems to be learning slowly how much attention people are putting into already invented features. Although in the end Google is no massive that I have realized from reading this blog that it will be hard to not see more of it, more of the competing still. They call it sharing but it is coming down to the point where Google is taking over. It is not just a “scary site” but scary corporation I think. Unrealistic really but this blog has just got me thinking of all the other things Google can and probably will try to take over.
This article encompasses an interesting topic. Facebook is this new social networking powerhouse that has millions of loyal users. Google on the other hand, in my opinion, has been nothing more than a search engine. I was unaware of the Gmail accounts available and the “Buzz.” Honestly I feel as though Google needs to remain that of a search engine and it needs to stop trying to compete with every new program that comes along. Google will always be number one for search engines, why try and be something else that could just get tossed into the mix as another email/search/social network? Although, Google has astounding credibility and class. Tough call.
I have a facebook currently, but I never go on it. I find it annoying and a waste of time. I have so many friends on there that I never talk to. I am actually going to delete my facebook very soon. I consider my true friends to be the ones who call me, text me, and email me. I have a gmail account and access it through my phone, but I never noticed the little buzz icon until I read this. I think that Google has established a great name for themselves, especially as a search engine. I love having an email account with them, it is so easy to use, and you can easily organize each of your emails and I love how it links with my phone to add things onto my calendar. I think that the people that are in my contacts are more my true friends than the ones on facebook so I would like to check out buzz and maybe even start using it. I think it is a great idea to have an email, calendar, instant messaging, and social networking all on one account. I love the idea! I am glad Google is expanding their products and services.
Personally, nothing including that of google can compete with facebook.. at least not for awhile. It was not until the beginning of this year that I barely decided to finally give in and make a facebook but ever since I have, it has been extremely addicting and I have come to see what all the fuss over facebook is. Primarily being used for college students, Facebook now has millions of users both young and old. Although Google is a great search engine, it has not chances of competing with facebook or anything else for that matter. The world will most likely be satisfied with what facebook has to offer now and it will probably last for years until something new is made. Perhaps in the future it may have a chance, but as for now, Facebook is still growing and has yet to reach its peak.
I have a hard time believing Google Buzz is really going to take off. As long as facebook keeps updating its capabilities and keeps up with the sort of things Google buzz offers I’m sure it will keep the lead. I actually had never even heard of google buzz until recently a friend of mine mentioned it. I even have a gmail account, and I’d never heard of it through that. Plus, I’m not sure I even still really understand exactly what it is or the purpose of it. I guess eventually when the facebook trend dies down, it could potentially take off, but it seems that facebook has just reached unimaginable proportions and there is really no stopping it. I do understand why google is trying to get in on the action, however, as of right now I really don’t think facebook has anything to worry about.
As many others have said, I do not believe Google Buzz is going to succeed. This is the first time I have heard of Google Buzz; the marketing for this social medium is not really present as far as I have noticed. Google is an amazing search database and has found it’s niche. Google should stay in this niche and not expand much further from it. The privacy issues of Google Buzz is also worrisome. With social networking sites becoming more and more popular, the privacy of people’s private information is becoming more and more sacred. Google Buzz does not seem to have too much concern with this issue. If Google Buzz wants to succeed, then the company must rethink a couple things.
I don’t really feel that Google Buzz is going to be anywhere close to Facebook. FB has been established for years now and has taken over all other social media sites like Myspace and Friendster. I know that Google is developing “Google Wave”. Google Buzz is a platform for Google Wave. The concept of Google Buzz is a stripped down version of Google Wave. Google wave is a way of communicating via real time email. People are also able to work on projects simultaneously. They can alter word documents and even graphs for presentations all at the same time. I have personally never used Google Buzz, but I do not know one person who uses it as religiously as everyone uses Facebook. However, if anyone were to give Facebook a run for its money, it would be Google.
Very interesting of Google. They seem to be taking over the world these days. Google may be a leading figure in the World Wide Web, however competing with Facebook would be no easy task. Even if you developed a successful interface like the Google Buzz seems to be, you are not going to get people to make the switch. Facebook seems to be THE place for many people and the reality of them leaving seems unlikely. Google Buzz would have to be really clever in order to move that whole Facebook gang to their new interface.
This was interesting to me because I definitely use google, however I have never heard of the google buzz, which is really strange because I am usually on top of those kinds of things. I use to have a myspace and then moved on to facebook. I don’t know if google buzz will actually be the next big thing though, because facebook is such huge success and it seems to be very similar. I don’t have a gmail account, so maybe that is why I didn’t know about it, but I feel like almost everyone has a facebook. But of course, some other site is going to someday be the next big thing, because as facebook replaced myspace, some other site will replace facebook. However, myspace offers music features and musicians to have pages, unlike facebook. So there will always be different positives and negatives of each new social networking site.
I used to use Myspace and then moved on to facebook, since facebook was a better, more mature, social networking site (in my opinion). Going from facebook to “buzz” however, I do not think I will ever do. In facebook, you have control and privacy setting which allow you to block out people you do not want viewing your information posted on there. To me, my email is my sacred place. It’s like my online home. I do not think that people being able to send me comments and it coming straight to my mailbox is the smartest thing to come up with, AND not to mention that you have no control over it either. I think google should have been a little more smarter about the social networking site that they came up with. It is not even that interesting to me, nor do I think it will interest any other person. I may be wrong however, I am sure there are people out there that will still use it, but definetly will not see me on there! Sorry buzz but count me out on this one!