Opinion Feeling the Buzz

It’s too soon to jump to any conclusions if Google will Buzz on or Buzz off. Its simplicity in bringing the social web to you,without having to convince friends/ contacts to “follow” or join you on Twitter/ Facebook/ LinkedIn,etc has become the biggest reason for it being slammed over violating personal/ privacy rules. Google doesn’t seem to have Buzz privacy quite nailed down yet,which may be

a good reason to wait before using it.

Amongst other limitations,while Buzz is much faster than Facebook especially when it comes to adding media like videos and pictures,it needs Facebook content or a Facebook API,without which it may not click. But do users really need or want a new social network? Facebook has become most people’s default choice for social networking,making it easier to find old friends and business contacts. Who really wants to post the same thing twice for everyone to see? That could put an end to Buzz’s game even before it begins. Using Facebook and Twitter and Buzz is likely to become overkill.

Will Buzz become yet another Google “me-too”? Challenges apart,there are some killer features which could change the rules of the social networking game permanently. As Tim O’Reilly points out,there are many of us for whom email is still our core information console. “There are real benefits to using email as a social media platform — something that in retrospect is so brilliantly obvious that it will soon no doubt be emulated

by every other cloud-based email system.”

Mobile is now clearly visible on Google’s genome and,personally,the mobile features of Buzz are far more interesting and unique than Buzz in Gmail — with this one,Google seems to have finally got something right in the location game. Buzz mobile users can add reviews,tips,etc onto their public buzz stream while tagging locations. They can also see public buzz happening nearby. The interface is typically Google,and one of the geeky-cool features is the Buzz layer on Google maps which is essentially public buzz appearing as push pins on the map on all locations near you.

It also appears to have all the makings of a great marketing tool. When content on a marketer’s Twitter page gets posted on a private buzz it reaches a larger audience than the boundaries of Twitter pretty seamlessly. The same goes for YouTube,Flickr,etc. Integration with these networks makes the spread of marketing messages fairly easy. However,there’s no clear picture yet on how conversations on Buzz can be analysed and measured. Plus,it holds out significant potential for very sophisticated ad targeting (trust Mountain View to get that part of the game bang on.)

My money is on Google making optimum use of its arsenal and integrating Gmail,Buzz,Reader,Wave,Chat,

Voice,Geo,Blogger,YouTube,Calendar,Contacts in the future. It is not a question of “if”,but when,and how effectively. Will that be the tipping point for a mass migration from Facebook to Google? Who knows? But with Buzz being rolled out for the enterprise as the next step,it will be a unique and very important factor in its success both from an adoption perspective,an enterprise business model perspective,and through claimed “productivity” benefits. Another move contemplated towards integrating other networks into Buzz,like LinkedIn,for example,holds out interesting possibilities. It’s a wait and watch game for many in the industry,one that will determine the future of Google Buzz in a socially inundated world.

The writer is CEO and co-founder of Webchutney,a digital consulting firm

express@expressindia.com