For most of us, Twitter has become part of our day to day life.
Twitter has made it’s way on to Google’s SERPs as “real time search”.
Even celebrities are using Twitter and tweeting away.
Recent Discovery
I just got this update when trying to login to my Gmail account:
Without looking at it more, these were my first questions:
5 Initial Questions About Google Buzz
- Is this Google’s attempt to take over Twitter?
- How messy will this make my email account?
- I’m sure I can opt out of this, right?
- At what point do I need to worry about my identity with Google?
- What FREE tool will Google “acquire” next?
What do you know about Google Buzz? Is it a Twitter replacement?
Are you excited about it, mad about it, or could care less?
Here’s a bit more information I found as I looked further:
Can you say Twitter Wanna-Be?
Welcome to Buzz
Buzz is a new way to share updates, photos, videos and more, and start conversations about the things you find interesting. You’re already set up to follow the people you email and chat with the most.
Did I Say “Trying to Be Twitter?”
Your Google Reader shared items, Picasa Web public albums, and Google Chat status messages will automatically appear as posts in Buzz. To edit your connected sites or change privacy settings, view connected sites.
When I clicked on “view connected sites” I got this (and look, they included Twitter):
Maybe I’m just protective of Twitter.
Maybe I’m asking for trouble by even questioning Google’s authority in the online world.
Maybe Google Buzz will prove to be an answer to everything I’ve been looking for.
Maybe not.
Interested to hear what you have to say…
@CoachIyabo
And?
My question is and?
So what if buzz is trying to compete with Twitter.
Did google not compete with Yahoo and make them virtually obsolete?
What about MSN?
AOL?
The point is this to me: Social media is big. Bigger than we can imagine because it has only just begun.
Pepsi did not run a Superbowl advert for the first time in 23 years because they chose to invest 20 million marketing dollars in social media.
Twitter is free and Buzz is free. Why would Pepsi need 20 million dollars?
Google did advertise on the superbowl for the first ever tv ad that they have.
Google is spreading its reach to every and anything.
Google is such a successful company that all entrepreneurs want to watch them and observe their moves.
Buzz is about Google’s reach.
Google does not make a dime off of your email. Most of their money comes come Google ads and adsense.
Buzz is somehow going to connect with that. That is my prediction.
Iyabo
@JeremyHoover
I’m not really happy with Buzz. It hasn’t really made my email account messier, just busier, since there is one extra “tag” to be notified of (yes, I know I can filter it out). I’ve also found it to be quite buggy so far.
@mollermarketing
@JeremyHoover – thanks for the feedback. To me, Buzz has made my email ALOT messier by sending me updates all the time, especially if I comment on a post like @mashable – I received about 200 email updates yesterday alone.
I’m definitely going to look for the way to “filter it out” for now until it gets less buggy and annoying.
@JeremyHoover
@Nate Moller: I see what you’re saying. I haven’t used it like that yet. I have a relatively small stream of updates coming in. I can see how that would be messy and time-consuming.
I guess when it comes down to it, I don’t want that kind of a stream in my email inbox. I work hard to keep my email inbox clean, uncluttered, and empty. I’m a disciple of Inbox Zero. So if Buzz ever becomes that busy and messy for me…it’ll be out.
I was wondering about buzz as well. I may try it finally, but i feel a bit reluctant, my email account might not be so “private” any more.
@mdjward
I must confess……..I have been going to Twitter Tnonymous now for a while, (was on Twitter 24hrs a day) and was breaking the habit, and now this……GOOGLE BUZZ, another internet social media drug, I can’t wait to explore another addiction!!!!!!!
@simpleCEO
gBuzz doesn’t do anything for me, from a business perspective. I don’t use a gmail account for business, so having that tied to gBuzz eliminates me as a business user.
On the other hand, Twitter has become an incredibly integrated part of our overall marketing plan and operation.
Personally I think Google is a tad late to this party.
@berget
I’m not sure what I think about Google Buzz yet. The problem is my email account. When I log in to gmail, I used to (well, I still do) want to check my email. That’s all. Now, there so much stuff going on.
Every time I log in, some guy want to chat with me, and now I also get the Google Buzz thing. It’s hard to log out, there’s information everywhere.
So, what I’m saying is that I’m testing Google Buzz, and it’s interesting, but hopefully Twitter will be around for many years. Because Twitter has become a very powerful tool for me, and I hate to see that people would stop using it.
@astateofmind
Won’t happen – minutes after playing with Buzz most people block it, just like me
.
@ChrisClayton
personally, i love Buzz – however theirs afew issues with it being a ‘twitter killer’.
1. why put it in gmail? are they trying to further mark their reach in email? After speaking with afew peaple who dont use gmail, ive learnt that most of them wont switch – even if google handed them a million dollars. not because they dont like google’s products but because their happy with their current service.
Unless google makes it stand-alone we wont see many peaple using it (dont forget, not everyone uses gmail – Alot of my friends use hotmail)
2. As everyone else has said, it makes the gmail inbox busy (especialy if you comment on heaps of ‘buzz’) sure, you can use filters but most peaple are lazy and want a ‘one-click’ button – or else their gonna say goodbye.
TIP: Create a filter – Has the words “Label:buzz” and skip the inbox. (or Delete it) No more emails
dont you love gmail now? hotmail never had that 
@lizhover
I was skeptical of Buzz. For folks who spend a lot of time using Gmail, it’s probably convenient. Gmail is not my main address book so I rarely use my Gmail accounts for mail – usually just to log in to Google sites like Feedburner, YouTube, Analytics etc.
I am a prolific Twitter and Facebook user. I am not interested in going out of my way to use Buzz when my social networking needs are fulfilled by the former.
However, I realise that I may be the exception and not the rule. Gmail is popular and Buzz may succeed in prolonging peoples’ visits there.
@joshuaguffey
Buzz isn’t a Twitter replacement. At least not yet. But many people who haven’t gotten started with Twitter will probably find themselves on Buzz instead, at least at first.
Google is far more familiar for most people and has a supreme reputation (as far as the online world goes). It’s going to feel like a more natural choice for most people and Google is going to be sure of that. Especially given it’s investments in the mobile and information pimping markets.
@simpleCEO
I don’t agree with Joshua’s conclusions, at least on the business end of life with social media. While it’s true that Google is a trusted and familiar brand, most business/education/government users have organizational email accounts that they use for Twitter and other social media. Yes, we have gMail accounts too, but I believe most of us tend to keep those contacts separate from our business ones.
Consequently I don’t see Buzz becoming a factor in our corporate lives.
@jomagheredia
I don´t think Buzz will eat Twitter. They launched Buzz to make some noise in the social media trend, they want a piece of the cake. I´m a fan of Google and I´m using Buzz to join more deep conversations on a related topic. Twitter it´s more for news and occasional updates.
For me, Buzz is pretty integrated with Gmail interface, sure it need some improvements like collapsible windows for easy reading and navigation.
Conclusion: I´m not going to leave Twitter for Buzz
I like GBuzz, it makes my Social Media Addiction more organized and neat, although it still has bugs in it but im sure they are working it out to enhance the experience of using GBUzz.
A one stop shop for Social Media
@bradvertrees
I was personally angry at Google for integrating Buzz so deeply into Gmail. At first, there was no real way to opt-out, except for turning Buzz “off”, which only meant you didn’t see any updates. Google didn’t provide a true “disable” option until after they got heavily criticized around the web.
My Gmail was my main email account. While I didn’t have any real sensitive emails or contacts, I just don’t want others to see who I email the most. There is a reasonable expectation for privacy that Google and others need to respect.
I’m sure by itself Buzz is perfectly fine. It’s just the way Google implemented it that got under my skin.
Google buzz is much cleaner, Twitter has huge amounts of spam.
That said google buzz is wierd. Its in your gmail and i dont like that its really wierd. Google should had it seperate own social media application.
@elifecoach
All the social media will fight and one will stand! That one will be the greatest en most populair socialmedia we will use and everything will be perfect but if it’s still free thats the quistion?