As social networks and other forms of online communications continue to expand, Google has launched a new service to try and do their bit to help users enjoy and share their online experiences better.
Currently, ‘staying connected’ means having to check status messages, tweets, update streams etc. all of which can be pretty time consuming and at times confusing for users.
Google is making use of its experience in the field of organising information, to sort out the mess that users often find themselves in.
Google Buzz has been launched as a news service built into Gmail on PCs and mobiles. Buzz makes use of the users list of contacts, in their address book, and thus automatically lets users follow the people whom they email or chat with most often. The service integrates photos, videos and links that can be shared in real-time, either publicly or privately as per the users requirements.
Buzz, when first introduced a few days ago, did not give users a choice, thus inviting criticism regarding the lack of privacy, since users do not always want all their contacts to receive all their updates and vice versa. Google has now introduced an auto-suggest feature, instead of the earlier auto-follow feature.
Other services like Flickr and Twitter can also be accessed through Buzz.
While it seems like an interesting service, there are many who feel that Google Buzz will not really simplify the process of social networking. Moreover, the poor choice of name – Google Buzz sounds like a rip-off of Yahoo! Buzz – and the initial teething problems seem to have put people off the service already.
The fact that Buzz is integrated into Gmail, though, might make it win fans and users in the long run, simply because it’s already there , so long as Google continues to make improvements and doesn’t alienate any more users.
