Google Buzzkill

There’s already been tons of digital ink spilled on Google’s defensive move in the real-time social media landscape with their new tool/app/feature/thingamajig: Buzz. The biggest news being it’s integration with Gmail that has an installed user base of about 40+ million. For those that don’t know what Buzz is, the homepage pitch explains simply: “Go beyond status messages. Share updates, photos, videos, and more. Start conversations about the things you find interesting.” Essentially it’s a hybrid of Twitter, a RSS Reader, Facebook Status Updates and the niche-loved, but mainstream-ignored FriendFeed.

At this point it’s way too premature to call it a success or failure. I definitely wouldn’t go as far as Jason Calacanis to state it’s “brilliant, Facebook just lost half its value,” or go the other way like ZDNet who called it a “buzzfail.” The product is too new and those 40+ million possible users have yet to really kick the tires let alone get behind the steering wheel and put it to real use. I’ve had a chance to kick the tires over the last few days by setting up The Auteurs Daily, the constantly updated sister of cineaste blog The Auteurs Notebook, on Buzz which is a perfect fit for the Daily’s real-time stream of content. So here’s some random thoughts so far after jumping on the Buzz bandwagon:

Being Tied to a Gmail Account
Both a bless and a curse is Buzz’s tight integration with Gmail. The blessing being it’s one less account I need to log-in to, but also a curse since it’s tied to a specific Gmail account. I currently use Google Apps for my domain, retinch.com, and Buzz has yet to be made available for it so I have to separately log into my personal Gmail for access. Google says it’s in the works for it to be available on Goigle Apps, but that also poses a problem. Think if you’re working for an organization that uses Google Apps which you are logged into on a daily basis. The easiest and most convenient way to have it part of your workflow is to use it on this work Gmail account. But what happens if/when you leave the company? How can you take this Buzz foundation of contacts and content with you? Is this Buzz content now ownership of the company?

Being Part of the Echo Chamber
This kind of touches on the previous point of integration with Gmail. Within the ecosystem of Google services Buzz seems like a worthy addition, but what happens when the API is worked into Tweetdeck, Brizzly or any other third party apps that currently suck in Twitter and Facebook updates? The distinctive Gmail integration sort of falls away and Buzz content becomes another corner of the echo chamber that’s already reverberating with RSS feed tweets and and tweets that update Facebook Statuses.

Being Too Many Things at Once
The Google Buzz homepage says it all: “share updates, photos, videos, and more.” What does Buzz want to be exactly and how useful will it be when it’s crammed with disparate pieces of content? When I want to see quick bursts of info I go to Twitter, for longer form news content I go to my RSS reader, for personal content I go to my Facebook News Feed. There’s an expectation when I go to each of these services and I like having that context when trying fulfill my needs. Going into Buzz, however, is like crossing your fingers with your eyes closed. What will the stream present for me now and how much information pollution will I have to dig through to get to what I want?

It may seem like I’m Bearish on Buzz, but I’m really just taking the lay of the land before making any sort of judgement. The next few months will be the most interesting to see if the Buzz grows or settles into a low hum.