All the Buzz…or Not :: Google’s Feeble Attempt at Social Media
ByCategories ::: | Life | :::
Let me make something perfectly clear to start this post; I am a big fan of Google. Scratch that, I’m a huge fan. Other than getting booted unfairly from their AdSense program, I’ve been happily using many of Google’s free and useful web applications for a couple years, now. Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google Maps, Google Contacts, Google Reader, Google Feedburner, Google’s Picasa and most important, Google’s peerless search engine have all been part of my daily routine for some time, now. I also own a Palm Pre, which takes advantage of all these, wirelessly updating and syncing my personal data for me while I’m on the go. Trust me, if there is a Google fan, it’s me! I even keep myself updated on what’s going on with their mobile operating system, Android, just because I love their innovative style.
I’m creating this post using Google Chrome, their most-impressive, sleek, and super-fast web browser.
I love Google. I really do.
Easily one of the largest and most profitable businesses in the world, Google has little to fret about. Their search engine dwarfs all others in usage numbers. Their web apps are used by millions. Their Google-branded phones are selling like hotcakes with thousands of developers writing apps for them. All said and done, Google is doing very well.
Enter Buzz, Google’s newest creation. ”Share updates, photos, videos, and more.
Start conversations about the things you find interesting.” This is the title statement at the top of the page at google.com/buzz. All the millions of Gmail users around the world will be redirected to this site on their very next trip to their inboxes and will be confronted with Google’s latest “innovation.”
The problem is, as I shared in an earlier post about the Nexus One, nothing new or innovative is actually present. If you watch the video on the above-mentioned site, you’ll quickly see that there is not a shred of creativity going on. None. This is simply an idea that is working very well in another arena, being aped to look like something new. It isn’t. It’s Facebook, only with less features and a fraction of the user base. It’s a lame attempt to do something someone else is doing far better and has been doing for far longer. It’s a desperate stab from a corporate giant trying to take down another behemoth that threatens to steal away some of its loyal users.
And it’s a tiny bit pathetic.
With zero integration with Facebook and very limited Twitter connection, Buzz just doesn’t have what it takes to compete. Not only that, I don’t think it has what it takes to even make a small dent in the monstrosity that is Facebook. 400 million users and counting; that’s what Google’s up against here. And all of the sudden, in a world where Google’s always been the big boy, there’s a new kid in town who’s not only bigger, but better. Let’s face it, in the realm of social media, Facebook is the undeniable king. 400 million users is amazing, but even more amazing is the fact that on July 15th, 2009, it was only at 250 million. The growth-rate is staggering.
If you ask me, Google is too little, too late. I don’t care how great your search engine, web apps and email interface is. I don’t care how big you are as a company. You’re fighting a losing battle, here, Google.
What do you think? Do you think Buzz has what it takes or is it simply a last-ditch effort for Google to get it’s hands on a market it doesn’t have any control over? Should we all embrace such an effort or shun it? Does Google, having so much money, power and control have any right to want more?
And lastly, will Google’s futile effort to gain a voice in the social medium of the internet it helped shape end in failure due to mocking criticism in the very social networks it’s trying to defeat?
Let’s reason together, shall we? Scroll down and give your opinions below…
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My initial thoughts on Buzz are very similar to yours…a bit disappointed. A few things that I do like-
1. It narrows down my friends list to people I really want to follow-minus the farm, fishes, horoscopes,, etc. (I guess twitter does this as well)
2. It integrates within Gmail as a running thread (huge IMO) with capability to reply (Facebook recently started doing this as well)
A couple of confusion points for me are-
1. Why would Google introduce Buzz within the Gmail world as opposed to GWave? If the plan is for Wave to replace email, IM, social networking, and all of the above–this seems like a step backward.
BTW – I think that Wave has the potential to do more than all of the social networking combined if it develops properly…different topic though.
2. I know that Google has always went the route of functionality over beauty…but seriously–spice it up a bit! Getting people to switch from Facebook to Buzz will require much more than good function.
Thanks for the post!
Thanks for the feedback, Mike. I’m with you on the Google Wave front. I think it has the ability to do great things, but is a bit abstract and, once again, a bit late. It’s funny, from what I’ve read so far, the Gmail integration has been confusing for people. Seems to make sense to me, but who knows? I think using Gmail as the vehicle was prompted by a guaranteed audience from the jump. Millions of users forced to, in a basic way, use the service. From what I understand, there is no turning it off or getting rid of it. The point: Gmail users and lovers are stuck with this in the side bar for the time being.
Another point worth mentioning is Facebook’s plan to integrate a full-blown email server. Yep, robby.n.payne@facebook.com will exist in a very short time, slicing heavily into Google’s customer base. I think that is the real reason Google is doing this Buzz thing…panic. As the article I read at Mashable.com said: “Codenamed Project Titan, the service would offer users e-mail addresses ending in @facebook.com. Facebook would become the largest webmail provider overnight. If the service is functional enough, it could threaten Google’s Gmail. People will be able to comfortably make the switch because they won’t lose the ability to e-mail their Gmail contacts — even if they move to another mail provider.”
And the final blow was this well-put point: “Facebook is threatening Google, but Google isn’t threatening Facebook because it doesn’t offer any features so great that they incentivize people to leave behind their existing networks or spend their time updating and following yet another one when their friends are already all on Facebook or Twitter. Facebook now dominates the social web so completely that it’s difficult to imagine an exodus to a competing service, unless that service offered some revolutionary new features that Facebook couldn’t possibly match — Buzz doesn’t.”
Ouch…
[...] found myself in the midst of a couple conversations about Google Buzz today and thought that my post on the subject could use a revisit. Hop over and read it if you haven’t already, and then [...]