I’m one of the many people out there on the internet attracted to the new shiny things. When things like Google Wave are released I’m there to check it out, even if I don’t really understand it yet. It’s a problem.
However, since the release of Google Buzz, I’m still not sure what the hell it is, or why I should care. Checking it out, it just seems to be a copy of the service Twitter does, but through Google. It shares your activity in a number of Google-connected sites (Google Reader, YouTube, etc) and any other sites you wish to connect to it (which Twitter does) with people who follow you (which Twitter does). You’re able to comment on other people’s “buzzes” (as I assume they’re called. Bizzes? Bozzes? I would of expected Google to come up with something catchy.) and “like” them, which seems to be the only significant difference to Twitter, as Twitter instead lets users retweet anything another user wrote (effectively showing you like it and sharing it), and to talk to people directly using @replies.
All I know is I want to play UNO now…
I wish I knew what was so special about Buzz that Google would release it alongside Twitter. Can anyone enlighten me as to what Google Buzz is really meant to accomplish, and whether I should actually care at all?
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I don't really “get” Google Buzz either, except that it seemed a lot like Twitter, but threaded, and INVADING MY FRICKEN INBOX.
By “invading” I mean “cluttering up”. I like to keep my inbox relatively tidy, I try to clean it out once a day, delete things, act on any tasks that need to be completed, etc, and Buzz was invading that space and messing with that process.
I've turned it off, and I'll stick to Twitter unless something truly MAGICAL happens.
What's interesting about Google Buzz: Like Friendfeed, it's got better, more useful technology running it. They're using Open protocols like PubSubHubbub and Salmon which will (eventually) mean real-time comments being pushed around and no longer tied to one service. Twitter currently hoards your updates and offers no simple way to move them or take them with you if you leave – one day Buzz promises to do that. Plus you can add services to it if that's your cup of tea.
What sucks about it: it's no where near useful or ready for anyone other than the smallest group of users who like the default options it provides. One day when they let me not see certain imported content I'll be interested again. 'Till then I'll stick with my blog.
I haven't had it “invade” my inbox so much, mainly because only a few
people use it that I follow (automatically), and it's in that seperated
section, coincidently like the “spam” :P
I think one thing that confuses me is it's essentially tacked on to
another service…
I've never used FriendFeed, but looking at Buzz, what will real time
comments really add that Twitter's conversations won't?
REAL-time… They're more real than Twitter conversations… I think that's what that means.
>_< hush! So you mean like how you can see comments and stuff being written on Wave *as* they're being written then?
So I guess I need to wait for Google Buzz to grow, much like the Waveness thing..
No, not quite THAT real-time. Friendfeed was great because new stuff just appeared. Twitter, you have to click refresh all the time to see new stuff. Plus, once-upon-a-time Twitter used XMPP (jabber) much like FF, Buzz, and now Wave do to power everything. it meant you could easily plug twitter into your chat client of choice. Then they turned it off. That's why Twitter annoys me actually. They're slowly switching features that were useful off, and turning on ones that no-one likes…
I'm waiting for Buzz, but not for it to “take off” so much as just not be a pain in the arse. And if anything comes along that is as awesome as FF was I might use it. but it has to have 1) an iphone client and API so people build GOOD iphone clients 2) jabber input/output so I can use google talk 3) use open federation so I can use it on one service and connect with people on another 4) let me export and import updates so I can leave or move to another provider.
Until then, I'm staying clear of all these services.
Haha, is the GOOD iphone clients thing a jab at the bad Wave apps that
exist on the phone? :P
I look at Buzz now and again, and I'd like to explore it more, but I
can't see things like how to add my site (like how you've connected
yours) and such..
Also, I have no idea who actually utilizes it and wants to use it at the
moment. Taryn and you are the only people who've commented here, and I
guess are the only ones who've given it much of a look? Either that or
I'm just really unpopular :P
It's a jab at all the bad iPhone Twitter clients and desire for the one or two that make you go “this is why I have an iphone” but don't exist for any other service but Twitter. I've tried Cliqset, FF, and a whole bunch of others and none have decent iphone apps. Twitter is the only one that does.
as for adding my sites they were just there as options when I wen to add them. I think you need to add them to your google profile first, which I did ages ago, and I also added rel=”me” tags to a bunch of links on nunnone.com that pointed to my sites years ago. It's not very obvious though, and I'm not sure I could be bothered doing it *just* for Buzz.
I have this site on my Google Profile (had it forever >_>), but yeah, it
only lets me connect a couple of average sites like Reader and
YouTube…I don't do much favouriting or liking on them, since I use
them simply for subscriptions..
Blah. When did the internet get so complicated?
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