Ven-Views

Google has tried to catch up with existing social networks by introducing Google Buzz. This new social networking tool is built directly into Gmail, Google’s email program, and Gchat, the company’s instant messaging program. In other words, rather than starting out as an all new social networking service, Google Buzz automatically sets you up to follow the people you email the most via Gmail or chat with the most on Gchat. Interacting with people you’re already in touch with via email is especially easy when the Google Buzz link is located directly under Gmail users’ inbox,allowing them to post to Buzz and check others’ activity right from within familiar territory.

Fundamentally, Google Buzz is more or less a Twitterlike stream of updates, pictures, links, videos, and more that can be shared privately or publicly. You can “like” these items and you can comment on them as well. Additionally, if you use Flickr, Picasa, Google Reader, or Twitter, you can automatically have those items imported into your stream. Buzz is also available on wireless phones, including Apple’s iPhone and models that use Google’s Android software, with more to come in the near future.

However, things became controversial for Google as Buzz came under instant attack as a threat to Gmail users’ privacy. With that said, when initially using Buzz, your list of followers was public unless you chose to conceal it, or didn’t create a public Google Profile at all. These terms weren’t completely clear to users, and Google didn’t expect that some people might become emotional about a list of their closest Gmail and Gchat acquaintances being openly available to the public. A prominent real world example: A woman with an abusive ex-husband realized that her former spouse could use Buzz to identify who she was in contact with.

The autofollowing and privacy controversy seemed to take Google by surprise, as most of its testing had only been done internally. However, two days after Google revealed Buzz, the social networking service had already been fine-tuned to hide the list of people you were following, as well as permitted users to block any specific person from following their stream on Buzz. When those adjustments didn’t satisfy users, Google terminated the autofollowing process altogether. Instead, it now suggests people from your Gmail contact list, giving you the option to follow all of them, none of them, or pick and choose.

In my opinion, Google’s first mistake was enrolling all Gmail users without permission. How is it right that I can get entered into a social networking database without my knowledge or permission? And not only do I get entered into a hidden social networking database, I also show up on public Google profile pages. Having the list of people I email most made public isn’t that bad for me, personally, but I don’t have to hide from a stalker or an abusive ex-husband like one woman did.

Finally, while Google Buzz got off to a rough start, I am glad to see that Google is attempting to straighten things out by making the default opt-in instead of opt-out. While Buzz could serve as just another social network to check every day for some, it could convenient those people who check their Gmail inbox 10 times a day and spend a great deal of time on Gchat. However, there is still a lot of catching up to do.