If you’ve been on the internet, turned on your TV, or listened to the radio today I’m sure you heard about Google Buzz, Google’s big step into social media. Beside their domination of the search world they are known for making irresistible web-based products but today they have let me down.
In short: I buzzed for a short while but don’t plan to much longer.
First of all, who asked Google to get into the social media business? I, for one, thought they were doing a pretty good job at everything else they have their hands in. I know it was probably killing them that they were not playing a larger role in the exponentially vast digital social world but it simply wasn’t necessary. I am an avid user of almost all Google web products (search, Gmail, Reader, Docs, Wave, AdWords, etc.) but this will be one creation of theirs I will be skipping for several reasons.
Um: It is part of Gmail. I simply despise using Gmail on the web. I use the Mail app on my MacBook Pro and iPhone so I never have to worry about accessing my e-mail via a web browser. Very rarely do I have the need to so. Buzz would in turn force me to access Gmail using a web browser. A big kudos goes out to whoever had that idea because, from a strategy standpoint, it is a great idea for driving traffic and ad revenue. Unfortunately, if the rest of users are like me they will simply shun the service instead of visit the site.
Dois: I’m not a huge fan of Google’s UI for most of their products but adore them because of their simplicity and ease of use. Buzz is just as bland and boring as everything else they own but in contrast to their other innovations it is clunky, difficult to figure out, and feels cluttered. Yes, I know that since it’s within Gmail you can apply a theme to it to make it look prettier but those themes themselves are ones only mother Google can love. This also doesn’t help the usability issues. Putting nice clothes on someone doesn’t make them smarter.
Três: It goes against the “do no evil” credo. I don’t know if Google knows this but it’s not very nice when you walk into a sandbox with the purpose of crushing sandcastles. Those sandcastles are, of course, all of the other social networking sites. I’m all for healthy competition but usually that entails at least some form of “evilness.” Debuting a creation that seeks to eradicate certain other rivals and leverages more of your own products makes me imagine an executive sitting in dark, high back, leather chair, hands clasped, laughing a deep sinister laugh.
Qutro: It does not make my life easier. Actually, quite the opposite. When I think about technology /gadgets that I either want to purchase, use, or wish to create I ask myself two simple questions: 1. Does it make my life any simplier? 2. Does it make my life more fun? Obviously more goes into the equation but that is the basis. If I own/use something the answer to both of those questions is almost undoubtably, “yes.” When I ask myself the same thing of Buzz I end up falling back on, “ehh… no.” The lines between Facebook and Twitter are continually becoming blurred but I have learned to use each for their separate (albeit sometimes combined) purposes. Not everything I put on Twitter is on Facebook and vice versa. Facebook is for closer connections and sharing within a restricted circle of friends (I know they’re trying to move away from that but luckily I have the control to keep it as closed as I want). Twitter is more open. It’s for listening, broadcasting, learning, and meeting in the public realm. Then here comes along Buzz to, well, make me feel a little buzzed. It blurs the social media scene in a haphazard and dysfunctional way. It doesn’t make my life easier and just isn’t fun either.
In summary: I love Google Buzz! Alright, maybe not. I do see some of the positives and there are features that I enjoy but it’s simply not for me. I won’t rule out someday drinking the Kool-Aid but for now I guess I’m just going to stick to Facebook, Twitter, and the dozen or so other Google products that make up the daily routine of my life.
So what do you think? Are you buzzin’?
