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Buzz May Be the Best! Really?

The best thing Buzz has going for it is the name.* Who ever branded this new G-mail inbox (that's what it looks like to me) as BUZZ is a frakin genius. But I don't think the Buzz is going to live up to the hype/buzz that is being generated by all of us social media mavens trying to figure it out the pros and cons. Here's a common "join" on the positive Buzz spin posts.

"Buzz…so easy, that is attached to my gmail account."

To be fair, this quote is from the first comment on Web Worker Daily's Google Buzz: Already Better than WAVE and not part of Darrell's Google gaga.

Darrell, I have to argue for a second with this paragraph.

At a fundamental level, Google Buzz is already much more functional than Wave, if only because it talks to things outside of itself easily and with a minimum of hassle. Plus it lives in your Gmail, which is where a lot of online workers spend much of their day anyway. And unlike Twitter, it supports threaded conversations, and a variety of different methods of interaction and sharing. It’s like Facebook without the annoying apps, or like Twitter with all the good bits of Facebook thrown in.

<BUZZ rant>The miss here is that just because Buzz "lives in your Gmail" does not make it better or more connective than lots of other apps/sites/services. For example: if you are just looking for threading and connectivity outside of the system look at FriendFeed and Ping.fm. If you are looking for streamlining your communications don't jump on Buzz and ask everyone to join you on Buzz, simple cull your Twitter and Facebook accounts. If you've gotten yourself in a bad place with those services (too many games, following to many spammy tweeters) it is your responsibility to work with those services to get them back under control.

Adding a new "in-box" on G-Mail is not an innovative solution for anything. </BUZZ rant>

Then you take aim at WAVE, "Google Buzz is already much more functional than Wave" and I find this one the funniest. If you don't understand WAVE that's okay. If you don't have any WAVERs that you like, that's okay too. But WAVE is a platform not a fully formed service. I agree WAVE is hard to get connectivity on, but when you've been on a good WAVE it's hard to imagine collaboration on WEBEX or Live Meeting, ever again.

To be absolutely fair, I don't think I've seen even 10% of WAVE's potential. But the possibilities are much more interesting than an new g-mail inbox with threading and crossposting options.

@jmacofearth
permalink: http://bit.ly/buzz-love

A few additional Buzz or anti-Buzz thoughts:

• Why Google BUZZ Does NOT Matter: 3 Reasons to "Turn Off Buzz."
• What's the BUZZ Tell Me What's Happening with Facebook vs Google Buzz?

*legal disclaimer: I do NOT work for Google, Friendfeed/Facebook, Ping.fm, or any other platform company. I work as a social media producer for WCG. I'm trying to figure this stuff out too. If I am opinionated, that's part of my shtick.

Tags: anti-buzz, buzz-kill, buzzkill, facebook, get on the WAVE, getting buzzed, gmail, google buzz, google caca, google gaga, google miss, google misses, hate buzz, love buzz, no buzz, turn buzz off, turn buzz on, turn off buzz, turn on buzz, web worker daily, what's WAVE, where's the WAVE, why buzz