Go ogle the buzz around Google Buzz!

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Wednesday, 10 February 2010 11:18

Your IT - Home IT

Google is transforming its Gmail web-based email system to incorporate a raft of new social networking-style 'sharing' features to share your photos, videos and more with your existing circle of Gmail friends - or the entire world. Is it enough to turn Google into a true social networking powerhouse, overshadowing Facebook, Twitter and MySpace?

Google is buzzing over a new feature it is introducing to Gmail users globally over the next few days, and as the word "buzz" stands for excitement and interest in something new (or something old that is exciting, interesting or noteworthy again), it should come as no surprise that Google has named its new buzzworthy feature "Google Buzz"!

There are several places to officially learn about the new experiment in social networking, Google-style, and naturally, that's over at Google's Blogs - the official Google blog, the Gmail blog, the Google Mobile blog, and the Google Buzz link above.

Google says that Buzz is "a new way to start conversations about the things you find interesting and share updates, photos, videos and more. Buzz is built right into Gmail, so there's nothing to set up '” you're automatically following the people you email and chat with the most."

You can also see a short video at both of these blog posts, as well as details on how Buzz works just as well on your PC as it does on your smartphone.

Google pokes a bit of fun at existing social networks while noting their incredible popularity, saying: "With more more and more communication happening online, the social web has exploded as the primary way to share interesting stuff, tell the world what you're up to in real-time, and stay more connected to more people. In today's world of status messages, tweets, and update streams, it's increasingly tough to sort through it all, much less engage in meaningful conversations."

So how to find "relevance in the noise", as Google puts it? Google says it's a "Google-scale problem", and that Google Buzz can sort this out by leverage your existing social network within Gmail, delivering an "easy-to-use sharing experience that richly integrates photos, videos, and links, and makes it easy to share publicly or privately (so you don't have to use different tools to share with different audiences)."

And, as it all "integrates tightly with your existing Gmail inbox", Google promises it's all done in real time.

Continued on page two, please read on!