Two weeks ago Google broke into the social networking game with Buzz, the new Google tool that allows people to microblog through the Google interface. Rather than signing into your twitter or facebook accounts, Google suspects that your Google portal or G-portal, will eventually replace the need for twitter/facebook. Odds are that for a lot of people, Google is right. After using this for two weeks, I can totally understand why a reluctant social networker might totally give in to Buzz. The Buzz application streamlines the complex universe of social networking. It’s pretty basic, you can see pictures, post little thoughts on your g-wall, and as with other networking tools, whatever others post on your g-wall is public to the other Google users who are following you on Buzz.
But something doesn’t feel right about Buzz, and after watching the progress with other uses, I’m not sure how great this is. Granted, it’s only been two weeks, but nobody I know seems too eager to post a lot of stuff on their buzz walls. And it’s probably beacause of the same reason I don’t feel like posting. Email just isn’t the place for social networking. Yes G-chat is kind of cool, but really, doesn’t it get kind of awkward when you can see when your email associates are online or not? It breaks down certain walls that must remain up between email users. After all, email accounts are often vehicles for very bad news, or private correspondences, surely the combination of the buzz wall and the G chat features are sort of invasive. Even our email accounts no longer belong to us privately.
Maybe I’m too old fashioned, but I do think it’s a little different with Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter, which are applications designed specifically for social networking. Do I really want my accountant or my lawyer or some other private online cohort following me on Buzz?
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