The Google Buzz Buzz

Will Google Buzz be a winner? At this point, it’s too early to tell. The new application Google Buzz is a social media sharing service that is integrated right in Gmail. You can share photos, links, videos, status updates, etc.

One advantage of Google Buzz versus other social networks is that it populates followers for you based off of your Gmail contact list automatically. They are encouraging social networking by creating another way for you to share content easily without barriers. Some other cool features are the real time updates and the ability to easily embed photos and pictures in your update. You’re also not limited to 140 characters.

Unfortunately, Buzz has a few limitations. Buzz updates are sent automatically to your inbox, as well as your Google Buzz tab. The biggest limitation I see is that although you can broadcast your updates and share information easily among your Google followers, there isn’t a way to automatically share this same information with your Facebook or Twitter followers. For now, it is its own encapsulated network. That, and the fact that you can’t Buzz with someone who is not on Gmail, will slow the viral spread of this new network.

What do you think of Google Buzz? Post your comments. And, once you’ve started playing with it, see PC World’s article on 5 Tips for Power Users

Posted in interactive, new media
Tags: buzz, friend sharing, GMail, google buzz, social sharing

Google Social Search Getting Personal

Google Labs is working on more personalized search. It allows the user to more easily find relevant blogs, reviews and other public content from their on-line social circle.

When you sign in to Google and do a search, relevant web content written by people in your social circle will automatically show up at the bottom of your search results under a section called “Results from people in your social circle.” So you can see the opinions and ideas of people you know about what you’re searching for.

What is your social circle? It’s a combination of your Gmail chat buddies, your Gmail contacts friends, family and co-worker groups, and people you’re publicly connected to on other social sites (such as Twitter and FriendFeed). Check it out and let us know what you think.  Learn more about social search.

Posted in advertising, interactive, new media, search
Tags: GMail, google, search, Social Search, Web