Google Buzz User Yet?

What is it?   “Google Buzz is a new way (since early February), to start conversations about the things you find interesting. It's built right into Gmail, so you don't have to peck out an entirely new set of friends from scratch — it just works. If you think about it, there's always been a big social network underlying Gmail. Buzz brings this network to the surface by automatically setting you up to follow the people you email and chat with the most. They have focused on building 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). Plus, Buzz integrates tightly with your existing Gmail inbox, so you're sure to see the stuff that matters most as it happens in real time.”

Apparently, Google Buzz will now compete with two most popular social interface — Twitter and Facebook.  Some negative reviews on Buzz are among the more than staggering nine million posts circulating the web.  The conversation-management aspects of Google Buzz are reportedly not as straight forward as Twitter. There has also “been a number of complaints about Google Buzz in terms of usability and privacy. In rather feverishly, rapid fashion, Google has responded to criticism in a blog post highlighting several new changes it has made.”  http://mashable.com/2010/02/11/google-buzz-9-million/.  And just as quickly, privacy campaign group EPIC filed a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission over Google's social networking service.

So then, will Google Buzz work for you? Jason Calacanis founder of the human search engine Mahalo.com, posted a glowing report on Buzz saying that its excellence reduces Facebook's value by half. "Google Buzz is brilliant. Like ground-breaking, game-changing brilliant."

Have you tried Google Buzz?  If so, we welcome your comment on your Google Buzz experience.  And if not, and you want to learn more, visit buzz.google.com.