
How Google Buzz Is Disruptive - iamwil
http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2010/02/09/09readwriteweb-how-google-buzz-is-disruptive-open-data-sta-81676.html?sq=google%20buzz%20disruptive&st=cse&scp=1&pagewanted=print
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coriander
This is the best argument I've heard yet that Buzz is more than just another
of Google's me-too apps. The article makes a good case that syndication of
Buzz content through open standards could make it a powerful competitor to
Facebook. I'd be curious to hear other people's opinions on whether this is
just hype or seems realistic.

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akkartik
FWIW, I haven't come on HN at all today because my account had Buzz when I
woke up.

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diN0bot
same here. it's like hacker news discussion only with people i actually know
and care about.

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ntoshev
Really? Why do you think this doesn't happen on Facebook for you and your
friends?

Being open is an advantage in the long run, but I simply cannot see a
compelling reason to use Buzz over Facebook or Twitter _now_.

Maybe because I don't have buzz in my account yet, the experience might be
somehow better, but this is what counts initially, not openness.

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akkartik
I'm not sure it's got anything to do with being open, but buzz is awesome
because it's like a first-class email. I get notified of responses, my
comments get saved in sent mail, I can even download buzz over POP!

Putting the pieces together, when I write this comment I'll get a copy in my
email in a few minutes. Win.

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garply
I keep finding that these new features by various internet companies are
pushing me towards becoming a more social person. I'm not sure whether or not
I'm comfortable with that, but suddenly things like my email are pushing me
much more into the lives of tangential acquaintances - and the temptation is
great to participate and reciprocate by bringing them more into my life by
giving them more personal information, so I often do.

~~~
diN0bot
same here. actually, though, this is _awesome_. i only recently started using
facebook (< 1 month). i was surprised by how cool it was to see friends i'd
known but fallen out of contact with. i wanted to connect with them....but
facebook is confusing and strange for me. plus, some of my closer friends, the
ones i do keep up with, don't have facebook accounts, or if they do, they
still responded over email instead.

email is where i connect with people, organize events, share. i mostly use it
for work, but it's still what i go to for the few connections i have.

putting social connections in my email app has been _awesome_ because it's
allowing me to talk to folks in an app i'm already comfortable with. sure,
everyone else has had myspace, aim, facebook, cellphones, even twitter, for
ages. maybe it's just coincidence that i wanted to jump on the bandwagon now.
or maybe a nerd company has finally scratched the social itch in the right way
:-)

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alexro
Google chat was there right in your gmail for ages, did you find it
inconvenient for contacting old friends?

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madair
How is that even remotely similar. Because they both have contact lists? You
can chat in both?

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alexro
Ops, I overlooked that he has fallen out of contact ... yea then it's
different.

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nick-dap
I remember when Google came out with Gmail and people were up in arms over ads
appearing next to your email. Several years on and apparently it is OK to scan
my address book and "auto-follow" a bunch of people I have in it.

The only thing I feel about Google Buzz is the violation of trust between me
and the company. That is the real disruption.

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Herring
It takes 10 seconds to unfollow, or 1 second to turn off buzz. I'd say it's
just a convenient default for the rest of us..

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nick-dap
I went searching through the Settings page to no avail before I gave up and
Googled (irony) how to turn it off.

Besides the point though. They opt you into a service you didn't sign up for,
and require you to take measured steps to preserve your privacy.

It's good for Google, whether its a good default or not is debatable.

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sketerpot
I had to click a button to enable Buzz. Did they change their sign-up policy
at some point?

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ewjordan
Same here - logged into Gmail and I was forced to choose whether to go into
Buzz or old fashioned Gmail. Maybe they're tinkering with the process or
something...

I'd have to agree, though, that the default of following everyone that you
e-mail is a bit extreme, especially if everyone else can see it, too. Probably
better to at least offer people a choice, either follow all, follow none, or
manually select.

As far as privacy violations go, though, I don't see this one as very major.
I'd expect that with all the complaining going on, this behavior will be
changed very soon.

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scscsc
It's disruptive all right; it fucking keeps bothering me about trying it right
after i sign in to gmail. And it doesn't seem to take 'no' for an answer.

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bmelton
Turn it on, click the 'Buzz' label, scroll down to the bottom, and click "Turn
Buzz off".

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KWD
But what does it say about how disruptive it is when I'm seeing as much
discussion, if not more, of 'how to turn Buzz off' as about trying the
product.

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bmelton
Honestly, all that really tells me is that the 'off' button isn't as intuitive
as it should have been.

I mean, they opted-in how many millions of people? It isn't surprising that
some percentage want it off, or that they consider gmail a tool for JUST
email, or they don't want all that in the way.

I personally was wary of it, but I really do like how easy the implementation
is, and already see comparable traffic in Buzz to what I do on my Facebook --
only I have less clicks to get to it.

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jimmyjim
> Under the covers, though, this major product was built by a team of people
> taking a radical new approach to online publishing: Buzz is all about open,
> standardized user data.

If transparency and openness is what furthers Google's monopolistic goals, I
say then let be it! I've been hearing more and more of the "Google will start
to control everything" spiel. While that may be, it is also a happy conclusion
that Google's wants happen to coincide with what the well-minded developer
community desires for the future ahead.

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marciovm123
I think this is more a "commoditize the complement" thing.

Chris Dixon had a good post on this recently:
<http://cdixon.org/2009/12/30/whats-strategic-for-google/>

Friendfeeds are complements to doing things online - it's better for Google to
have a whole lot of competitors in that space then just Facebook and Twitter.

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alexro
At this point Buzz isn't a consumer product, even I (a geek) find it
difficult. This can change as more applications pop up using the Buzz api,
until then Twitter and Facebook are perfectly safe

ADD: the biggest issue with Buzz for me is the borders of privacy are not
clear enough. On Twitter I'm in the public mode, on Facebook and email - in
private (was).

Now I need to adjust my self-control system to not leak something
unintentionally.

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etherealG
what part do you struggle with? seems like you just type in a box and submit
to me, maybe I'm missing something?

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alexro
The problem for me is that I don't spend that much time socializing online, so
the simpler the product the better it for me, same for many people I know.
Buzz in that respect is just another layer of complexity over email, that is
what I find difficult.

EDIT: I know how to switch it off, but now I have to decide about that too :)

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tybris
I mostly find it disruptive of my attention. Gmail is work. Facebook is play.
I'll keep 'm separate, thank you.

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RyanMcGreal
>Google has taken open data standards to battle against a marketplace of
competitors that are closed and proprietary to varying degrees. This is a very
big deal.

In the same way that identi.ca beat twitter in the market?

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etherealG
that's really good to hear. a misleading title, thought the article would be
negative. this is more like how it's disruptive to other social networks that
aren't open. that's a good thing, openness always wins.

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ytinas
>openness always wins

What do you mean? If we take OS'es the most open one is the least used.

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etherealG
I'm not sure that's true if you look at growth instead of market share.

Also, how many open source components are used in other OS'es besides windows
(which I'm assuming you're referring to here)? If you think of it that way,
then most of OSX is open source too. And that goes for a lot of other
platforms like mobile etc.

Also, in the server world open source wins by a far wack I think. All the
different flavors of open source unix out there I'm sure dominate the web
server market.

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ytinas
Well, I don't know that growth is a fair metric. Once you hit saturation point
you _can't_ grow much anymore. I was actually thinking desktops (windows, OSX,
Linux. In that order).

OSX may have some BSD code but they have heavily modified it.

I agree that in servers open source might be ahead (but then, a lot of places
are using Sun, Oracle and the like).

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va_coder
I like that Twitter has no advertising to distract me. Gmail does.

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albertcardona
First a social site (facebook) turned into email. Then an email site (gmail)
turned into a social site.

Would you all leave my email in peace.

~~~
gaius
All programs attempt to expand until they can read email. Those that do not
are replaced by those that can -- Zawinski's Law

