
Is it time to reconsider Google Buzz vs Facebook or Twitter? - alexandros
http://scobleizer.com/2010/06/13/is-it-time-to-reconsider-google-buzz-vs-facebook-or-twitter/
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gaiusparx
Buzz really needs its own site and identity, separated from GMail. As much as
Google likes it, their GMail/GDoc interface can be "busy" to me. I hope for
cleaner interface, but this is just personal preference I guess.

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robotron
Yep, totally agree. The mobile version of Buzz is dedicated to Buzz and it's
an order of magnitude better than the 'embedded in Gmail' version for
desktops.

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qeorge
Regarding point 8, "I wonder if there’s an SEO opportunity here", in which
Robert wonders whether Google is giving Buzzed pages an artificial bump:

No way, not in the vanilla organic results. You hear these speculations with
every new Google service (e.g., Knol), and they're always unfounded. IMHO,
Google would be asking for an antitrust case if they started playing that
game.

However, Buzz results do show up in One Box results, and are prominently
featured in the real-time listings, so they are more valuable than one might
expect. Also, last time I checked they don't nofollow the links in Buzz posts.
;)

So generally, I think Robert is right that there's an "SEO opportunity" with
Buzz, but probably not for the reason he thinks.

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grantheaslip
I'm assuming Scoble is doing his usual act--that is, construing what he
personally likes, what he sees in the Bay area, and what he hears from the
"new media" sycophants that comment on his posts for how normal people
operate.

Among normal people I know, Twitter has just recently actually become a thing
that they're at least aware of and use a bit. They might have seen Google Buzz
when it got unceremoniously foisted upon them (which I still think was a
sleazy move on Google's part), but they ignored it and are probably more or
less confused as to what value it offers them or even what it is. And frankly,
so am I--I find using Twitter hard enough to rationalise, and left Facebook
months ago. Why do I need yet another social network?

Scoble's life may revolve around churning up page views for his bullshit, and
he may have the time and incentive to sign up for every new social media site
that pops up and actually think that they matter, but the other 99.9% of us
are too busy actually doing something productive with our lives.

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ananthrk
Please avoid mixing your response with an attack on the author

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malbiniak
I gave up after this classic Scoble:

"I know, I have 10,000 people following me..."

Was there anything intelligent in this article, or more ego masturbation?

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iamwil
Then flag the article. No need to attack the man himself.

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malbiniak
Thanks. I admire your perspective and appreciate your comment.

Also, I had no idea what "flag" was for.

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alanh
Unless Buzz solves the UX issues I wrote about when it came out, no.
<http://alanhogan.com/buzz-is-already-dead>

Edit: Summary of issues (thanks, sandofsky):

* Reading updates feels like an obligation (river of news vs inbox)

* Doesn't encourage scanning thanks to inline media & longer content

* Visual clutter incl. redundant buttons

* Too many non-friends' comments are visible

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sandofsky
You may want to provide an inline summary of the issues. There's nothing wrong
with providing a link to the full version, but providing only the link makes
you look self promotional.

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ThomPete
I don't see how.

Buzz is something I once turned on and is too lazy to turn off. It brings me
nothing of value.

But that's obviously just me. Others might differ.

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danramteke
I'm in the same boat.

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kilps
The way for Buzz to instantly gain credibility would be for Google to take the
Diaspora route and open it up as a decentralised platform.

What I've found interesting is that part of what seems to be making Buzz more
engaging is how it is tied to your real name (assuming that is what you use
for Gmail) - but at the same time that has been part of what has made me
hesitant to fully adopting it.

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avar
That's what they seemed to be promising with Wave initially, i.e. to make a
decentralized and federated protocol. But Buzz doesn't use wave ...

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junkbit
He's right about long form articles. It's more like using a planet than
posting messages to twitter

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tzury
the reason i do not use or at least try google buzz is because I do not use
gmail. I use google apps which provide gmail platform for my domain, and
therefore have no reason to login to my old gmail account. IMHO, google should
either add the buzz to the google apps suite or put the buzz on a separate
site.

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robotron
Personally, I use Buzz frequently - especially after dropping Facebook. It's a
combination of short-form Twitter posts re-posted to Buzz, link sharing via
Google Reader, Picasa/Flickr galleries and nice medium/long-form posts by
friends that stir actual conversations. YMMV and I don't really care.

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nnash
Buzz hasn't been able to convince me that it is a service I need.
Facebook/Twitter/Tumblr have been working out pretty well for me and adding
anything else to that list which doesn't satisfy a niche would be pretty
useless.

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yanw
<http://code.google.com/apis/buzz/>

Activity Streams, PubSubHubbub, Salmon protocol on the roadmap

