Imagine Your Reality

I’ve been keeping an eye on Google Buzz and I’ve realized its the social media equivalent of the Google chat function that comes with Gmail. The only difference is that its billed as social media and it doesn’t show up in your inbox if you miss part of the conversation. That doesn’t mean Google Buzz is useless. If anything, its quite useful in terms of what it can offer to users, but it does make me question how it’s any different from all the other Google tools people can use, and I’ve come to the conclusion it really isn’t.

I’ve noticed that people have started using Google Buzz to start collaborative conversations with each other, which is similar to Google Wave. I’ve also noticed that some of them use it like a chat, which is just like the chat box that Google offers with Gmail. And I’ve noticed that some people are using it to post status updates, which is perhaps the only difference from the other tools I see.

I think Google Buzz is useful. It’s another medium that can be used to touch people, but there is something to also be said for over saturation, and while Google Buzz does offer another medium of communication, it also lends itself to over saturation of Google’s services. It likely would’ve been better to have incorporated Google Buzz as strictly part of Google Wave, in order to encourage people to use it. Instead it’s part of Gmail, where everything it does is already offered in Gmail.

What do you think? is Google Buzz useful in Gmail or is it over-saturation of the same services?