Whatever happened to Google Buzz?

Does anyone remember Google Buzz?  It was supposed to be a social network that took on Twitter and Facebook by allowing people to share statuses, webpages, and images easily through their contacts already in Gmail.  After it launched, social media analysts were scared.  This could easily replace Twitter, rivals Facebook, and has the backing of Google.

And then it went horribly wrong.

There were multiple privacy issues with the launch.  The service was baked into Gmail, and constantly updated your unread mail count as you got buzzed.  No one used it, and for those that did, 89% of the content was automated.  It fell off the map as quickly as it came.

If you still have Buzz activated, it continues to update, but really, no one is using it.  You can already connect to your friends with Facebook and Twitter.  It’s a lot easier to connect to the celebrities, businesses, and companies you like on those services.  They are just plain easier.

Google’s effort to get into the social game failed miserably.  But why?  They’ve got the technology, the brains, and the money to do whatever they want.  Were they too late to to the game?  I think the idea was half-baked, it was launched poorly, and had no features that made anyone want to use it.  There’s nothing to do on there that can’t be replicated somewhere else.  Not everyone wants to use Gmail, and not every Gmail user wants that kind of feature.  Where there’s no innovation, there is no future.

I’m going to let this post be a gravestone.  Here’s lies Google Buzz.  February 2010 to May 2010.  We hardly knew ye.

Housekeeping: February 2010

Faithful readers and followers of the Anti-Social Media revolution:

Think of this post as a general catch-all of everything that’s going on in the world of The Anti-Social Media.  Things are getting busy here, and there’s a lot of exciting news and happenings that I need to fill you all in on.  I suspect as the revolution grows, these posts will happen more frequently.

The Anti-Social Media will be presenting at Ignite Raleigh on March 3rd.  Thank you to everyone who put up with us while the voting was taking place.  I promise I will make your votes worth it.

I can’t say exactly what the presentation will encompass, but I can promise you it will be informative and hilarious.  I may also sneak in a few sneak previews of some of my slides or slide ideas.  I’m drawing each one of the slides by hand, so I will include any crazy mistakes or ideas that don’t make it.  This is going to take a bit of time away from this site though, so please be patient while I finish up this project.

Also, be on the lookout for a guest post next week.  If you didn’t know, blogging is hard.  You have to do it damn well, nearly every day, for a long time to build an audience and capture the hearts and minds of the people of the internet.  And most of us who blog have real jobs, families, and friends that need our attention.  That’s no excuse, it’s just a reminder there’s a world off the internet I’m a part of.  Thankfully, I have friends, enemies, and frenemies who like to help me out.

Keep in mind if you want to see your social media questions featured, ask away here.  We’re on Twitter, and you can email me at TheAntiSocialMedia @ Gmail.

Finally, Google Buzz still sucks.

This is how I feel about Google Buzz: Google Buzz is like Gmail had unprotected sex with all my social networks. I realize Google makes money by running ads against content I search for, or running ads in services I use, like Gmail or Google Reader.  Servers don’t run and maintain themselves for free, so I get that they need to do this, and probably want to make some good money while they are at it. But the way Google rolled out Buzz was insane.  Instead of a new service that integrated with the old ones, Buzz permanently ties to my Gmail account, which is my primary e-mail account.  Granted, all these people were already in contact with me a lot through email, but I didn’t need to give them all immediate access to my thoughts in their e-mail too, when they probably get my thoughts on Facebook and Twitter. I’m not buying that users are embracing Buzz.  It seems most people I know wrote, “OMG!  I’m on Google Buzz!” and then they were finished.  My friends who are big on Buzz were big on sharing and commenting on Google Reader already.  I’ll agree that Buzz probably had 9 million posts and comments at first, but how long will it play out when it’s not new and shiny? I could already read shared items from my contacts I chose to share with in Google Reader.  I don’t need to send them with the whole internet, they’re already out there for the whole internet to read.  Most of my friends share photos on flickr or Facebook, so I don’t need to share them on Buzz.  Finally, I can post links basically anywhere.  So, Buzz just does the same thing, but now it’s invading Gmail. So, now I have to deal with more unwanted clutter in my Gmail, which already gets a lot of clutter because I’ve been using Gmail for 6 years. I don’t care that I can turn Buzz off because I never wanted it in the first place.  Google has more than enough ways to get my eyes and make money advertising from me.  I want Gmail to do one thing well.  That thing is E-mail. Google, you couldn’t Orkut it in the first place, and now you’re nearing my personal buzzsaw.  Stop sleeping around with my contacts, and stay the hell away from my email.

This is how I feel about Google Buzz:

Google Buzz is like Gmail had unprotected sex with all my social networks.

I realize Google makes money by running ads against content I search for, or running ads in services I use, like Gmail or Google Reader.  Servers don’t run and maintain themselves for free, so I get that they need to do this, and probably want to make some good money while they are at it.

But the way Google rolled out Buzz was insane.  Instead of a new service that integrated with the old ones, Buzz permanently ties to my Gmail account, which is my primary e-mail account.  Granted, all these people were already in contact with me a lot through email, but I didn’t need to give them all immediate access to my thoughts in their e-mail too, when they probably get my thoughts on Facebook and Twitter.

I’m not buying that users are embracing Buzz.  It seems most people I know wrote, “OMG!  I’m on Google Buzz!” and then they were finished.  My friends who are big on Buzz were big on sharing and commenting on Google Reader already.  I’ll agree that Buzz probably had 9 million posts and comments at first, but how long will it play out when it’s not new and shiny?

I could already read shared items from my contacts I chose to share with in Google Reader.  I don’t need to send them with the whole internet, they’re already out there for the whole internet to read.  Most of my friends share photos on flickr or Facebook, so I don’t need to share them on Buzz.  Finally, I can post links basically anywhere.  So, Buzz just does the same thing, but now it’s invading Gmail.

So, now I have to deal with more unwanted clutter in my Gmail, which already gets a lot of clutter because I’ve been using Gmail for 6 years.

I don’t care that I can turn Buzz off because I never wanted it in the first place.  Google has more than enough ways to get my eyes and make money advertising from me.  I want Gmail to do one thing well.  That thing is E-mail.

Google, you couldn’t Orkut it in the first place, and now you’re nearing my personal buzzsaw.  Stop sleeping around with my contacts, and stay the hell away from my email.