Usually when a company launches a new product or makes a big announcement – their competition will be supportive. They want to support the advancement of the industry and remain relevant to the consumers. It makes for good PR. So naturally, it’s unusual to hear something from the other end of the spectrum – which is exactly what has happened with Google Buzz (a new social networking tool that is similar to an RSS feed for all your social networks).
Microsoft and Yahoo! have made their thoughts known on the new service with claims that they’ve been offering the same services for years. It wasn’t even an hour after the launch of Buzz when Microsoft came forward with the statement, “Busy people don’t want another social network, what they want is the convenience of aggregation. We’ve done that. Hotmail customers have benefited from Microsoft working with Flickr, Facebook, Twitter and 75 other partners since 2008.”
Yahoo! made a comparable statement saying that they’ve been offering similar social features for a year and half through Yahoo! Updates. They also claim that Google ripped of the name “Buzz” from their Digg-like article recommendation service.
With all the attacks being launched at Google over this new product, you may be wondering what the implications of Google Buzz actually are. It does sound a lot like other social media products such as FriendFeed which Facebook acquired last summer. There are certainly no shortage of social media services out there – and some web design companies are even selling social media software to let you create your own MySpace or Facebook network – something we advise highly against. (You already have the platform with Facebook, and it has over 300 million users. You’re not going to be able to build a network with those resources – use what is out there to help your business grow. You’ll reach more people and be more successful at doing it.)
Could Google Buzz make sense of the social media landscape that is completely unorganized? In theory, perhaps… but in practice?
The ability to combine together the Google Buzz location feature with other social networking tools – it definitely comes on strong. However, is the integration with Gmail something that provides security concerns for potential users? And do you want someone knowing your location all of the time? These are important questions. It’s important that if you decide to use Google Buzz – you make sure the settings are what you want them to be.
Check out the official Google Buzz video below:
Have questions about social media marketing? Give us a call at 404.228.5167 or email our social media expert Emma Loggins.
Article By: Emma Loggins
