From the invincible guys comes another gift and this time is yet another social networking word. BUZZ has for weeks kept the web world abuzz with excitement making into the technology headlines every day. Not that the entry of another social networking platform will stir in the news once again but the Google brand does it all and when there is a plan from the invincible guys that seems to fail, it is sure to make into a mammoth buzz!

The new product of Google was not a very difficult product to launch. Not also was it difficult for it to showcase it to the world just by integrating it with Gmail- the third most popular mailing service. Yes, the buzz comes integrated with your Gmail account and appears as a tab on the left pane just below the inbox tab. Another feature of Buzz that interests people is the ability to connect your Picassa, Twitter, Flickr, and Google Reader accounts with it. So all updates or messages you send on any of these sites will get shown up in ur buzz. While there are Google fans who have loved every single product that Google launches but this is definitely a spot where we stop and think. Google may have the best quality of software engineers but proof testing is certainly not Google’s cup of tea. When Gmail was launched it had been done very carefully with a beta version and the success of the service has converted it into one of the world’s largest mailing service but the overconfidence plays its part. Buzz comes here full in service without the beta tag but under the Google label and encroaches with full legality into our mailboxes. The overlords seem satisfied with the success of a probably untested product until the time when the world wakes up to the call of a rather fluid platform. The major issues with Buzz are the privacy terms that seem to be quite fluid. Though there is an option with the public and private buzz, there seem to be problems with the auto-follow option which lets all your frequently contacted persons on Gmail to be added as followers on Buzz. Now if you have your boss as the most contacted person on Gmail and you tweet about his ruthlessness on twitter, it shows up in his Buzz and may land you in serious trouble way too soon! Here the main point is that when you share stuff on social networking sites, it is not only you who is being involved but others as well. Sometimes, just for the sake of simplicity, by not choosing people to show your stuff, you may quite unwittingly compromise with your privacy and the privacy of all those involved with you. Another major concern is the ignorance of the users regarding the public and private buzz. As more users remain unsure whether the stuff they post remains directed at a particular group of people or gets known to the entire world, there are apprehensions about connecting the various sites like Picassa, Twitter, Flickr, and Google Reader to Buzz. On the other hand there still are a greater number of people who like the Buzz. Some attribute it to its great capacity to encompass various accounts together and be able to manage them simultaneously. Others like the various attributes of Buzz that allow you to ‘like’ certain stuff and share your photos, videos, comments etc like Facebook and allows you to follow people and the most popular thread like Twitter. Also some appreciate the Buzz’s ability to let you mute certain threads which avoids the loud noise created by certain unwanted threads which acquire many comments from other users. Also is a group that appreciates the no 140 character limit that is generally otherwise placed by some of the very famous networks. There is yet another group of people who love the Buzz just because……. It’s Buzz- the Google product!!!!

In spite of the fact that the Buzz is abuzz with all the best attributes of networks like Facebook, Twitter and Friendfeed there are severe repercussions regarding the utility and usability. Google has not faced much success with the launch of Orkut which could only establish itself in India and Brazil. Yet again when Google tried its hand at the social networking world, it has forgotten the very basic essence that every social networking site aims at and that is ensuring privacy in spite of being open. Though the Google tech heads have now realized the various mistakes and have issued an official apology for the privacy threats and plan to reform them, there still remains a potent question whether these issues are early stage missteps or they are going to remain abuzz. Hopefully, the former, since there are a great number of people who would accept any “Powered by Google” product just for the sake of love. After all Love is Blind !!!