Introducing Google Buzz

We've blogged before about our thoughts on the social web, steps we've taken to add social features to our products, and efforts like OpenSocial that propose common tools for building social apps. With more and more communication happening online, the social web has exploded as the primary way to share interesting stuff, tell the world what you're up to in real-time and stay more connected to more people. In today's world of status messages, tweets and update streams, it's increasingly tough to sort through it all, much less engage in meaningful conversations.
Our belief is that organizing the social information on the web — finding relevance in the noise — has become a large-scale challenge, one that Google's experience in organizing information can help solve. We've recently launched innovations like real-time search and Social Search, and today we're taking another big step with the introduction of a new product, Google Buzz.Google Buzz is a new way to start conversations about the things you find interesting. It's built right into Gmail, so you don't have to peck out an entirely new set of friends from scratch — it just works. If you think about it, there's always been a big social network underlying Gmail. Buzz brings this network to the surface by automatically setting you up to follow the people you email and chat with the most. We focused on building an easy-to-use sharing experience that richly integrates photos, videos and links, and makes it easy to share publicly or privately (so you don't have to use different tools to share with different audiences). Plus, Buzz integrates tightly with your existing Gmail inbox, so you're sure to see the stuff that matters most as it happens in real time.

We're rolling out Buzz to all Gmail accounts over the next few days, so if you don't see it in your account yet, check back soon. We also plan to make Google Buzz available to businesses and schools using Google Apps, with added features for sharing within organizations.On your phone, Google Buzz is much more than just a small screen version of the desktop experience. Mobile devices add an important component to sharing: location. Posts tagged with geographical information have an extra dimension of context — the answer to the question "where were you when you shared this?" can communicate so much. And when viewed in aggregate, the posts about a particular location can paint an extremely rich picture of that place. Check out the Mobile Blog for more info about all of the ways to use Buzz on your phone, from a new mobile web app to a Buzz layer in Google Maps for mobile.

We've relied on other services' openness in order to build Buzz (you can connect Flickr and Twitter from Buzz in Gmail), and Buzz itself is not designed to be a closed system. Our goal is to make Buzz a fully open and distributed platform for conversations. We're building on a suite of open protocols to create a complete read/write developer API, and we invite developers to join us on Google Code to see what is available today and to learn more about how to participate.We really hope you enjoy the experiences we've built within Gmail and for mobile phones. If you want to learn more, visit buzz.google.com. We look forward to continuing to evolve and improve Google Buzz based on your feedback.


What's the Buzz (really) About Google Buzz?
"Google Buzz is a new way to start conversations about the things you find interesting. It's built right into Gmail, so you don't have to peck out an entirely new set of friends from scratch - it just works. If you think about it, there's always been a big social network underlying Gmail. Buzz brings this network to the surface by automatically setting you up to follow the people you email and chat with the most. We focused on building an easy-to-use sharing experience that richly integrates photos, videos and links, and makes it easy to share publicly or privately (so you don't have to use different tools to share with different audiences). Plus, Buzz integrates tightly with your existing Gmail inbox, so you're sure to see the stuff that matters most as it happens in real time." quoted from Google.
Hmmmm...does anybody else out there find this new tool kind of annoying? I know I do. Just another way to get people to sign up with Gmail as far as I see it.
I'll stick with Twitter (which I just let everything feed into), Facebook, Active Rain and WordPress personally. That's enough for me. I don't care to be "automatically set up" to follow people and I don't know that others want to be set up to follow me either.

Google Buzz - the lamentable history
Google Buzz just started being rolled out to Gmail users a few days ago, including for mobile, with the location you're posting from (apparently it'll be rolled out soon to businesses and schools too - even riskier, that!). If, like me, you weren't one of the first to get it, count yourself lucky.
It's caused a storm of protest in the blogosphere, leading to some climbdowns on Google's part, and changes to how it works, because it invaded Gmail users' privacy in the worst possible ways.
For anyone who's not heard, it represents Google's attempt to get into social networking and online sharing of status updates, photos etc, by making all Gmail account holders (whether they liked it or not) users of Google Buzz, a kind of cross between Twitter and Facebook - with APIs for developers too, of course.
Molly Wood of CNET puts the problems succinctly:
"I do not, however, like a product that bursts through my door like a tornado and opts me in to wanton in-box clutter and spam (or, more precisely, bacn) publicly reveals my personal contact list without asking me, threatens to broadcast my e-mail address anytime someone wants to @ me in a Buzz, and even appears to grab photos off my Android phone that I've never uploaded."
It doesn't give you a choice of whether you wanted to use Buzz or not. Even if you said "No Thanks" to checking out its features, you still get the Buzz link in your Gmail under your Inbox, plus the other Buzz "benefits".

Even worse, it automatically decides who you "Follow", based on some weird stuff to do with who you've chatted with (e.g. someone I'd just talked to 2 or 3 times a year ago got added!) and, supposedly, who you've emailed, or who's emailed you, the most - which, in one woman's case, included her abusive ex-husband, not good. In my case, it didn't even pick up the people I email with most frequently.
Worse still, those you're automatically made to "Follow", and those who "Follow" you, are publicly listed in your Google profile (which you're forced to create if you didn't have one already). I repeat, you aren't given a choice at the start whether to display those "Follow" lists or not, and it wasn't easy to figure out how to turn off the display. You want the whole world to know who you've been emailing or who's been contacting you? I thought not.
People also couldn't block people who didn't have public profiles from following them - anyone can follow you in Buzz.
Personally, I also object to Google assuming that when I share stuff on Google Reader, it's shared with all my Google Buzz followers too. In fact I use Share on Google Reader as an alternative to starring things for myself, as you can only have one colour / type of star on Reader (unlike Gmail).
Amongst other things, Google clearly didn't appreciate that the people you want to share Google Reader items with are not necessarily your email contacts! Indeed they seemed to think it was an advantage:
So one of the first things I did was to UNlink Google Reader from Buzz, because Google had of course automatically linked it.
And another thing - Buzz spams your Inbox and Sent box in Gmail with Buzzes.
Improvements
Now, all after the "feedback" (aka complaints!), there have been a few U-turns just over the last couple of days:
1. Google have made it easier to find the option to make your Follow listsprivate - though, smacks to Google, public is still ticked by default
2. soon Google will turn auto-follow into auto-suggest (which is it what it should have been in the first place), so you can decide whether to go with Google's suggestion or not
3. "Buzz will no longer connect your public Picasa Web Albums and Google Reader shared items automatically"
4. They're adding a Buzz tab to Gmail Settings.
All stuff that should have been done from the get go.
And there are still privacy problems - just because you've hidden the list of who's following you, e.g. X, doesn't mean X has hidden their list of who they're following, so you could still be on X's public list!
It seems your email address can be discovered from your profile.
There's still not enough granularity and control over separation. As I said people you share one set of things with may not be people you want to share another set of things with!
While Buzz allows "private" messages to be posted to just one group, it appears to be the same groups you have in Google Reader (Coworkers, Family, Friends, "My Contacts"). You can't have separate groups for Buzz purposes.
Protecting your privacy against Buzz
Lots of people have posted about how to tone down Buzz, so I won't do it in detail. Here's some links/info:
1. scroll to the bottom of your Gmail main page and click "turn off buzz" (note this apparently doesn't turn it off for all purposes)
2. if you want Buzz, you should seriously consider making your Follow lists private - it's easier to do that now; click the Buzz link under your Inbox link, and then the first time you click your name on the Buzz page or click in the box into which you're supposed to type status update messages, this sort of window now pops up and you shouldUNtick the "Show the list" box, then Save:If you don't have a public profile, try clicking the "View and follow back" or "View and edit" link on the Buzz page; and there may be a tiny box at the bottom of the pop up window, which of course you have to scroll to to find; then and UNtick that.
3. while you're at it, click "view connected sites", and for ones at the top of the list, click Edit then Remove site to unshare them:
4. save your Gmail Inbox from Buzz spam
5. generally, see the privacy checklist which was recommended by the EFF
6. if you're posting to Buzz via your mobile phone or cellphone, make sure you decline to share your location. This is really scary because you can't limit the broadcasting of your location only to a certain group of people, it's either on or off. Stalker heaven, much?
Lessons for Google
People are becoming more sensitive about privacy - and so should Google, if only to avoid getting into hot water with privacy regulators.
Google has already been criticised by EU data protection regulators for the length of time it holds IP address information relating to Google searches.
Facebook has been investigated by Canadian regulators, not once, but twice.
Email is not social media; it's even more private, and privacy mistakes with email are even worse. Broadstuff, who point out this incident will only make people more suspicious of Google, have an excellent summary of the position and what Google ought to be doing next to save themselves: GOOGLE BUZZ - ANATOMY OF A SLOW MOTION TRAIN WRECK - including splitting it off from Gmail.
As LightBlueTouchPaper noted, Google need to review internally all new products or services for privacy implications, as standard. before forcing them onto unsuspecting and, more importantly, unconsenting users, in order to avoid bad press or indeed privacy law breaches leading to fines and the like.
You'd have thought Google would have learned something from the furore over their Chrome terms of service in late 2008. Maybe it's time for their lawyers to be given a more important role in Google. Quite seriously.
The Danger of Google Buzz

Google just released its new social media platform. Google Buzz allows you to share pictures, thoughts and even your location with your friends. If you already have a Gmail, all you have to do is click the Google Buzz button to get started. But wait!
Industry insiders point to several potentialsecurity concernswith Google's new wunderkind. One problem is that Google Buzz automatically sets you up with followers and people to follow. Is there anyone on your current contact list with whom you would prefer not to share your photos and the details of your daily life? You see the problem.
While Google is working to patch these security issues, it may be best to hold off on Google Buzz until privacy advocates give the all clear. If you already signed up, here are some step-by-step directions to make sure you have turned off Google Buzz completely.


Google Alters Buzz to Tackle Privacy Flaws
Google moved quickly to contain a firestorm of criticism over Buzz, its new social network, taking the unusual step of announcing changes to the product over the weekend to address privacy problems.
Late Saturday, Todd Jackson, product manager for Gmail and Google Buzz,wrote in a blog post that Google had decided to alter one of the most vehemently criticized features in Buzz: the ready-made circle of friends that Buzz gives new users based on their most frequent e-mail and chat contacts. Now, instead of automatically connecting people, Buzz merely suggests to new users a group of people that they may want to follow or want to be followed by.
Mr. Jackson, who said the auto-follow feature had been designed to make it easy to get started on Buzz, acknowledged the criticism that has been heaped on Google over the past few days.
Many people just wanted to check out Buzz and see if it would be useful to them, and were not happy that they were already set up to follow people. This created a great deal of concern and led people to think that Buzz had automatically displayed the people they were following to the world before they created a profile.…Starting this week, instead of an auto-follow model in which Buzz automatically sets you up to follow the people you email and chat with most, we’re moving to an auto-suggest model. You won’t be set up to follow anyone until you have reviewed the suggestions and clicked “Follow selected people and start using Buzz.”
Google will give users who have already signed up the same start-up screen as new users over the next two weeks, to give them a “second chance to review and confirm” the people they are following.
Buzz will also no longer connect public Picasa albums and items users shared on Google Reader automatically, another feature that had been heavily criticized by some users and privacy advocates.
Finally, Google is creating a new Buzz tab in Gmail’s settings page that allows users to hide Buzz from Gmail completely. The page gives users the option to disable Buzz, deleting their posts and, importantly, removing their Google profile, which in many cases listed publicly a user’s circle of contacts in Buzz. The new feature could address concerns that turning off Buzz and removing a public profile was a multi-step process that confused many users and that some described as a game of whack-a-mole.
The changes that Google announced on Saturday will be implemented over the next few days.
Some critics of Buzz said the changes appeared to address the biggest privacy problems with the service.
“Turning off the auto-follow was a huge improvement, as is giving Buzz its own control panel area,” Danny Sullivan, a longtime Google analyst and the editor of SearchEngineLand, said in an e-mail message. “That was a real pain, trying to locate where all the settings were.”
Mr. Jackson closed his post with a dose of contrition and an apology.
We quickly realized that we didn’t get everything quite right. We’re very sorry for the concern we’ve caused and have been working hard ever since to improve things based on your feedback. We’ll continue to do so.