11th
Google Buzz vs. Twitter & why Buzz might be a huge success.
I’m digging Google Buzz. Here’s why:
1) Threaded discussion. The #1 thing I dislike about Twitter is the lack of structure inherent in the system to support threaded discussion. Sure, you have @-replies and re-tweets, but they’re really an afterthought. And they take up precious space in your tweet, which brings me to…
2) No character limits. The #2 thing I dislike about Twitter is the character limit. It made sense when Twitter was all about SMS, and it might force some sort of higher information density per tweet. But, most of the time it gets in the way. It also responsible for the huge upsurge in URL-shortener use, which IMO is degrading the web experience (higher latency from click to opening the page, lack of visibility of the target domain, and breaking things like PageRank).
3) Easier to discover my “social graph”. I’m much more interested in following my friends & colleagues on any social networking site, but there is a real hurdle to finding them on Twitter (and Facebook for that matter). On Buzz, if I’ve ever exchanged email with a friend, they’re already in my contacts, which results in a much lower barrier to entry.
4) Easier to share “objects”. What do people share with each other? Images, videos, links. Having them show up in-line in the discussion is a huge plus. No need to click away.
5) Open. Buzz began with embrace of open standards.
(1) (2) and (4) are why I prefer Facebook over Twitter, but FB seems to be crumbling under the weight of advertisements & apps. I just want the discussion!
On the down-side, the only real reason I think Twitter has a leg-up (for me, anyway) is that its easy for me to close the web page or quit my Twitter client. Buzz is seriously distracting lumped into my email interface. But, being easier to ignore may not really be a *pro* argument for Twitter.
[Update: You can just drag the buzz link from the left panel of GMail down into the “More” link, which will hide it from immediate view. And, see lifehacker for how to filter Buzz messages.]
We used the internal version of Buzz while I was at Google and you could really see the potential for this type of tool in a corporate environment there. Many employees followed the CEO and founders, and actively participated in discussion with them over Buzz. I was blown away by how a tool like this could open up communication up and down the management chain in that way. In the same way that LinkedIn is incredibly useful because its a social network that serves a purpose other than just socializing, the corporate version of Buzz took on a different flavor from Twitter or Facebook-style communication. There was really insightful commentary from loads of interesting employees about the business. I hope that Google offers an Apps versions of Buzz (like their Docs and GMail) to businesses. There seemed to be different expectations & uses of a tool within the corporate or school network vs. a “socializing” network, and maintaining that separation of identity could be a big success.
