Google Buzz
Google Buzz was a social networking, microblogging and messaging tool developed by Google. It replaced Google Wave and was integrated into their web-based email program, Gmail.[1][2] Users could share links, photos, videos, status messages and comments organized in "conversations" and visible in the user's inbox.[3]
Type of site
Multilingual
Google Wave (2009–2010)
Google+ (2011–2019)
Former location: www
Yes
Required
February 9, 2010
Discontinued – December 15, 2011
On October 14, 2011, Google announced that it would discontinue the service and that the existing content would be available in read-only mode. Buzz was discontinued on December 15, 2011, and superseded by Google+ (which was later discontinued on April 2, 2019).[4][5]
Buzz enabled users to choose to share publicly with the world or privately to a group of friends each time they posted.[6] Picasa, Flickr, Google Latitude, Google Reader, Google Sidewiki, YouTube, Blogger, FriendFeed, identi.ca and Twitter were integrated. The creation of Buzz was seen by industry analysts as an attempt by Google to compete with social networking websites like Facebook and microblogging services like Twitter.[1] Buzz also included several user interface elements from other Google products (e.g., Google Reader), such as the ability to "like" a post.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin said that by offering social communications, Buzz would help bridge the gap between work and leisure,[7] but the service was strongly criticized when it was introduced for insufficient attention to users' privacy.[8]
Platform[edit]
In May 2010, Google revealed APIs for Buzz, expanding it to being a platform as well as a service. This allowed third-party developers to write software that would be able to both read and post content to Buzz. Several partners demonstrated integration via the new APIs, including Seesmic and Socialwok.[9]
Mobile versions[edit]
When the service was accessed with a supported mobile device, Buzz tagged posts with the user's current location. Users were only permitted to use the actual physical location reported by the device for their Buzz posts; unlike the Google Latitude location-sharing service, Buzz did not allow users to manually specify an arbitrary location.
The mobile version of Buzz integrated with Google Maps so users could see who was around them. Buzz posts made through Google Maps were public and could be seen by anybody else who was using the software. In addition to text, mobile users' posts were able to include an uploaded photo. Platforms supported were limited to devices running Android 1.6+, iOS, Windows Mobile, Openwave and S60.[3]
History[edit]
Google Buzz was announced on February 9, 2010, in a press conference at the company's Mountain View headquarters and launched on the same day, at 11 a.m. PT for the first set of users.[10] The feature, available from the Gmail inbox, was rolled out to Gmail accounts in the following weeks. A mobile version of the site optimized for Android phones and Apple's iPhone was also launched,[3] while a version for businesses and schools that use Google Apps was only planned.[11] Within 56 hours of its release, 9 million posts were made on Google Buzz — approximately 160,000 posts and comments per hour.[12]
On October 14, 2011, Google announced that Google Buzz would be shut down together with the Buzz API "in a few weeks", in order to focus on Google+ instead. Bradley Horowitz, Google's Vice President, Product, explained the ramifications, "While people obviously won't be able to create new posts after that, they will be able to view their existing content on their Google Profile and download it using Google Takeout". He also said, "We learned a lot from products like Buzz and are putting that learning to work every day in our vision for products like Google+".[4]
It was discontinued on December 15, 2011 and all content users saved on the service were saved to the user's Google Drive.[13]
Google+ was shutdown on April 2, 2019. Google cited low user engagement and software security issues for the shutdown.[14]
Reception[edit]
Both the general and technical press were critical of Buzz and the manner in which it was implemented. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation described Buzz's arrival as having "ignited a hailstorm of criticism". CBC indicated "One user blogged about how Buzz automatically added her abusive ex-boyfriend as a follower and exposed her communications with a current partner to him. Other bloggers commented that repressive governments in countries such as China or Iran could use Buzz to expose dissidents".[8]
PCWorld’s JR Raphael criticized Buzz for both its intrusive nature and privacy concerns, citing above all that it merely adds "more noise into an already buzzing area of my life". Raphael provided a tutorial on how to disable Buzz.[39]
Ryan Paul of Ars Technica noted "there isn't much in Buzz that is new or original" and "the end result is a service that shows promise but lacks the requisite killer feature or innovative twist that it will need in order to truly keep people engaged".[40]