Could Google Buzz Be A Real Time Blogging Platform?
Google launched its new social networking platform Buzz about five days ago and it appears Google has been listening to user feedback and has been able to close up some of the privacy concerns users had been voicing since its launch. Despite the fact Google has been attentive to its early adopters I am still not convinced that Google Buzz is a social networking platform and instead may actually be a real-time blogging platform.
Google has already built many blogging features into its Buzz service currently implemented by many of the other blogging platforms either by design or via a plugin system.
Features found inside Buzz that are similar to other blogging platforms include:
- Buzz pulls in all your content from around the web (Flickr, Picasa, Reader, etc…)
- With the major exclusion of Facebook Buzz is able to pull in most of your social graph
- Buzz allows for long form content to be posted where Facebook and Twitter both have limits on the amount you can post
- Built in commenting system
- Built in sharing system
- Built in upvoting system
- Tight integration with its mobile platform
So, what would Google need to do to become a real-time blogging platform?
- Allow customization/templating of your Buzz/Profile page
- Ability to use your own domain instead of the profile url
- Facebook integration into the connected sites
- Text formatting tools like those already found in Gmail
- Third party tools for posting
I don’t think it’s Facebook and Twitter that have anything to worry about as they have already reached a massive audience that will be hard to win over, but instead if I were Tumblr and Posterous I would be looking over my shoulder at the Google giant that is about to strike.
What do you think? Is Google Buzz a new social network or could it be more of a real-time blogging platform? Who should be most worried about Buzz? Is it Facebook and Twitter or Posterous and Tumblr?
