Changes/Feature Requests For Google Buzz

Google announced Buzz today, a photo/videos/link/status sharing service. The big news here isn’t really the functionality of Pownce Buzz, but that Google is boldly integrating this directly into Gmail - essentially taking the product from zero to millions of users in a matter of hours.  If Buzz is a success it will mean real competition for Twitter and useful real-time public data for Google.

After giving it a go for a couple hours, here are a few changes/feature requests for the Google Buzz team:

  • It sounds stupid, but you need a simple url for public profiles, http://google.com/profiles/kevinrose is a mouthful. Imagine a CNN host trying to plug their profile and having to say “google dot com slash profiles slash larry king”, can we just have google.com/larryking? (side note: /profile/kevinrose should redirect to /profiles/kevinrose not 404)
  • Speaking of public profiles, this entire page needs to be redesigned. Adding custom backgrounds and a design that feels a little less utilitarian would be a good start.
  • This auto-friend stuff is just straight confusing.  I get it, but just because I’ve emailed with someone a few times doesn’t mean I want to auto-follow them. Where is the setting to turn this off?
  • Is there an option to prevent the Buzz(es?, i?) from coming directly into my inbox?  When Buzz starts feeling like a task (email), that bothers me.
  • Where is the ‘Compose Buzz’ link? Only within the Buzz tab? Can an email be converted to a Buzz? Having Buzz in my inbox but no way to compose a Buzz from my inbox seems odd.

Not sure where Buzz fits in my arsenal of social media tools, how often I’ll use it, or if it will eventually feel too much like unread email — but I’m happy to see Google taking social media seriously. It’s early days, let the attention/follower wars begin.

Have a feature suggestion for Buzz? Add it to the comments!

  • 02-09-10 |
  • Digg |
  • Share


Tumblr Notes
  1. deeetour reblogged this from kevinrose
  2. marktegethoff reblogged this from kevinrose
  3. akaplan716 reblogged this from kevinrose
  4. dovergeek reblogged this from kevinrose
  5. scottwyden reblogged this from kevinrose
  6. carloszavala reblogged this from kevinrose
  7. steffenrasile reblogged this from kevinrose
  8. turbotoddi reblogged this from kevinrose
  9. sergiopcms reblogged this from kevinrose
  10. danpatterson reblogged this from kevinrose
  11. phlegon reblogged this from kevinrose and added:
    Great post below...Kevin Rose. To Kevin’s thoughts, I...add:...
  12. that-which-you-may-know reblogged this from kevinrose
  13. sicksand reblogged this from kevinrose
  14. coryodonnell reblogged this from kevinrose
  15. mlhshino reblogged this from kevinrose
  16. whitesummerside reblogged this from kevinrose
  17. seojie reblogged this from kevinrose and added:
    I haven’t tried...bullet point number 3. Just because I email a person
  18. kfell reblogged this from kevinrose and added:
    off?” This, although I genuinely can’t see myself using...the first place. It seems like...
  19. alexenbits reblogged this from kevinrose and added:
    tiene lista su respuesta...Buzz. En cuanto pueda entrar, les platico, porque aunque...
  20. njlee2009 reblogged this from kevinrose
  21. kevinrose posted this