Is Google Buzz – The Next Big Thing in Social Media ?

 

Google announced yesterday that they are throwing their hat into the social media ring. Google indicated the new Google Buzz tab will begin showing up on about 1% of Gmail user accounts starting right away. Google says the rest of Gmail users will be able to see a new Google Buzz tab in their accounts within a week.

Downsides:

1.    Google Buzz is only integrated into Gmail. Granted there are 150M+ Gmail users but there are still quite a few people who are not. ( although I have a Google  Gmail account I don’t use it )

2.    Google Buzz does not integrate into Facebook. I think this is going to be a HUGE factor in whether Google Buzz is successful or not. It should be interesting to see how this plays out and If Facebook will one day integrate into Google Buzz. As Facebook sneaks past 400M users – this is certainly not a number you can ignore.

Here’s a quick ‘cheat sheet’ of what Google Buzz is:

1. Integrates with Gmail. Below your Gmail  inbox, there will be a tab for Buzz, allowing you to read status updates, photos, and video. The 40 people you converse with the most in Gmail and Gchat are automatically added as friends. Buzz updates also appear in your inbox if someone comments on your updates or comments, or someone directs a Buzz to your attention by using the familiar “@” symbol

2. Integrates with Other Channels. Photos from Flickr and Picasa and video from YouTube appear as thumbnails in Google Buzz.  You can pull in tweets from Twitter but you can’t send your Buzz updates out to Twitter or other social networks.

3. “Page Rank” for Status Updates. To compensate for posts that many people don’t care about (like what you just ate for lunch) -  Google Buzz lets you like and dislike status updates, and learn over time whether to show or collapse status updates from your friends. It also looks for conversations outside your direct group of followers and adds them to your feed as recommendations.

4. Private and Public Updates. Private updates can go to all of your Buzz followers, or just a select group. Public updates are posted on your Google Profile page and are immediately indexed for Google Search.

5. Mobile App. Google Buzz has a mobile app ( I just installed on my Droid)  that  dictate status updates by voice and geotags your posts. On Google Mobile Maps, Buzz updates appear directly on the map, so you can read location-based updates. You can also look for any recent Buzz updates posted near your current location.

So what does this mean for real estate agents and brokers? I think at this point Google Buzz is too new make any predictions about what Realtors will or won’t need to do. I do think that if Google Buzz stays as is – it will be somewhat limiting to agents due to the fact it is just available to Gmail users and that it does not integrate with Facebook.

However – as social media evolves, it is imperative that agents keep an eye on where people are gathering and where they are communicating. Today it is primarily Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Will Google Buzz be the next big thing? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Here’s a quick video Google put out yesterday that explains Google Buzz:

What are your thoughts? Would love to hear your comments – please post your feedback below

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