 |
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
||||
|
||||
|
| Posted: 11 Feb 2010 09:40 | ||
|
Registered User Currently Offline |
Posts: 428 Join Date: Nov 2009 |
|
Google plunged into the world of social networking on Tuesday, melding pieces of Facebook and Twitter into a new feature, Google Buzz. Buzz, which will work through the popular Gmail service, will allow users to post status updates, photos and links to members of their network -- as well as pull in their activity on other sites like Twitter, Flickr and Picasa. Google spokesman Bradley Horowitz said the service, which was rolling out to some Gmail users Tuesday afternoon and should be available to all in the next couple of days, aims to weed out what he called the clutter of other networking sites. With networking sites, "there's obviously value there," he said. "It's a phenomenon that's real, but it's increasingly becoming harder and harder to make sense and find the signal in the noise." By letting users post photos, links and updates openly, the tool would mimic Twitter's micro-blogging format. But users also will be able to make their content available to "friends only," more closely following the Facebook model. At an event at the company's Mountain View, California, headquarters, Google also seemed poised to take a poke at the AOL Instant Messenger service, saying Buzz will be offered to companies as a tool for interoffice communication. "It will change the way businesses communicate around the world," Horowitz said. Despite the inevitable comparisons, Google spokesmen said they didn't set out to tread on anyone else's turf. "We try not to pay too much attention to competitors," Gmail product manager Todd Jackson said. "We try to listen to users." Horowitz said Google Buzz will automatically make "friends" out of the people a user e-mails or chats with the most on Gmail. |
||
