Google Buzz Falls Flat

Social-networking party is already full
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 17, 2010 2:07 AM CST
Google Buzz Falls Flat
This screen shot shows the new "Google Buzz" feature for Gmail mobile users is shown   (AP Photo/Google Inc.)

Google jumped into the social-networking game late and its Buzz still has a lot of catching up to do, writes Katherine Boehret. The opt-in network—which allows users to share photos, blog posts, and Twitter feeds—fits nicely into Gmail but doesn't seem special enough to persuade users to spend more time on it than the networks they're already using, Boehret writes in the Wall Street Journal.

Buzz allows people to pull in Twitter updates, but the feed is only one-way, meaning Buzz comments don't show up as tweets, Boehret notes. Buzz may end up being the network of choice for people who have all their contacts on Gmail. But even those users may not the relish the prospect of having yet another social network to keep track of, Boehret notes. "For now, my social-networking friends are sticking to Facebook and Twitter, making the buzz on Buzz almost inaudible," she adds.
(More Google Buzz stories.)

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