Google Buzz

Google has recently released a new media program that can be integrated into your Gmail service. Buzz is kind of like Twitter, Picasa, Flickr, YouTube, and Google Reader all rolled into one place, integrating them all through your Gmail account. So instead of Tweeting, you'll be "Buzzing". With so much clutter out there transferring identical information to all of these sites, Google Buzz is a refreshing tool that has many life simplifying features. You don't even have to download or sign up for Google Buzz, as long as you have a Gmail account set up, you already have it.

Integration

Integration is the name of the game with Google Buzz. All you have to do is take your favorite social networking site and link it to your Gmail account, and they're fully integrated. If you post on Twitter or otherwise, it will show up on your Buzz. Just got done editing a photo on Picasa? It is instantly viewable on your Google Buzz account. That is what separates Google Buzz from the rest of them, everything is in one place, which none of the other sites can boast - Twitter is text only, Picasa is photo only, and so forth.

Features

There are simply too many time saving features to count, here are a few:

Smart Updates - All of your friends updates can be a lot to handle if you have hundreds of updates to sift through. Google Buzz automatically takes posts you may find interesting, keeps them, and pushes ones you're likely to skip to the bottom. It does this by looking at which of your contacts are most followed by you, so you're high priority contact's post won't be lost in the mix.

Real Time Updates - Your friends posts are updated instantly to your Google Buzz account, no refresh required. This is also true if a friend posts on Twitter or otherwise.

Inbox Integration - When someone sends you a comment, it is sent directly to your inbox, saving you time from the normal "xyzuser has sent you a comment, click here to view", which as we all know can be very annoying.

Auto Following - This feature is a big help for people who are now using Gmail for their eccommerce customer service needs. You can now follow your customers that are also using Google Buzz. This will help because when you post a tweet or picture or video about something regarding your business, you know that your followers will see it, saving you time in sending the same message to all customers.

Pictures and Videos - Unlike the other sites, you can post your video or picture along with explanatory words, as opposed to having to post a link to your YouTube video.

Private and Public - With Google Buzz, you can choose which information you want available for any one to see, and what you want your close friends to see.

Why You Need Google Buzz

Everyone following hundreds, or even thousands, of online friends can relate to the following statement: There is way too much information to read on your networking site. Signing onto twitter is a mess trying to find tweets from people you actually care about. Google Buzz attempts to eliminate this clutter by also incorporating a Google-esque search feature, allowing you to easily search for the information you want to see.

Although Google Buzz is awfully similar to Facebook, they have attempted to use their powerful software capabilities to make it even easier to use than any of the other social networking sites available today. Fully integrating text, picture, video, and email in one place is certainly a nice change of pace from the old. Google Buzz's main triumph is that you do not have to get rid of your Twitter account, but after seeing Buzz's abilities, you may realize soon that you won't need any other networking sites, saving you both time and headaches.