Beginning Feb. 9, those who signed up for Gmail account got a message offering Google Buzz as an extra service. Buzz is Google’s latest attempt at creating competition for sites like Facebook and Twitter in the social networking world, and it is linked directly to users’ Gmail accounts.
Buzz provides connectivity similar in function to that of Facebook. Users can post status updates, photos, videos and links, and are able to comment on others’ postings. All of these actions collectively are referred to as “Buzzing.”

Friends on Buzz are called “Followers.” Upon activating an account, new users are instantly offered the opportunity to import their contact and chat lists from other Google programs as people they will follow on Buzz.

To further assist users in locating people they may know, Buzz implements a “Follower Suggestion” program. Much like Facebook, this function analyzes data on users’ current Followers and who the user is following in order to suggest other connections the user has not made.

Google Buzz also offers users the option of instantly linking their Buzz account to accounts from other services such as Twitter. This feature is offered to allow users to inform their followers of their activity around the net, all in one location. Facebook is one network that Buzz does not offer connectivity with.

Students had mixed reactions to the new service.

“I think Google Buzz would be good for people who already have a Gmail account, but I think it’s a bit simplistic when compared to other social networking services,” Brandace Grossich, sophomore, theatre and dance, said. “It’s really nothing special or revolutionary, and I think it will need a lot of improvement in order to compete with Facebook.”

“My dislike of it may be a little immature. It seems very practical, since it’s tied to your actual email. It just seems really professional to me. Facebook is very entertainment-based, which I actually like more,” Derick Allison, junior, graphic design, said. “If I were to use Buzz normally, it would need to be more visual-oriented; it’s too plain right now, too cut and dry. I could see businessmen who are always emailing using this. But for someone in my field, it just doesn’t seem stylish enough.”

While some were unimpressed with the limited features, others saw it as a knock-off version of other services already available.

“It’s an incomplete rip-off of Twitter. It has the same basic principle in that you post updates based on who you’re hanging out with, what you’re doing, etc. You also search for people to ‘follow,’ and people ‘follow’ you, just like with Twitter. I don’t think it will ever take off globally. I think it may have the potential take off and be popular with diehard with Google fans, much as Google Chrome did, but I don’t think it will ever be as big a social network as Facebook or Twitter,” Greg Laine, freshman, biology, said.

Google Buzz is still young. Having been released less than a month ago, there may still be room for the site to grow.

The new service has already come under fire by privacy rights advocates. When a response is posted “@” another user, that user’s email is shared because Buzz is directly linked to Gmail. Additionally, the new service’s automatic suggestions feature provided other users with certain contact information.