The Internet playing field is up for grabs with a few key players vying for positioning.
Bing is gunning for Google.
Twitter is gunning for Facebook.
And Google is gunning for… well, everyone.
Google has attempted to gain market share in the social media space in the past.
Orkut never caught on in the United States, though I hear it does well in some countries.
And Google Wave is interesting, but not easily accessible for the masses.
And just when you think Google is done launching social media projects, BAM!
Here comes Google Buzz.
Integrated with GMail, Buzz is Google\’s finest attempt at going after the social media space.
A bit like Twitter, but more like Friendfeed, Buzz has a unique approach to friending.
It checks your GMail box to see who you send email to and who you receive it from, and makes some automatic choices and suggestions for you. Hello? Privacy concerns, anyone?
Embedded in GMail, you can begin typing away with your updates, or embed photos, videos and links.
You aren\’t limited to the 140 characters we are used to with Twitter. And you can have Buzz automatically post your Twitter updates to Buzz… but not the other way around.
You can also connect your Picasa, Blogger and other Google-related accounts to Buzz.
There is, however, one glaring ommission.
Facebook.
There is no Facebook integration.
With over 400 million users, why did Google leave Facebook status update integration out of the equation?
As noted in a Mashable article, GMail has about 35 million users. How can they go after Facebook\’s userbase without integrating basic functionality?
Buzz is definitely a cool idea and I will be playing with it some more.
As for Twitter\’s 18 million users, will they be wooed by Google\’s latest foray?
I don\’t think so. But my crystal ball isn\’t working that great these days, so I guess we\’ll have to wait and see.
What are your thoughts?