The thinking for this post came from my response to a question posed by Hubspot via Google buzz: How will Google buzz affect your inbound marketing strategy? So I will start with that answer.
“Due to the sheer size of the GMAIL user base, Google buzz will force me to 1. begin using buzz to promote and drive traffic to www.b2bloggers.com and 2. monitor its evolution as I learn how to make appropriate recommendations for my consulting clients on the ways in which they should be utilizing Google buzz in their social media efforts.“
This answer provoked some deeper thinking though. It led me to think of it representing something bigger. For as much stumbling Google may have done coming out of the blocks and the total sidestepping of their traditional Google Labs and “BETA” launch tactics, millions upon millions of people, who are not on Twitter, will now begin to experience the “stream” as a media form.
The little buzz icon will be there with its (counter) (124 for me right now) – every time one logs into GMAIL. Some may choose to ignore it (for now). The social media purists may be crying foul (and continue to). But that icon will be there – just waiting to be clicked. And it will be clicked, especially by the people who don’t even know the social media purists exist. That’s the point – Google buzz reaches the masses – immediately.
We’ve moved one giant step closer to the general acceptance of the “stream” as media – that is the real significance of what is happening right now. This new, fascinating form of media – our combined thoughts, feelings, and perspectives interconnected into one network of communication, discovery, and engagement.
This is all much bigger than the social media purists with their privacy flags waving. Google will resolve that and improve the user experience.
What matters is that Twitter has changed the communications and information network landscape so dramatically that as its gained widespread adoption, Facebook, LinkedIn, myYearbook, and now Google have made the “stream” the single most important element of the user experience.
So to me the success or failure of Google buzz is irrelevant at this point (though my money is that it will become tremendously popular and useful). The fact that can not be ignored, and should not be overshadowed by all the “failure” fanfare, is that the introduction of Google buzz has tightly woven the “stream” into the fabric of how we will communicate today, tomorrow and beyond.
Now that’s buzzworthy. What do you think?
