Buzz really needs its own site and identity, separated from GMail. As much as Google likes it, their GMail/GDoc interface can be "busy" to me. I hope for cleaner interface, but this is just personal preference I guess.
Yep, totally agree. The mobile version of Buzz is dedicated to Buzz and it's an order of magnitude better than the 'embedded in Gmail' version for desktops.
Regarding point 8, "I wonder if there’s an SEO opportunity here", in which Robert wonders whether Google is giving Buzzed pages an artificial bump:
No way, not in the vanilla organic results. You hear these speculations with every new Google service (e.g., Knol), and they're always unfounded. IMHO, Google would be asking for an antitrust case if they started playing that game.
However, Buzz results do show up in One Box results, and are prominently featured in the real-time listings, so they are more valuable than one might expect. Also, last time I checked they don't nofollow the links in Buzz posts. ;)
So generally, I think Robert is right that there's an "SEO opportunity" with Buzz, but probably not for the reason he thinks.
I'm assuming Scoble is doing his usual act--that is, construing what he personally likes, what he sees in the Bay area, and what he hears from the "new media" sycophants that comment on his posts for how normal people operate.
Among normal people I know, Twitter has just recently actually become a thing that they're at least aware of and use a bit. They might have seen Google Buzz when it got unceremoniously foisted upon them (which I still think was a sleazy move on Google's part), but they ignored it and are probably more or less confused as to what value it offers them or even what it is. And frankly, so am I--I find using Twitter hard enough to rationalise, and left Facebook months ago. Why do I need yet another social network?
Scoble's life may revolve around churning up page views for his bullshit, and he may have the time and incentive to sign up for every new social media site that pops up and actually think that they matter, but the other 99.9% of us are too busy actually doing something productive with our lives.
You may want to provide an inline summary of the issues. There's nothing wrong with providing a link to the full version, but providing only the link makes you look self promotional.
The way for Buzz to instantly gain credibility would be for Google to take the Diaspora route and open it up as a decentralised platform.
What I've found interesting is that part of what seems to be making Buzz more engaging is how it is tied to your real name (assuming that is what you use for Gmail) - but at the same time that has been part of what has made me hesitant to fully adopting it.
the reason i do not use or at least try google buzz is because I do not use gmail. I use google apps which provide gmail platform for my ___domain, and therefore have no reason to login to my old gmail account. IMHO, google should either add the buzz to the google apps suite or put the buzz on a separate site.
Personally, I use Buzz frequently - especially after dropping Facebook. It's a combination of short-form Twitter posts re-posted to Buzz, link sharing via Google Reader, Picasa/Flickr galleries and nice medium/long-form posts by friends that stir actual conversations. YMMV and I don't really care.
Buzz hasn't been able to convince me that it is a service I need. Facebook/Twitter/Tumblr have been working out pretty well for me and adding anything else to that list which doesn't satisfy a niche would be pretty useless.
