Google’s Buzzing, again

In case you missed Google’s Press Conference last night, Google launched a new social platform called Google Buzz. The Web has shifted to becoming extremely social and interactive in recent years, and this is going to continue without a doubt. Twitter and Facebook have been dominating the “conversations” on the Web, and now Google Buzz appears that it might change things – perhaps totally, but definitely in some or other way.

According to Google, Google Buzz is “a new way to start conversations about the things you find interesting and share updates, photos, videos and more. Buzz is built right into Gmail, so there’s nothing to set up — you’re automatically following the people you email and chat with the most.”

Before I continue, I want to say this: In my talks and writings over the past 2 years I have been emphasizing the importance of principles, not technical intricacies. The technologies are ever-changing – these websites that we know now were not around a few years ago, and they will be drastically improved and changed, or even replaced, in the coming years. My focus is on the underlying principles and fundamentals about why Web 2.0 and Social Media is so powerful. Once you have a grasp of them, the technology changes will not affect your ability to harness the full potentials of the online tools available.

Back to Google Buzz…

We’re not sure about the affect that this new platform will have on Twitter and Facebook. Firstly, it allows for status updates, commenting, liking, and also integrates with blogs, Flickr, and YouTube. It has a “Friendfeed” feeling to it as well. The only thing that stumps me at present is that it sits within Gmail, and on a “Google Profile” page. Personally, I use my Gmail account very rarely – my business emails are all in Google Apps accounts. Buzz will be integrated, but only in a few months time. There has been no talk of an API – but I don’t see Buzz surviving without it. Due to the API of the other social networks, I manage Twitter, Facebook, and even LinkedIn via TweetDeck. This simplifies my life a whole lot, and makes my social interaction much more valuable.

I agree with Augie Ray from Forrester Research:

“While bringing relevance filtering to the noisy social media world could prove a significant advantage, this doesn’t (yet) seem to be enough to pull people away from the networks they’ve already created elsewhere. Buzz doesn’t update user’s Twitter or Facebook feeds, so I expect experimentation but not wholesale switching in the foreseeable future. Buzz could end up supplementing rather than replacing users’ other social networks for now.”

What does get me excited about Buzz is the mobile access – available at buzz.google.com – and the extremely advanced integration with Google Maps.

Google says:

With Buzz for mobile, we hope you can start interesting conversations about places and be more spontaneous when you are out and about. How many times have you missed a fun event, even though it was nearby? Or a better choice of dessert, just because you didn’t know about it? How often have you wondered “Where are you?” when reading a text message from a friend? Now, you can use Buzz to learn that there is going to be a movie night at your favorite park, share with the world that there is an awesome ice cream place right around the corner, or tell your friends about that delicious homemade lasagna.

The Google Buzz for mobile video explains it all:

The mobile component of Google Buzz is believed to impact Foursquare, and I think that will prove true, at least to some extent.

Mashable’s article “Google Goes Social with Google Buzz” gives a very nice overview of Google Buzz – read it here.

Also, read these very useful Mashable articles (all posted only hours after the release of Google Buzz):

What Google Buzz Means for Mobile
The Location Implications of Google Buzz
target=”_blank”Google Buzz: What It Means for Twitter and Facebook
Google Buzz: Competitors and Experts React
Google Buzz: Will You Use It? [POLL]

I was surprised to receive access to Google Buzz immediately, I assumed US users would be linked up first. You can connect to me at http://www.google.com/profiles/jamaal786. I’ve been following the conversations on Twitter, and many folks can connect to Buzz via their mobiles, but not yet via their Gmail accounts on the Web.

Of course, if you want to avoid the Buzz altogether, this article might be of use to you: Banish Google Buzz Updates from Your Gmail Inbox.

At the time of writing this post, about 7 hours after the Google announcement, the topic is still very hot online, with blog posts being written, podcasts been produced, and thousands of tweets flooding Twitter. I’ve estimated about 2, 500 new tweets with the words “Google Buzz” every 3 minutes. You do the math.

Facebook’s Latest Redesign

Facebook has launched it’s latest redesign this weekend. The first deployment has been to 80 million users – just a fraction of it’s 400 million user-base.

Many people are complaining about login and news feed problems, and I expect that this will be the case for the next few days. Many users like the new design though, and I assume there’ll be less of an outcry about this UI upgrade.

Peter Deng presented the new changes in a private press meeting. Thanks to Mashable for making this video available:

Facebook gets into email?

Rumour has it that Facebook is developing it’s very own Web-based email system. The system is dubbed “Project Titan” and if successful, will prove to be a rival for Google and Yahoo. Facebook us currently celebrating it’s 6th birthday, and has recently passed the 400 million user mark.

This new development is said to be an enhancement to Facebook’s current messaging system, which it has – to the joy of many – been steadily improved over the past few years.

Do we need another email address though? I’m not sure about you, but I have about 5 already. I have also become quite used to the current messaging system – which is confined to Facebook users, and offers quite a convenient option for communication. Folders would be a good addition though.

The Los Angeles Times says:

With Facebook gravitating to the center of the online world for hundreds of millions, it is well positioned for such a move. Facebook users already stay in touch and share links and photos with friends on the social networking site, making it a logical place to e-mail and chat. Time spent on Facebook soared to 27.6 billion minutes in December, up from 17.8 billion minutes in October, according to data from ComScore.

Facebook is all about communication, whereas Yahoo aggregates content and Google focuses on search. Yet both Internet giants have legions of faithful e-mail users and deep stakes in the messaging market. The proof for Facebook will be in the execution.

So it would make sense that Facebook tap the creator of the popular Gmail to lead its effort that TechCrunch reports has been dubbed internally “Project Titan” and that some employees have unofficially dubbed “Gmail killer.”

Facebook’s Paul Buchheit, a former Google engineer, denies working on an email product.

Should Facebook really be delving into these waters? Or should they be focused on improving their social networking platform?

Photo credit: biscotte

What is a Webinar?

We’re presenting three webinars next week, and we realised that some people may not know what a webinar is, hence this post. Simply put, a webinar is an online seminar – and there are typically two types. You can have a presentation-type webinar, where a presenter delivers to a viewing audience. Then you can have a collaboration-type webinar where there’s a high level of interaction – this is good for team meetings, etc. Webinars are being used all over the world, on a daily basis, for countless different purposes.

We use an online tool called Dimdim, and it’s completely online. You do not need a telephone. All you need is a computer with an online connection. Our upcoming webinars are of the presentation-type – so you don’t even need a webcam or headset. I will be presenting, you will be able to see me, and you will also be able to see slides on your screen, and you’ll be able to hear me of course. You will be able to participate by text, if you have any questions. Our next round of webinars will be of the collaboration-type, that’ll happen early 2010.

We’re currently hosting a series of seminars and workshops, you can view the complete list here. The reason we’re doing webinars as well is that there are many people outside of Cape Town – and even outside of South Africa – who would like to attend our events. Cape Town people are always welcome though, of course!

If you have any questions, please complete our contact form. And if you haven’t signed up yet, these are the upcoming webinars (and they’re absolutely free):

Understanding Web 2.0 and Social Media (Mon, 16 Nov 2009)
Making sense of Twitter (Tues, 17 Nov 2009)
How to find a job (or freelance work) using Social Media (Wed, 18 Nov 2009)

The Eternal September Crowd

On May 21, 2009 Seth Godin wrote a blog post called Eternal September. For a long while before then, I was focused on training “newcomers” and “novices” about Web 2.0 and Social Media. I didn’t have an adequate term for them though, because many of them were not absolutely new to the Internet, many of them were web designers (of the Web 1.0 era), and people who used the Internet on a fair basis.

I am astounded at how I, and other in the Web industry, take for granted what we know. When I deliver training, or consult with clients, I get asked questions which jolt me back to reality. That reality being that there is an endless stream of people who need to be educated – and inspired – about what the Web can offer today. It’s very exciting, and it’s really a thrill to catapult people from ignorance to absolute enthusiasm. As much as it is exciting, it’s equally challenging. The need is so big that we’ve now dedicated our resources to having continuous training events – seminars and workshops – across the country. The first set is already underway, and we’ve already received an overwhelming response from the public.

Eternal September is as apt a term as one could find. Seth puts it across clearly:

“…each September sees an entire crop of freshman showing up at college, you need to assume that you have to start teaching protocols all over again. Once a year, it’s a whole new audience, and they need to learn the ropes.

The Internet has been stuck in September ever since. Every day, new people show up at your blog, on Facebook, everywhere. Every day it’s a whole new crop that need to figure out what RSS is and how to subscribe.”

Will this “Eternal September” crowd ever disappear? Will we reach a point where everyone knows how to use online technologies to their fullest potential? I don’t know. I don’t think so, though.

Image source

Content is still king – but who’s content?

[Ok, so I haven't blogged in a while. A tad hypocritical of me since I advocate blogging so strongly in my talks. Each time I get an idea for a blog post (which is usually more than once a day) I shift it aside and make something else priority, I think I need to change that, now!]

Ever since the start of the Internet, we’ve been saying that “Content is king” – and that’s been very true. A website with more content – be it text or any other type of content – always won over a website with no content. The content surely had to be good, make no mistake. As the Internet has evolved, I think the content paradigm has evolved as well.

I caught an interesting link on Twitter last night, it was a recent TechCrunch article titled: “Facebook Is Now the Fourth Largest Site In The World.” Facebook boasts 340 million unique visitors during June, 2009. This article returned a memory from a few months ago. I was consulting with a client and helping them understand how Facebook could help their business. I was setting up one lady’s Facebook profile, and it looked very strange. There was nothing going on there, there was more white screen than anything else. This was because she had not “connected” to many friends at the time, so there was little information displaying on her profile. I mentioned this to them, explained how “busy” my profile is, and we had a chuckle, but it’s stayed in my memory – perhaps waiting for me to write this post?!

Content is still the most important component of a website – but who’s content is an entirely new question! We visit Facebook every single day, several times a day, from our desktops, laptops, and mobiles. Who’s content are we looking at though? Facebook’s? Very rarely. We’re looking at content that we’ve created ourselves, or content that our friends have created. Twitter? Twitter without user content is an empty shell. When we go to YouTube, are we viewing their content? Nope. Flickr? Wikipedia?

User-generated content is what really drives the Internet today. And it’s going to get bigger, and bigger. Facebook et al will need to continually make it easier for users (that’s you and me) to publish our own content and share others’ content. It’s about the content, still, but there’s been a shift in who publishers that content.

Facebook Spam

This afternoon I did an awesome video and photo shoot with Rafiq Phillips and Charl Norman. I interviewed them at the new Blueworld offices at 210 On Long (I wrote about Blueworld here), and the objective was to cover their new project called SEOblog.co.za. I’ll be putting up photos in a few hours, and video in a few days – check back here for updates. That’s not the subject of this post though. When I left the shoot, on my way home I logged into Twitter on my mobile – as I always do. I sent a tweet, and logged into Facebook – as I always do. Then I saw a very shocking wall post – it read:

“have you heard about some blog that was about you? its really bad ;( i think you and everyone should read it http://cudearewuzy.blogspot.com” (actually, the URL is not very accurate, because I deleted the wall post without doing a screen grab of it, but it was close to “cudearewuzy.blogspot.com”!)
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