Thursday, February 11, 2010

Google Buzz and Social Learning: Connect the Dots

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Now, the deafening Google Buzz is here. It resides right inside Gmail, requires no separate account, and makes it easy to share your pictures, links, videos and updates with your Gmail contacts. When you share something, others presumably like it, comment on it and a threaded discussion starts.

So, who is Buzz for? Some say Buzz is for Twitter drop-outs. Others feel Buzz is Google's answer to Facebook, and is particularly useful for those who care for extra online privacy. Yet others feel email-centric knowledge-workers will tiptoe into social networking through Buzz.

I want to learn your ideas on how Buzz can help in social learning - if at all. What do you think? By the way, do you use Gmail?

The Wave may not have reached the classroom, but is the classroom ready for the Buzz?
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12 comments:

  1. a bloggerFebruary 11, 2010 at 5:02 AM

    I think Gmail was one of the best thing when it came out. I use it, and love it! With buzz, the target audience for Google is right there. Wave was a non-starter because it was a new destination website.

    For the enterprise (or schools/universities), it's a nice add-on to Google Apps. Companies already on board Apps would love this. Schools can use this for research projects. The key though is some specific learning-related use-cases to be satisfied by Buzz.

    Google's got a winner here.

    ReplyDelete
  2. waveSpawnFebruary 11, 2010 at 6:15 AM

    I use Gmail... and so far I find Google Buzz a bit invasive. Having conversations happening where I'm trying to keep things organized.

    Moreover, it seems that I can only follow people who have a Gmail account. At first glance, it's a little limiting and self-serving.

    ReplyDelete
  3. tamimatFebruary 11, 2010 at 6:23 AM

    I don't really think because you need to be a Gmail User to be a Buzz user. I want my Gmail just for mail. No other distraction. And twitter ist for what it's made for.

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  4. UnknownFebruary 11, 2010 at 9:37 AM

    I always thought that having a Twitter gadget on a learning blog is a great idea. But it can get clogged up very quickly if someone tweets like there is no tomorrow! Google set out to organize the world's information, and the real-time social web came along to make its task even harder. Google's answer: smart curation. Buzz will allow imports from Twitter, and clean up the mess. Seems like a solution to me. This will make social learning less spammy.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Robert Kennedy IIIFebruary 11, 2010 at 9:48 AM

    Hi Vikas,

    I am not sure how I feel about this as yet. I mean, aside from the fact that goggle wave still needs invites for you to get an account, I just have not heard folk raving over its usage yet. Maybe I am in the wrong field or location to hear the buzz (pun intended). But, I just haven't heard much yet. As I said to someone else, I definitely see the potential for collaborative learning usage. But, like google wave, it only works well if you have a googlewave account or a gmail account. Right now, a lot of people maybe just don't want to sign up for ANOTHER thing. Hmmmm.

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  6. JimaFebruary 11, 2010 at 10:17 AM

    I think there are people out there who are very much addicted to Twitter... so those who tweet may not Buzz a lot but those who din't Tweet may certainly join Google's race.

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousFebruary 11, 2010 at 10:24 AM

    Use Buzz and it will open up "all" of your contacts for the world without your concent. Myann.. that is breach of privacy. Somebody is getting careless day by day.

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousFebruary 11, 2010 at 10:45 PM

    5 Reasons Why Gmail Buzz Privacy Isn’t All That Bad | http://j.mp/a0j7Gw

    -Dave

    ReplyDelete
  9. Manoj VanjariFebruary 12, 2010 at 2:08 AM

    I feel too many cooks spoil the recipe.
    G-mail was great and I am on g-mail.
    I also feel Wave may be Googles giant leap to intrude into individual space, only time will prove.
    But wave and buzz are different but both make g-mail mandatory and i ma happy if g-mail remains primary what it is to be.

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousFebruary 14, 2010 at 11:06 PM

    May be not everything is bad with Buzz :) Buzz is also location-aware, making it suitable for mobile usage. So I feel that learners can get location-based education. For instance, a sales rep could know of customers in the vicinity.

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  11. JimaFebruary 15, 2010 at 8:24 PM

    Twitter too can be location aware through UberTwitter(http://ubertwitter.com/).
    I use that on my BlackBerry.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Romesh C KhoslaMarch 4, 2010 at 11:14 PM

    Use Buzz and it will open up "all" of your contacts for the world without your consent, if you are careless. And one cannot be careful, all the time.
    This is a key risk in using Buzz.

    ReplyDelete

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