Gmail Buzz: Google Enters the Social Network World

by Michael Small | February 9, 2010 at 01:03 pm

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Gmail Buzz put Google squarely into the social network battle Tuesday. Google Buzz, which works through Gmail, will directly compete with the likes of Facebook and Twitter.

Google Buzz allows users to post status updates, pictures and links to other members in their Gmail network, as well as gather activity from sites like Twitter, Flickr etc. Think of it as a giant social network hub.

Google spokesman Bradley Horowitz said the service, which was rolling out to some Gmail users Tuesday afternoon and should be available to all in the next couple of days, aims to weed out what he called the clutter of other networking sites.

With networking sites, "there's obviously value there," he said. "It's a phenomenon that's real, but it's increasingly becoming harder and harder to make sense and find the signal in the noise."

Google Buzz will automatically add friends you already interact with on Gmail, and options will be available to have your posts private or public. Google will also rate posts, as it does in search, for promoting 'good' buzz and burying the bad.

Google Buzz is being released in small sections Tuesday afternoon, but will be available to all users within the next few days.