One of my favorite things about working in the news business is you never know where the day is going to take you. You wake up, and Evan Bayh is the farthest thing from your mind. Next thing you know, he makes a "last minute" decision and suddenly you find yourself drilling deep into all things Bayh (to say nothing of all things Brad Ellsworth).
Similarly, one of my favorite things about working in new media is how quickly new technology or killer applications of existing technology can completely change the game.
And it's starting to feel like that's what just happened with the release of Google Buzz. A week ago, it wasn't on anyone's radar (other than Google's, of course). Today, it's part of the conversation -- and lots of people are using it. How many? With a host of caveats, Danny Sullivan has crunched some numbers and says that Google Buzz is already generating a quarter of the activity of Twitter.
Mashable's Ben Parr called Buzz "a nuclear bomb whose fallout will permanently alter the social media landscape." Others are focusing on the hiccups and wondering, "what were they thinking?"
To its credit, Google has been quick to admit its mistakes, apologize for them, and tweak Buzz in response to user feedback. The team at Mountain View has never been afraid to iterate, reiterate, and then reiterate again.
So we are diving in. You can already follow HuffPost's official Google Buzz profile here. And you can follow my personal Google Buzz profile here. Buzz profiles for all of our sections will roll out over the next few days -- I hope you'll follow them, and join in the conversations.
You'll notice we've also added a Buzz This button to many of our stories and blog posts so you can share your favorites with your Buzz network.
I've just started playing with Google Buzz myself. And, so far, I like how accessible it is, how visual, and how flexible.
I'd love to know what you think. Have you tried Google Buzz yet? What do you like about it? What don't you like? Are there things about it that worry you? Or are you confident Google has addressed the privacy issues many people raised last week?
And, if you are Google Buzzing, who are you following that you think "gets" Google Buzz (and is not just Buzzing their Tweets and Facebook postings)? Who do you recommend that I follow?
Let me know in the comments section. And, remember, you can follow HuffPost on Google Buzz here, and follow me here.
Follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ariannahuff
Disable Google Buzz
This will disable Google Buzz in Gmail and delete your Google Profile and Buzz posts. It will also disconnect any connected sites and unfollow you from anyone you are following.
Bye-bye Buzz!
The one I use most is Stutter. Originally devised to serve students on an SEC campus, Stutter has an automatic traffic manager that handles Stutters, Friend requests, reminders and DefCon IV emergency alerts by parking them like texts in your phone- in a large flash memory where they all sink in to the thousands of other saved messages and postponed replies resting in Oblivion forever. Oblivion is really neat. It backs up data you never want to see again so it can be spooled onto your brand new hard drive along with precious pictures of Fido- without your ever being aware of its 200 Megs of drive space.
The privacy issues are very real. Anyone who thinks there is privacy on the Internet has their head fully immersed up there where the Moon "don't shine".
My background in both the print and broadcast worlds taught me years ago, write and speak knowing it could be used against you, so pick your words carefully.
Arianna, I have great respect for you and will continue to participate here on The HUFFINGTON POST, but on yet ANOTHER Internet "Social" place, I will pass.
Peter Bright
Facebook is far worse at privacy than even Google. EVERY TIME you add permission for the latest stupid poll, the Farm, the "Give a Rose to You Friend" application, a "cause", a Mafia game - ANYTHING on Facebook, you grant that app's developers access not only to your personal account details, but to all of your friend's too.
Yes. You take a stupid "Are you Sexy" poll on Facebook, and you've given that developer access to EVERYONE YOU KNOW.
Google's Buzz is nothing compared to that.
And your ISP has access to everything you've ever seen, said, downloaded, or done.
Tracking cookies - sites you never visit know what sites you visit. FLASH tracking cookies, just unveiled this week.
This list is endless.
THERE IS NO PRIVACY ON THE INTERNET - EVER.
If you don't want the world to know, don't do it online. Period.
It seems there is a perception among the corporate leaders in the internet industry that the internet, and I guess life in general, is one big recreational activity. This is a huge disconnect and it makes one wonder if executives at Google even have gmail accounts.
I guess we should have taken the clue when CEO Eric Schmidt opined that there is no such thing as privacy on the internet a month or so ago.
This is not over by a long shot.
So far, it hasn't replaced Twitter or Facebook.
interact with people..i will TALK ..Face to Face..like NORMAL people do..
Is it celebrity culture? Is it Jersey Shore and reality shows? What makes people think that everyone else wants to know everything about them? It's okay, it's really okay, to live a life of relative obscurity. The bulk of humanity has done it since the beginning, and you're not going to find your place next to Einstein or Thomas Jefferson just by telling the world that you're about to buy okra at the supermarket.
If ya'll aren't noticing, everything is starting to merge as one super-user-core. Who's gonna get there first?
In the meantime, let me share this story with you...