Thursday 11 February 2010

Google Buzz-Do not Want!

On the ninth of february, Google launched something called Google Buzz. It arrived quietly enough. What's that, I wondered, looking at the new label in my Gmail page.
It seems it's a social networking tool. Oh. Great.


Read it..,. Found the button at the bottom of the page "Turn off Buzz"* Click! gone.

* Oh, and Google? Shouldn't that be "Turn Buzz Off", Not "Turn Off Buzz"?


Why don't I want it? Firstly, because I don't do twitter or facebook, or myspace,  If I want to communicate I can write an email, or pick up the phone, or go visit, I have used google chat, but my status is set to invisible. I did away with MSN messenger.
I find it disconcerting that Google told me a heap of people were "following" me. I've been looking over my shoulder all day, but every time I do it, they dive into dooways or behind parked cars. The most I see is a glimmer of movement.
Google then made a suggestion of a list of people I might like to "Follow" or might want to invite to join my followers. Some were friends, though rarely contacted, others were strangers. I did not like the idea that Google was proferring me in the same way, to people who might have to scratch their heads for a while before figuring out who I am.


I like my privacy, I enjoy solitude. I like reading emails.
I don't need twitter-like garbage in my inbox.

I would have appreciated it if Google had spent a little more effort on trying to explain to me why this was a good thing. They could try now. So far I see it as a bad thing, as something to be ruthlessly deleted.