The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread? Week of Feb. 15th.

What's the buzz about this week? Well, Google Buzz.

Google Buzz, which launched last week, is Google's new attempt at social networking. It’s available immediately to any Gmail user and lets you share status updates, photos, videos and links with your friends or the public. It also allows you to follow people and provide @ replies. So far the features mentioned equate to a basic version of Facebook combined with a basic version of Twitter. In fact, the only unique feature I found after giving Buzz a test run on my own was that there is no private messaging, instead you just send someone an email or use Google Chat.

At first glance it really just seemed to me that Google took the best bits of popular social network platforms and added them to Gmail. Then I read what the product manager for Google Buzz, Todd Jackson, listed as the 5 key features of Buzz at the product launch.

- Key feature #1: Auto-following

- Key feature #2: Rich, fast sharing experience

- Key feature #3: Public and private sharing

- Key feature #4: Inbox integration

- Key feature #5: Just the good stuff

It was in these key features that I saw a possible future for Buzz. The reason I did not at first was because it's clear now that Facebook and Twitter can co-exist if there's only Facebook and Twitter. It's hard for competitors to enter in this market because people have had their Facebooks for years now, why would they want to go through all those hours of friend requesting and picture tagging over again?

Google however doesn't need you to do all that, because they already have most of that information about you from Gmail. I created a Google Buzz account in about 5 minutes. Now, if someone sends my Google Buzz a message and I receive an email notification about it like I would on Facebook, I don't have to follow a link and log into a new system to read it because the email is the message. Also I don't have to friend anyone because Google already knows who I communicate a lot with and had me following them the second I created my Buzz. There's also a mobile Buzz application, that can track where you are and when you click "nearby" it will tell you what people are saying in your area.

I do have some concerns for Google's newest creation. Google announced today that they will be getting rid of the "Auto-Follow" and will instead "Auto-Suggest." Todd Jackson said today that Google, "quickly realized that we didn't get everything quite right." This can hurt the overall reputation for Google if they continue to misread public interest. Google as a brand has to show it has it's hand on the pulse of culture and human interest. If Buzz fails due to privacy issues or lack of understanding of the millions of people who think that Google is all knowing, people won't trust Google like they do now for, well, everything. Maybe social networking just isn't Google's place. In other countries Google has a horrible record at attempting programs similar to Buzz, such as Orkut, Dodgeball, Jaiku, Notebook and OpenSocial.

The second concern I have for Buzz is how it plans to address the separation people have between who they email and who they message. I, for instance, am now only following professional acquaintances, as that is who Google knows I communicate with. Auto-Following was convenient, but it hasn't found all 1,276 friends that I found or found me in some way or another on Facebook and I don't feel like putting in the time and doing all that networking labor over again. After all, it's called "net-working," not "net-relaxing" (sorry I couldn't resist).

This brings me to my next point, there's little motivation for the non Google savvy to join Google Buzz. It's very similar to too many services already on the market where people have established a presence. Buzz is really just Google's "me-too" product that combines the best in programs, but doesn't offer anything new. The integration may have come too late, after people have settled too far into their social networking ways.

With great program integration, mobile applications and brand trust, Google Buzz has the potential to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. To put it in a clearer way, even if for some reason, no one without a Gmail wanted to create a Google Buzz account (which you may soon be able to do without a Gmail), but everyone on Gmail made a Buzz, Buzz would still become the second largest social networking site at 176 million users. Obviously this won't be what occurs, but it shows how strong an audience Google has should people not see the motivation to switch to Gmail and make a Buzz.

In the end, I think Buzz needs a new feature to add to the great social networking integration and competitive advantage that comes with being a Google program in order for it to reach a high level of success in social media.