jasper

Creative Commons License photo credit: biffyboy

If you have been using Gmail as your email provider, like I do, you already experienced Google Buzz.

It sure was a surprise to me, when one day I noticed an unfamiliar icon named “Buzz” in my inbox.  I also noticed that there was a list of all my contacts who communicate with me through Gmail.  In addition to that, I found out that all the comments I leave on other blogs via Google Reader,  were also posted in the Buzz section, and visible to all my contacts.

This whole experience made me very uncomfortable, so I asked my son about it, searched the net for more information, and also came across a great article about Google Buzz , by Melanie Nelson, which provides further clarification about Google Buzz, and will share it with you, so please check it out if you are still searching for answers.

I also found an article which explains the three things everyone should know before they use or continue to use Google Buzz, so here is the list, but check out the post for more details:

  1. The people you follow and who follow you back is made public by default.
  2. You can expose private email addresses to everyone who follows you without meaning to do so.
  3. Your Most Frequent Contacts In Google Buzz Have Access To Your Reader Contents By Default.

So those of you who have not heard of Google Buzz, you probably are curious to know what it is.

Here is Melanie’s description of Google Buzz:

“Over past few months Google has been trying to secure their spot not just as the go-to search engine, but as a real player in social media. Google Wave and the Google Nexus One phone were cool options to the norm and just last week Google unveiled yet another new social media tool: Google Buzz. Buzz is one more way to share your thoughts, pictures, favorite articles, etc. with your friends. Unlike Wave and Nexus One, Buzz has not been well-received for one reason: privacy.”

The most annoying thing about Google Buzz is the privacy issue.  I feel that Google should have given everyone the option of accepting or rejecting their offer of this new social media.  I definitely do not care for having it rolled into my email, so I was searching for a way to turn it off, to get rid of it, however the turn off button does not help much.

If you are in the same predicament, here is somehelp to check out for details, but I will just post the headings of the steps to disable your Buzz, to give you some idea of what it takes:

  • Step 0: Don’t disable Buzz–yet
  • Step 1: Purge your profile
  • Step 2: Block your followers
  • Step 3: Disable Buzz in Gmail

Hopefully you found my research helpful, and will be able to make a decision about keeping, or ditching, Google Buzz.


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3 Responses

  1. Diana

    February 27th, 2010 at 1:37 pm

    1

    THanks SG!!

    Thats really interesting because my fiance and I were just watching a segment on CNBC on tv about GOOGLE and how they have everyones information and they store everything you search for and can see your address book and just about everything about you. Now who is to say someone that gets hired at Google doesnt try to get all this info and use it against us or against the United States?! I will def check into this Google Buzz…I saw it pop up and just ignored it. I have to share this post with my fiance. THANKS!

  2. Diana

    February 27th, 2010 at 1:59 pm

    2

    Hello again!

    Looked into it and I didnt have a profile activated on Google and no followers but I still got rid of Buzz. Thanks again SG! Have a great weekend!

  3. suburbangrandma

    February 27th, 2010 at 8:07 pm

    3

    You are very welcome. I am glad you checked it out and made a decision to remove it. I am sure lots of people don’t realize how poorly this Google Buzz has began. I know Google is already working on it to make it safer, but they just “put the carriage before the horse” on this one.


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