How much do I love Google Buzz? A lot!

I’ll preface this by saying that there are still some areas that are in need of attention. I’m not crazy about the fact that every time a posting is commented on it floats to the top – instead of the most recently posted item. I’m also still trying to figure out whether muting a post makes it disappear or whether it simply stops showing you updated comments (if anyone can clarify, please let me know).

But enough of what’s not good – more of what is.

This takes the best aspects of platforms like Posterous, Brizzly, Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader and puts them all into your mail box! Come on – I don’t have to sign up for anything, start fiddling with passwords, etc. I just select the platforms to integrate.

And the fact that it instantly aggregates most of my other social media and online networks into one place is amazing. Facebook does this but not nearly in the same hands-off and seamless way that Google has presented it. With Buzz the integrity of the initial post is intact versus Facebook, where it’s usually branded to look like any other status update.

I also love the fact that anyone can comment on videos, updates, blog postings or pictures right in the stream. This is guaranteed to increase engagement for the simple fact that you’re making it easy for people to participate. Although tracking Buzz interaction and engagement will surely be a headache for someone.

All in all, it seems like Buzz is more than everyone else. It’s more characters than Twitter, it’s more unclusive than Facebook and it’s more convenient than familiarizing yourself with a new platform.

I’m pretty excited by Buzz’s potential but I’m holding off on a hard thumbs up or down until I’ve really taken it for a spin.

How have your experiences been with Google Buzz?

If you follow me on Twitter or read this blog with any regularity you’ll know that I’m no fan of the current state of the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission). They have become my favourite whipping boy for what not to do in customer service.

But after reading this article I feel like there might be a glimmer of hope for the Red Rocket.

It’s no secret they’ve been reluctant to embrace technology or use it to its fullest potential (turnstiles, tokens, paper tickets). But with this new blue ribbon task force put together to evaluate customer service the TTC is in a position to draw on the valuable feedback that already exists.

By embracing the social media tools that they’ve really only toyed with to this point, they could be tapping into the online community for people’s thoughts and opinions – in real time!

Using their Twitter accounts for more than just status updates and service issues, they could be talking directly to passengers about their experiences and where they see gaps in service.

Facebook would be perfect for quick surveys or topical discussion groups. And doing a blog search would turn up all the TTC enthusiasts and detractors who already have the attention of the online community.

This doesn’t replace their efforts to track customer satisfaction, but it's a useful and inexpensive extension. It would be foolish to imagine that social media will answer all the TTC’s customer service issues, but with a vocal online community already offering up their opinions, suggestions and insights – why not tap into that? On top of that, you're showing a committment to your customers by meeting them on their turf - in their environment - online.

I posted last week about how Roger’s simple act of engaging me via Twitter (in my environment) was enough for me to take notice and save me as a customer. The TTC has no competition to speak of, but imagine the response if they just asked their customers how they felt about the current state of the TTC's customer service. For me it would be a giant step in the right direction.

I was lucky enough to get an invite to Brizzly the other day and figured I’d share some initial thoughts.

Things I like

I love that URLs are spelled out in full and that pictures and video are already loaded and in your stream. For obvious safety reasons this is a huge win, but it’s also really convenient to instantly see what people are referring to in their tweets.

Explanation of trending topics is another cool feature that breaks down their meaning and also gives them context.

One click access to Facebook is great. It seems that – despite the rivalry – Twitter and Facebook are the peanut butter and jelly of social media right now. So being able to switch back and forth without leaving the page is nice. Plus Brizzly supports multiple Twitter accounts.

Saved searches, lists and the chat style direct message features make Brizzly a really robust service and don't force you to leave the site for a bunch of different services. Plus one of my favourite features – mute. When a bunch of your friends are at a conference and they’re all tweeting the same thing - just mute them for the day and you don’t have to be jealous have your timeline jammed with updates.

It’s web based so you can access it from any computer.

What needs improvement

It’s web based so it maybe isn’t as pretty and graphical as some of the Twitter clients (in fact it’s pretty plain). But that’s really an opinion thing, not a function thing.

It’s still buggy and slow. Sometimes it auto-refreshes other times not so much. But it is a beta (as far as I know) so I wouldn’t hold that against them.

Stuff I would like to see

Would love the option to quickly add users from the stream and would also love to be able to play songs via Blip or other online music services.

I just read an essay by Chuck Klosterman speaking to the inevitable end of media and advertising as we know it. This was originally written back in 2006 and predicted a major paradigm shift would occur by 2010, basically eliminating ads as we know them. 

While I think 2010 might be a bit premature, it’s naive to think that some major change isn’t coming. With the advent of PVRs, less and less people sit through commercials and online marketing has been forced to evolve from banner ads and spammy emails.

But where Klosterman (with some artistic license) predicted marketing armageddon I’m more inclined to see this as a clean slate for the industry.

Look at Google’s attempted reinvention of email through Google Wave. They scrubbed what we know and expect from email communication and tried to create something fresh. The problem is - as much as they’ve endeavoured to give us a new way of communicating online - they’ve really just upgraded email with some impressive add-ons. And this will be the same trap marketing faces moving forward.

Soon you won’t be able to just push your message to mass quantities of people. Not everyone is going to see your TV ad or radio spot and there might not be a lot of national papers left to advertise in.

But the truth is there are far more opportunities to have big marketing reach now. People are online in all kinds of places (Facebook, email, blogs), nearly everyone has a mobile device and the amount of people with smart phones is growing exponentially.

So for the cunning and truly creative, opportunities abound - but not for rehashing or even tweaking the old methods. Social Media is scratching the surface strictly in an online capacity but that’s half the story and is still leveraging some old tricks in a new environment. To really have an impact, we’re going to have to rethink our approach and take some big chances on things that might seem absurd.

Who’s ready?

Yes - this can absolutely happen.

A fantastic reminder that just about everything you post online is visible for the world to see - even (especially) your parents.

Facebook, Twitter Revolutionizing How Parents Stalk Their College-Aged Kids