Google, Web Tools
Open Thread: Google Buzz for Ministry
Google’s new product, Buzz, is about 1,000 times better than Google Wave, if only for the intuitive and obvious use and value.
Have you seen it yet? Check this video for a look:
Let’s chat.
Buzz’s five key features are as follows:
- Automatic Friends List – Friends added automatically who have emailed on Gmail.
- Rich and Fast Sharing – Combines sources like Picasa, Twitter, and more into a single feed. Full-sized photo browsing.
- Public and Private Sharing – Yes.
- Inbox Integration – Iinstead of emailing you with updates, like Facebook might, Buzz features emails that update dynamically with all Buzz thread content.
- Recommendations – Puts friend-of-friend content into your stream, even if you’re not acquainted. Recommendations learn over time with your feedback.
Legitimate? Useful? I think so.
How is this going to rock your ministry? Let’s dream together in the comments.
Open thread, anything goes.
Buzz it!
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34 Responses to “Open Thread: Google Buzz for Ministry”
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by churchcrunch: Open Thread: Google Buzz for Ministry – http://bit.ly/cwWOBj...
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Google Buzz for Ministry | Graham Brenna
[...] So how can Buzz be used for ministry? [...]
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Sounds like Facebook on steroids! I wonder how many new people will sign up for Gmail because of this?
that would be interesting. we’ll see if it’s a driving force of new users.
We’ll see. If people start talking about something they found that was shared via Buzz, but their Hotmail/Yahoo/AOL using friends are missing out, I think we’ll see a large migration towards gmail (not that there hasn’t been already).
Since “anything goes,” I hope you don’t mind if I post a link to my thoughts on Google Buzz rather than restating them here.
Google Buzz Fires at Facebook. Facemail to Battle Gmail. Who Will Survive?
http://blog.ourchurch.com/2010/02/09/google-buzz-fires-at-facebook-facemail-to-battle-gmail-who-will-survive/
spammer! no, just kidding!
wow, great thoughts here paul.
I like it so far, the only trouble is that now I feel like I’m spreading out into too many social mediums.
That’s the reason why I dropped MySpace. Buzz is a little easier because that’s where my email resides but I hope it doesn’t start clogging my inbox.
Clogging your inbox, eh? Try filtering Buzz content into a label, skipping the the inbox and keeping you sane.
BRILLIANT!
Yeah… this sounds way better than Wave! It just showed up for me this morning when I logged in. As long as I can update my “buzz” status via Twitter I’ll use it.
I don’t know. (Is that a legitimate comment?)
Seriously, I think it’s too early to really gauge its value for ministry. But, if I had to point to one feature that could be effective in this area, I’d say the “Nearby” concept. Seeing people near you and being able to connect with them directly *could* be helpful.
But, just like anything social on the web, it’s more about the person using it than the tool being used. (imo)
Seems like more noise to me.
Next to come, “Bing Buzz?”
Just not sure if it’s worth it.
I’m hoping Microsoft with call their eventual social network “Bing Bong”.
I think once Buzz is integrated into Apps and then make those streams public, Buzz for God (TM) (that’s mine yo!
) will really get some traction. Our church uses Apps for everything but our website and this could be a cool way we can communicate internally (replacing FB) and externally (replacing/complimenting YouVersion Live).
But only time will tell.
Give me a couple of weeks and will have more. Still confused as to how it all works or benefits.
But seems way more beneficial then google wave
I was just talking to Kyle about this, but I’m hoping that it brings a little bit of social networking together into a hub than another social network to update yet another status. I can only say, “Headed to the store” so many times.
If it can do that, I’m sold. Especially for how much I’m in and out of gmail.
The RSS feed sharing sounds pretty cool too. I’m interested, but I’ll need to get my grubby hands on it before I can give a definitive verdict.
Comparing Wave to Buzz is like comparing salt to pepper. Or better, salt to pepper that hasn’t yet matured on the pepper plant. Google is working towards an integration of all of their applications, not pitting them against one another. In the end, I’m sure Wave and Buzz will play very nicely together. Don’t forget, wave is still very much a beta product right now.
yeah, i’m probably being unfair.
If we can get all Gmail users within our congregation to follow a specific ‘church info’ email address/profile, then it very much benefits the church as another means of instant communication to their members inbox. Just like becoming a Fan promotes in the Feed.
From then on it’s a great way to have an online conversation in the social space.
Buzz MUST integrate FB and Twitter to really succeed at swinging users.
This might just get me back to online gmail… might.
There’s still alot missing, facebook integration for one, and updating my twitter would be useful.
On another note, I’ve actually found wave very useful, I’d love if they integrate that into gmail.
Glad I’m not the only one that DOESN’T use online Gmail.
I’m with @KyleReed- give me some time and maybe I’ll find it useful.
I can honestly say that this is the first time I’ve ever, in my social-networks-rawk-all-the-time-world, actually thought, another one?
Maybe I’m tired. Maybe it’s the horseradish from my grilled cheese for lunch, but I’m hesitant.
I need a nap.
As a sidenote, the promotional opportunities are also much larger once you consider the ‘recommend’ feature.
If our church posts an announcement on Buzz that works it’s way into hundreds of feeds, that may then be ‘recommended’ to an exponential number of other (potentially not-connected) users!
Google Buzz just seems to be Google trying to get in on the action of microblogging.
I’m not sure that I would really use it all that much, as many of my friends don’t use Gmail for their email address.
I don’t think I would update it all that often, as I think Twitter and FB is enough for me.
As for using Buzz in ministry, then it certainly has it’s place, but only time will tell whether it draws people away from FB and Twitter.
From just the quick look that I have done in the past few hours or so, it looks to me as though it is simply email for Gmail users without having to hit the ‘Reply to All’ button.
Maybe I’m being cynical here.
For those that have been with GMail for a while this will be an automatic high. It will certainly make GMail all the more interesting. But I can’t help thinking that this is to compete with FaceBook who in turn intent to compete with Gmail with FaceMail. Let the cat fight begin. We will be richer for it
So far Buzz is just more noise. If it could update Twitter and/or Facebook it would be more useful. But right now its just one more network to check. I’ll add my updates to it so people will see them on my Google profile but at this point I think I’m going to shut off the stream.
After clicking around a bit, I’ve finally decided to turn off Google Buzz. Here’s why:
1. More noise. Aren’t our mailboxes already busy enough?
2. Same service, different name. Google Buzz seems to be an answer where there is no problem. I already have a service that does the same thing. It’s called Twitter.
3. PRIVACY CONCERNS. Google Buzz automatically follows the people you email the most (and vice-versa). There are a lot of folks I communicate with that probably don’t want to have their email published to the world. Besides, if they wanted to use such a service, they’re probably already Facebooking or using Twitter anyway.
It seems my initial paranoia is well founded:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31322_3-10451428-256.html
I think this is going to be the coolest new technology that I won’t be using. I have already entertained ideas of streamlining my online engagement, and although this seems like it is supposed to help that, right now it just seems like another account to check and be overwhelmed by. Maybe I’ll just be late to this party. I see a lot of benefits…
So far, it looks like noise. A lot like Friend Feed, but not as sophisticated at this point. Needs to do more, be more integrated with Twitter and Facebook to be useful — and needs some built-in filters to make it usable.
After reading the comments above, and my own experience (initial curious, then frustrated by yet another inbox and traffic) I think the main issue may ultimately come down to platform. WordPress works because its not tied to anything specific except PHP and MySQL and thats pretty generic. Gmail on the other hand is a very specific platform with a finite number of users. Buzz is built on top of that platform with arbitrary definitions of what it can and can not do, in terms of network integration. This further narrows the likely userbase…