i don't really see what the big deal about this is. so they know who you email, does that matter? it's not like they know what you email about. so if you add more people, people will think that you email all the people that you've added? i doubt that.

Google Buzz goes after Facebook, Twitter
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/02/09/g...ial/index.html

What's Google Buzz? Something, I turned OFF in my gMail Account.

From Lifehacker.com
"Want Google Buzz gone entirely? Log into Gmail, then look at the bottom of your inbox page for a "Turn off Buzz" link."
http://lifehacker.com/5469388/stop-g...-your-contacts
(Link contains other tips related to Google Buzz).

^ It's gone. Thanks!

I don't need every damn website to be a social networking site.

I love Google and, particularly, gMail, Calendar, Documents, Notebook (before they abandoned Notebook) and, to some extent Google Voice.

I'm no tech analyst and certainly are not in on there strategy, but it seems to me they've been bombarding people with new stuff (Wave, Buzz) that seems to be off the mark - for me at least.

I gave Wave a try and (flame proofing at the ready ...) as someone said, couldn't get my head around it or see the value of it. I'm sure people use it and love it and I'm sure people will use Buzz and love it (no flame proofing at the ready, the fire of Buzz isn't hot yet).

For me, Google does what it needs to do - search (love the Superbowl ad, loved the spoofs of it even more) and the basic web/"cloud" functions that everyone seems to need/use. For all the more inter-personal / collaborative stuff, for me its simple - meeting in person or phone call.

And, P.S. - this is my second Flyertalk Evangelist who has said something nice on of my posts. Not that I'm counting or anything....

Thaaaaank you!!!

Interesting how people want to keep their social networks seperate.

The problem with Wave is they didn't allow a large number of users to get on it. Collaboration tools are worthless without people to collaborate with; invite only services are inimical to collaboration.

cj001f... you hit it right on the head with Wave. It could have been cool, but all my tech friends could not get invited, and therefore I have completely lost interest.

There were rants, Google listened. Google has changed its features and startup to allow the user to control Buzz.

http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/
Permalink at
http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2010/0...-based-on.html

And, on the Wave Front, I also agree that the limited invite problem has limited people who were interested in trying it amoungst a group of friends/colleagues. However, I have heard that they are allowing current users to give out "more" invites (more than zero, more than a few, not sure).

That's a pretty good assessment!

(Putting my tin hat on) The NSA/FBI/CIA would love it. It would make their life so much easier.

You can't get rid of Buzz by turning it off. Your information could still be made available to the world.

http://www.scotxblog.com/legal-tech/...-really-do-it/

Read this update from today's New York Daily News.

Yes, but they didn't go far enough in addressing the issue. The problem is that Google creates these followers and followees without your permission. The fact that you can hide them does not alleviate the privacy concerns. This should not be the default behavior, and users should be required to positively opt in.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/0...ref=technology