How to get started on Google Buzz
You’re not sure, but you want to have a look just in case you’re missing out. Here is a video on how I am starting to use Google buzz and I’ve written down some basic steps and tips if you want to try it.
Log into your gmail, and click on google buzz icon.
If it’s you’re first time you’ll be greeted with a welcome video. You can post links much in the same way as twitter, but aren’t restricted by space, so it becomes more of a conversation.
Comments is where Google Buzz wins for me. I have received a lot of help from people commenting on questions. Because everyone is starting out we’re all in the same boat and it’s a great way to get advice and make new contacts. Anne Marie Cunningham captured our conversation very well in her posterous post which was created almost by accident as she experimented posting from buzz to twitter via posterous (worth having a look).
The really nice part is that you can edit your comment at any time so it’s not fixed in stone (a bit like Google wave for those of you who have been brave enough to try it).
To get started with Google Buzz
1. If it’s your first time click on get ’started with buzz’ as you are logging into your gmail
2. Click on connected sites and connect sites you would like to add to Buzz
Think about whether you are going to connect twitter or keep them separate (or decide later).
3. Click on your name
If you have set up a Google profile this will come up telling people a little about you.
Even if you decide not to carry on with Buzz please set up your Google profile, it’s like your twitter bio – when people click on you they want to see who you are. You don’t want this:
However, if you don’t have a public profile this message is not very helpful because no link is provided (I’ll cover how to do set up a Google profile in the next post).
4. Start following a few people and experiment. You can make posts public or private and follow as few or as many people as you want to.
Tip: if you do @ and start typing someone’s name buzz will try and auto-complete by finding them from the people you are following in your contacts list. You can see their email address, but this won’t be visible in the public timeline. The buzz will go out and they will also get an email so they don’t miss your message (similar to how a DM works in twitter except your message can be public or private).
See what you think – some people really like it, for others the jury is still out.
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Not a fan of Google Buzz; At launch it was an arrogant invasion of your privacy, and even now, is just noise I don’t need.
I’d be giving it a wide berth.
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Heidi Allen Reply:
February 23rd, 2010 at 6:31 pm
Hi Mathew – quite a few people feeling like you – you might like this post http://katec.posterous.com/google-buzz-is-already-dead-via-alanhogan – I like the fun vs stressful table especially.
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Interesting dissection of buzz. Even for someone pretty immersed in ‘the internet’ I was wondering how it was all going to work with – especially in the context of Gwave. I thought maybe I just needed a GenY brain implant or something – but maybe it is just a matter of their being too much choice.
Too much choice can be distracting. I’m asking myself, what will be the return on my ‘time’ investment if I engage with buzz – another thing to learn when I could be doing something productive with the amazing tools I have already mastered.
Having said that, I’m still going to check it out – my excuse being that I’m fairly addicted to new stuff just for the sake of it.
Thanks for the video Heidi.
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Heidi Allen Reply:
February 25th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Hi Nic you’re right- time investment on all these different sites is a big one. I’m finding I’m using Gbuzz differently than twitter or facebook and have decided not to hook them up to each other. Keeping up with it all is a challenge, and I’m experimenting to see what happens and whether the people I’m connected on line start to shift to one platform or another.
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