Google Tweaks Buzz Privacy
The BBC reports that Google is updating Google Buzz’s privacy settings in reaction to complaints that it revealed too much too soon. The story at the link contains a long discussion of the buzz over Buzz privacy (is that “buzz squared”?). If you Buzz, you might want to buzz over to Buzz and check your settings.
- The firm was forced to make a series of changes to Buzz just days after launch, following a backlash from users worried about privacy intrusions.
I don’t see a lot of indication that Buzz is the buzz of social networking. I’m not buzzing; heck, I can’t keep up with the stuff I need to keep up with, let alone with other stuff, and I see no benefits to me or mine in buzzing.
Google Maps on my Android G1 includes a “layer” to display buzzes. When Buzz first started, I could open a map of my local area and see 10 to 15 buzzes within five or six miles of where I sit right now. As I type this, I see fewer than a dozen in the entire South Hampton Roads, Virginia, area (that’s the cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, and Cheasapeake–a lot of real estate).
Admittedly, this is not a scientific survey, but it doesn’t look to me that Buzz is getting much buzz in these parts.