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The Buzz about Google Buzz

by Keri Honea on February 24, 2010

Google has been out to take over the world wide web for some time now. Ever since they created their stellar search engine, they have stealthily acquired many of the largest names in the Social Web. Blogger. YouTube. Picasa. Now, since it seems that the Internet giant could not buy out either MySpace, Facebook or Twitter, Google has decided to created its own social network: Google Buzz.

Google Buzz is like a Twitter, Flickr, and Facebook all rolled into one application that can be easily accessed through your Gmail account. Buzz connects to various sites, including YouTube, Twitter, and Google Reader, and shares your interactions with these web applications with your followers. Whenever you tweet, Buzz will tweet. If you upload a new video to YouTube, Buzz will announce it. You can also announce your status to your followers, just like you would on Facebook.

It all sounds grand, in a way. How nice is it to be able to look at one simple interaction for all your social web updates? Unfortunately, it is not that simple and Google has had a lot of grief over privacy issues since the launch due to the fact that the service was automatically turned on for all users, and it’s only now that Gmail users can turn the service off. Due to this overeager oversight, they now face one class action lawsuit filed in the United States and Canada is currently investigating the product for privacy law violations. In another story, a young women vehemently explained in her blog (which has been taken down for privacy purposes) that her abusive ex-husband was able to track her down due to Google Buzz publicly linking her Google Reader to her e-mail address.

Curious how Google Buzz works and is able to cause so many problems? Google Buzz will only initially follow those in your Gmail address book, and even then will only choose those whom you e-mail and chat with the most. You will, however, automatically follow any of your friends who have a Gmail account no matter the frequency of your correspondence. So forget any thoughts of incorporating your entire Twitter follow list into Buzz unless you know the e-mail addresses of each and every one of whom you follow. Google Buzz will also send recommendations to you of other people you should be following based on who you follow and your apparent tastes from your Buzzes, hence one major reason for the problems with privacy. Not to mention, Google Buzz also sends out e-mails to your followers all of your Buzzes, whether they are status updates, Google Reader additions, tweets, or YouTube uploads, to anyone they wish.

Since the privacy issue smackdown, Google has been working very hard to fix all of these privacy problems. Now Google Buzz users can restrict who sees their Buzzes as well as limit which applications can connect with Buzz, and of course now everyone has the option to turn the service on and off (scroll to the bottom of your Gmail page for the link).

I personally do not see a need for Google’s latest service since I use the desktop App TweetDeck for both Twitter and Facebook, and I have a feeling many other people feel the same way, especially since for the moment, it offers nothing in terms of businesses boosting their social web marketing. At least, that is how it seems to me for now and from a few experiments with it. Another Google enthusiast has a completely different view on the potential for social media marketing and advertising with Google Buzz. But that remains to be seen, and it will still be interesting to see what happens with Google Buzz, as well as what venture in the social web Google will take on (or try to take on) next.

Popularity: 3% [?]

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Kurt Chase to Speak at March 2 WBODC Luncheon

by Louellen Coker on February 22, 2010

Women Business Owners of Denton County will hold its monthly luncheon on Tuesday, March 2, 2010, at Oakmont Country Club, Corinth, Texas. “Why Women Pay Too Much…and What They Can Do About it” will be the topic of speaker Kurt Chase.

For 25 years, radio personality Kurt Chase had a very successful career in the auto industry. After moving into management, he often wondered why there weren’t more women salespeople and, while most sales were made to women, the game was being played differently. He wondered, too, how a level playing field could be created for women buyers, and why women seem to pay more…for cars, clothing, dry cleaning, and many other things.

For the past four years, Kurt has moved into the arena of radio as host of the Saturday morning “Automotive Edge” radio show on KSKY (9-10 a.m., 660 AM, 92.9 FM, 95.5 FM) and 10 a.m.-noon, 100.7 FM, The Word. He is now doing what he wanted so much to do at the dealership level: “Helping people so, in turn, they are able to help others.” He says, “Now, as host of my own show, I am able to educate people to open that part of the mind that says, ‘I get it,’ and move forward to reach their true potential.”

In his program entitled, “Why Women Pay Too Much…and What They Can Do About it,” Kurt will share the knowledge he has gained in the arena of retail car sales and management, and how women can take steps to create a level playing field in all areas of life.

Registration and networking begins at 11:30, with a luncheon and speaker to follow, 12 noon-1:00 p.m. Register online at www.wbodc.org by Thursday, February 25, 2010. With timely reservations, the luncheon and program cost is $15 for WBODC members and $20 for guests. After February 25th, the cost is $20 for WBODC members and $25 for guests.

The Women Business Owners of Denton County is a non-profit organization established to strengthen women owned businesses economically, socially, and politically via energizing and expanding its members’ centers of influence. Our vision is to create productive, interactive groups of business people.

Louellen Coker serves as the organization’s 2010 Past President.

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Laughter Sold! Dentured Dogs Win!

by Louellen Coker on February 20, 2010

In our Laughter Sells! post, we asked you to go denture your dog at the Pedigree website. We received a few great entries and thought we would share some of our favorites.

Here at the office we had such a great time laughing at the entries that we couldn’t choose just one, so we’ve expanded the winnings to include our favorite pups! If you’re a proud owner, check your mailbox for your little guy’s Dentastix.