[LINK] Google (maybe) changes Buzz

[Ivan Trundle]

On 15/02/2010, at 4:08 PM, Jan Whitaker wrote:

> http://www.theage.com.au/technology/security/google-buzz-tweaked-after-privacy-complaints-20100214-nzcj.html
> 
> Facing a a large number of privacy complaints, Google has made 
> changes to Google Buzz, the new social networking tool it added to 
> its free email service Gmail.

I hate this process of software 'improvement' by proxy. Why can't they get it right the first time, and not wait for users to complain about such obvious shortcomings?

> Among the concerns aired in technology blogs and elsewhere was that 
> Google Buzz was taking a user's Gmail contacts and automatically 
> adding them to their public Buzz social network.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1120145

This is just one complaint of many: an interesting read. Having your life impacted by a privacy loophole is not simply a case of 'buyer beware'.

On the other hand, there is this:

http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2010-02-12-n82.html

But the whole idea of being a 'follower' of someone that you've never met or have any association with other than someone else is simply ludicrous, even in this age of Facebook et al.

Trying to build a single eco-system around Google products is inspired madness. Hosting it inside GMail was brilliantly bad.

> Jackson said Google was also giving users the ability to block anyone 
> following their account.

But not people without a GMail account...

> "It's still early, and we have a long list of improvements on the 
> way. We look forward to hearing more suggestions and will continue to 
> improve the Buzz experience, with user transparency and control top of mind."

If it's that early, why not beta test it first? (oh, I see, they are doing this already, but have dropped the 'Beta' tag)

iT

--
Ivan Trundle
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