How Buzz replaced me on Twitter

Since 2006, since the advent of Twitter, I have been devouring the cactus with varying success trying to get used and use it. And furtively dreamed of implementing something the same from Google, because of the usability of his other projects I was more than satisfied with it. Special hopes were after buying jaiku, but they did not materialize then. And now soon 2 months, as Google Buzz is launched - an improved microblog from Google. For me, it has become a complete notice of both Twitter and LiveJournal. Twitter had a number of flaws that everyone knows about, but everyone (almost) suffers. Google Buzz fixed these flaws, and almost did not add their own;)


Twitter Bugs Disadvantages
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140 characters

The 140 character limit grown from SMS has become just a legend. Some avid Twitter users, like myself, have noticed that they read thoughts by 140 characters :) Even in other places where there is no such restriction. Even in work letters or IM. Needless to say, such an artificial restriction does not add value to messages. This is the case when simplicity is worse than theft. To combat this limitation, users began to invent various tricks: link shortening, renewal is simple through some "->", etc.

Buzz is devoid of this flaw. The length of the post in the database can be very large, which, by the way, allowed him to replace the LJ, which I used to use for something more or less long.

Discussions

If Twitter was too simplified in one place, it made it very difficult in another. The method of conducting discussions on Twitter ... a little not for people :) The reply mechanism is terribly opaque, and for an unprepared user it is simply incomprehensible. To lead a discussion to several people, especially not to mutual followers, is simply unrealistic. In addition, it is almost impossible to read another person's Twitter account without having an account. In the jumble of answers, do not find his own tweets. This, by the way, makes Twitter very unfriendly to RSS, which does not play in its favor.

In Buzz, the comments are implemented in solid tape. This is a cross between a complete jumble of Twitter and a tree-like commenting system from the same LJ. And this is the easiest and most human-readable way. On relative small discussions it works perfectly. Implemented and response system. The truth is not without jambs. But nevertheless, you can write a comment or a whole database, mentioning in it a specific user, about which he will receive a notification (if he wants it). Moreover, the bases and comments themselves can be read without having a Buzz account at all. An RSS feed and an update of the comments page on the fly are also attached to all this wealth (which was checked by me personally in the discussion of one of the Radio T releases, and that one is still there).

Insert links, pictures, videos, music

One of the most popular use cases of Twitter is posting links or pictures. True Twitter itself with its 140 characters actively interferes with this :) But users have made many shortcuts, as well as services for storing media data. True, from time to time, some disappear - others appear. Together with all the content. And for an abbreviated link, it may not be something that you would like to see.

Buzz offers transparent integration with Picasa as a photo repository. Supports adding links to messages out of the box. Able to insert videos from youtube or add a flash player, if the message has a link to the mp3-file. This is all made very clear and convenient. To think about how to lay out the photo is not necessary. True, working with Picasa is a bit strange. So, if you upload photos via the Buzz interface in Gmail, every day your album will be created in Picasa. And if you consider that the number of albums is very limited, it is not very pleasant. And the order in the albums does not add this behavior. Hope this is ever fixed. Moreover, when uploading a photo via a letter to a special address, it always gets into the special album Buzz. I now just first upload the photo to this album, then add it to the base. But I would like this behavior by default. Video clips, as far as I understand, are supported so far only from youtube, from the rest of the hosting providers we have to give only links. But the ability to upload any media content allowed Buzz to take away from LJ the last role in which I used it. Photos with comments can now also be conveniently shared in it.

Privacy levels

The last advantage that struck me was the levels of privacy. Twitter does not allow private tweets alone. Either everything is public or private. This policy does not add flexibility. In Buzz, in addition to fully open posts, you can create posts for groups from your Google contacts. It’s much more flexible, but it’s still in your Gmail address book. It is also impossible to make bases for selected people without grouping them. But the developers already know about this Wishlist, and hopefully embody.

But the Buzz is still very young service. During its work, Twitter has gained functionality that many people are used to, and which is not yet in Buzz. That's part of what Buzz would like to steal from Twitter :)

• API and clients mobility
  Having a normal API for Twitter allows people to write third-party clients that partially level the above disadvantages. Clients try to make conversations, merge messages broken into parts, expand links and show pictures. It also made it possible to get a mobile client for Twitter on any platform. With mobile clients for Buzz, things are much worse. There is a HTML5 mobile interface that works on iPhone and Android, there is a widget for Android. All the others are content with an e-mail posting interface, but cannot read at all. But with the release of the API, everything should change.
• retweets
  It is not clear how necessary the thing, but Buzz does not know how to use built-in tools. Although you can simply insert a link to another database.
• sheets
  Appeared recently in Twitter sheets are convenient for organizing your tape. Buzz can now only filter by authors and sources at a time, but not spread out the tape in shelves
• hashtags
  Another way to globally organize messages, widely used on Twitter, but not available in Buzz. Although no one bothers to put them :)
• Search
  Twitter search is still faster and more accurate search on Buzz, strange as it sounds. Yes, Google is beating on its territory.
• lecture hall
  This, I hope, is a temporary but significant advantage of Twitter. Though not technical, it stops many. It’s just that not everyone can take and throw their billions of followers on Twitter or lure them into Buzz. I had the same situation when switching from ICQ to Jabber. But everything seemed to be resolved quite successfully :)

In general, even now, Buzz is already a workable service, not worse than its competitors, and even better places.