Google’s Latest Buzz

Sure, you update your status on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and every other social network, but sometimes that just isn’t enough for you – thank goodness for Google Buzz. Buzz is integrated into your GMail account, which may prove to be annoying when your inbox is updated with everything happening on Buzz. The public versus private posting settings and control over geo-tagging your posts can teach some of the other presence apps a thing or two. Speaking of our Internet Overlord, Google is also running a test on offering ultra-fast broadband in US cities.

Unhappy Sixth Birthday Facebook

No one has learned the downside of making “improvements” to a community site more than Facebook. Last year’s interface changes got a whopping 94% disapproval rating. And this year it leaves me feeling that an uninvited guest just re-organized my closet (and tossed most of my stuff). The re-design may also be targeted at increasing on-site search traffic and attention paid to display ads. The 400 million strong social network is also getting slapped with lawsuits for its changes to privacy settings a few months ago.

In MySpace No One Can Hear You Scream

GigaOm has declared MySpace among “the living dead” after CEO Owen Van Natta steps down. Anyone else wondering just what Rupert Murdoch got for his $580 million purchase of the former king of social networks?