Social Networking Comes to Gmail

So, I logged on to my Gmail account this morning and instead of going directly to my inbox, I landed on a new page introducing me to Buzz. Buzz is a set of social networking features added to Gmail. Google is hoping that instead of sharing information on Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace users will take to this new offering. Google has ventured in to the social networking realm with Orkut, but for some strange reason Orkut has only been successful in Brazil. This time around Google is banking on its captive audience to gain a larger foot hold in the burgeoning social networking arena. Other than the service being tied to Gmail, the service offerings are the same as other social networking sites. You can follow other Buzz users, add status updates, share videos and photos, and integrate it with other sites like Picassa, Flickr, Twitter, and Google Reader. You can make posts public or private. Buzz can even be loaded on your mobile phone. I like the move, but are folks ready to switch to yet another social networking "flavor of the day"? As usual, time will tell.