Wave or Buzz? Which Google product makes most sense for you?

Recently Google announced Google Buzz, a new social sharing feature for Gmail. I'd be surprised if you hadn't heard of this product because the "buzz" is certainly out for it.   But have you heard of Google Wave?  Google representatives acknowledge that Buzz was inspired by a similar product: Google Wave. Some of the features of Buzz and Wave are extremely similar.  I guess the question now is, "Do I wave or buzz?"

If you are looking for a new product to help you create a conversation, both services are amazing at doing so.  Both Google Wave and Google Buzz give you a richer experience around Web-based media like images, video and regular text. But while Buzz and Wave have a ton in common, there must be something that sets each service apart?  Let's talk about those differences. 

Wave and Buzz? Huh? What does that mean?

Wave is being described by Google as "an online tool for real-time communication and collaboration. A wave can be both a conversation and a document where people can discuss and work together using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more." In a nut shell, Google Wave is instant messaging, e-mail, an online collaboration tool and a wiki all rolled into one service. That's impressive! 

So why have I heard more about Google Buzz? The difference between the two is that Google Buzz has been designed solely to let you share videos, photos, links, and status updates with others.  Sound familiar? It's basically Google's version of Facebook or Twitter. But what's great about it is that you can access Buzz right through your Gmail inbox or through your mobile device's Web browser.  So if you already have a Gmail account, you instantly have access to Google Buzz as well. 

E-mail versus Real-Time

Buzz updates arrive quickly to your inbox, but they arrive as email.  So essentially, you have to wait for the email process to complete which does encounter some delay time.  Communication in Google Wave is much faster. Google Wave communication happens in real time, and you can actually watch someone typing out their response or comment on an individual wave. You can also playback every step of the conversation that has taken place.  That's pretty cool! Wave literally allows users to easily collaborate on a project as if you were all in the same room. 

What I'm trying to explain here is that Google Wave was built more for people who are trying to collaborate on a project.  It would be great for people trying to plan a party for someone, trying to meet a project deadline for a client, or trying to simply set up plans for the weekend.  Wave offers collaborative features like editing a document, gathering photos, planning an event, creating meeting notes, and so on. But if all you really want is to just have a conversation and share photos and videos, then Google Buzz is probably the better option.

Why are people Buzzing more than they Wave?

If you ask me, I think buzzing on Google happens to be much easier for people to do compared to waving.  One of the problems with Wave is that it's a difficult tool to explain to others and even harder to understand.  You can do so much with Google Wave.  I think people find that intimidating and wish to stay working on a platform that they understand.   Buzz, on the other hand, works similarly to e-mail and resembles Twitter and Facebook.  People tend to cling toward what they understand better. 

Meet me at the Buzz point!

If you think about it, Buzz is really the halfway point between regular e-mail and Wave. Once you begin to understand the way Buzz integrates with your traditional email, you will be several steps closer to understanding how Wave operates.  Buzz is going to, and already has, catch on real quick.  My guess is that once you're comfortable with Buzz, you might be more willing to use Wave for collaborative online projects. 

If you already use Gmail, you have probably already started using Google Buzz.  For those of you that do not use Gmail, what will it take to get you to buy into Google Buzz? It may be a tough sell if you're already used to sharing items with your existing networks on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter.

If you haven't tried it yet, I recommend doing so.  You will at least be able to contribute to the "buzz" on the streets about Google Buzz! Check out these videos below to give you an even better understanding of these two products. 

Google Wave:

Google Buzz:

Posted February 17, 2010 | Read all posts by Liz Wood