Google Buzz (Kill) Has Driven Me To Social Media Self-Examination

Is anyone else tired of hearing that Google Buzz is the “next big thing”? Did you open up your Gmail and give it a try, only to realize you’ve just given more of your time away to learn yet another social media tool simply because Mashable told us Buzz is a social media game changer? Have you begun to wonder how much Mashable is getting paid to support, promote and keep saying positive things about Buzz while so many other reputable sources are telling us what’s wrong with it?

Maybe I’m alone in these thoughts, but in the past week since Google launched Buzz – the new Gmail-integrated social media tool that purports to combine the best elements of Facebook and Twitter into one place – I have become exhausted with the headlines, with trying it out for myself, and most importantly with the incessant hum of social media ‘experts’ telling me how I MUST start using Buzz if I am going to succeed in my social media strategy.

All of this has driven me to a bit of self-examination in my social media usage, which in the end seems to be the only foreseeable positive result of the whole debacle. This post is not as much about my annoyance with Google’s attempts to corral me into using Gmail and Buzz in ways that I never realized I couldn’t live without as much as it is about being reminded why I am involved in the social networks I have chosen, a closer look at my social media ‘strategy’, and a challenge for all of us to stay true to ourselves and avoid being swept up in the latest craze.

To start, I’ve already written about my frustrations with Google Buzz, which you are welcome to read here. Countless others have also expressed their less than positive reaction, as well as a significant amount of uproar concerning the privacy violations, which Google appears to be trying to resolve as quickly as possible. But for some reason Mashable, one of the most respected go-to sites for all things social media and a place I visit often, has from day one all but crowned Google Buzz the new king of social media tools, putting out an unprecedented amount of Buzz-related articles in the last week, most of which are singing its praises and telling us how to best utilize the tool in every aspect of our lives. I even saw an article on CNN by Pete Cashmore, founder and CEO of Mashable, titled “Why Google Buzz will be a hit“. I started asking friends if they thought Mashable was getting paid by Google!

Regardless of whether or not Google Buzz will catch on and be utilized by the world in ways that neither Facebook nor Twitter has is yet to be seen. And although I have turned off Buzz in my Gmail because of its annoying attempts to lure me into another social media time-sucking vacuum, I am not at all closed to the possibility that I too may someday use it should my friends and family find it their tool of choice. But all the hubbub made me stop and take a look at my own social media usage combined with my own painfully insecure and selfish desire to avoid being one that has missed out on the newest, shiniest toy on the market.

What is it that makes us feel this way? When the Nexus One Google phone was released, I simply HAD to have one, even though I had only upgraded my phone to an Android-based model just 2 months earlier. When I started using social media, I had to set up my accounts in all the recommended places in order to have a well-rounded and complete social media’ strategy’ for my freelance business. I just bought a Kindle last night to fulfill my geeky book reading dreams, feeling so ‘late’ for taking this long to make the purchase.

Sure, we live in a capitalist and consumer-driven society, which has contributed to the breeding of generations who can’t seem to get enough. But why do I allow myself to succumb to the popular consensus of what I must or must not do in so many areas of my life?

When it comes to social media, it seems more and more that many of us are fighting a battle to keep it ‘social’ and out of the hands of those who are trying to utilize social networks for marketing and selling and spamming. But when I look in the mirror I cannot deny that I have used social media for some of these same purposes myself at times, and although the benefits for my freelance business have been overwhelming, the social aspect – and the stumbled upon new fascination with it – has become my number one priority. My ‘strategy’, as it were. I have discovered and developed numerous new relationships and friendships, far beyond the number of clients, through social media. Isn’t that what the term ‘social’ is all about?

So why then would I want to add another ‘weapon’ in my social media arsenal in the form of Google Buzz? If anything, I need a tool that trims down the various places and websites I choose to visit in order to maintain and grow these online relationships. I don’t need to keep another browser window open for Gmail and Buzz in hopes that I will develop yet another group of followers to engage with. I don’t need to buckle under the pressure of competing for a respectable number of contacts, friends or followers to strengthen my influence and enlarge my brand.

What I need is to continue to get better at giving and sharing and interacting with others who have similar interests, interesting viewpoints and intelligent discussion. I am still learning how to do that on Twitter and Facebook, and I enjoy it this way. Maybe Google Buzz will open that door for someone who doesn’t feel comfortable in the Twitterverse or Facebook land (are there really any people on earth who don’t use these social networks but instead would prefer to socialize in Gmail and Buzz?)

For now anyway, I refuse to allow you to taunt me with your next big thing, Google. Nice try but no thanks, Mashable.

I need to focus my energies on what I’m already struggling with juggling, thank you. Not to mention my real life friends and my wife and children. Seriously. How many ‘friends’ and ‘followers’ can one man have real, meaningful social relationships with anyway?