Is Buzz too compelling?

I'm having second thoughts on the Twitter vs. Facebook vs. Buzz issue.

Here is the problem with Buzz: It is too compelling and immersive. Dip one toe in and you find yourself sucked into the vortex of comments, scoblebuzz, and conversation. Hours later, you drag yourself to the shore and realize you have not gotten any of the things done on this day off from work that you had intended to.

Compare that to Twitter, which I bad-mouthed yesterday for not having the same commenting features. There, I can fire up Twittelator, quickly scan tweets from my RealFriends™, glance at the latest scoblization, read some news, and then get out before the little blue bird notices that I have entered the cave. I keep track of what is happening, yet still get things done.

Meanwhile, over in Facebook land, I actually know everyone who is my friend, unlike most of my twitter and buzz followees. I can check out what they are saying, drop a quick note or two, hide and block the latest Farmville-type apps and then get back to work.

I expect that a place will emerge for Buzz, and I think that it will ultimately be a forum for commenting on mini-blog posts, posting links to blog posts, and eventually collapsing much of the Google Wave functions into a reality that actual people can use. Of course, all of this will likely change each day, as Google adds new features, and will undergo a sea-change when the first Buzz apps are released for iPhone and iPod.

Does Google Buzz mean the end of standalone blogs?

I have been playing around with Google Buzz for just a few hours. The lack of a limit on the length of posts (unlike Twitter), the integrated comment mechanism, and many other features make it perfect for ad hoc blogging. About the only thing that it lacks is permanence, but that is a very important feature.

If I were to post this on Buzz, it would reach just as many (or just as few) people as if I post it on Blogspot. However, if I post it as just on buzz, then it will be swept away in the stream of other posts, and probably never be seen again. On the other hand, by writing it as a blog entry, it will automatically be linked to on Buzz, and should also always be available for reference.

It will be interesting to see whether people comment on this just on Buzz, just on Blogspot, or some combination of both.