"Anger Leads to Apology From Google About Buzz " NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/15/technology/internet/15google.html

Hey Google,

Remember when you had "Beta" – strapped to your site for years, championing the concept that you are forever improving the experience through constant development? Couldn't let Gmail out of the bag till it was ready and had to wait for an invite? Good times.

So what happened with Google Buzz and your decision to not put it through a beta, what was that meeting like? Maybe it sounded something like this:

"Should we put Google Buzz through beta?" - Google Programmer #1

"No need... why would we need to test out our social network with a community.... let's just run this internally between us two programmers." - Google Programmer #2

Except that probably wasn’t the conversation. Google’s privacy hiccup and subsequent apology seems a little malicious and a whole lot disingenious. Here’s why.

We all know from Marketing & The Internet that a social network with only 1 person isn’t much of a social network. So what to do then? Well, let’s take what you did as a guideline for instant success.

1.) Do not prompt Gmail users if they want to participate in your new “service.” Go one further and:

2.) Force your users into your network by automatically creating a friends list based on your most e-mailed contacts. Publically display those contacts as “followers” and “following” for the world to see. (Hey Tiger Woods, if leaving your phone out for your wife to read your most recent text messages didn’t expose your philandering, Google probably would have done it for you.)

3.) Release statement six days after launch apologizing for possible privacy concerns and a promise to improve. Claim ignorance that there was no way to foresee these privacy concerns, but act heroic in attempting to address them. It sounds something like this: “We’re very sorry for the concern we’ve caused and have been working hard ever since to improve things based on your feedback,” Mr. Jackson wrote. “We’ll continue to do so.”

4.) Six days later offer users feature to turn off “auto-follow.” But do not actually take users off auto-follow or prompt them to make a decision the next time they log in (yes, you guys still have your followers and following available for your lover/ex lover/ or family to analyze.)

5.) Oh, and make it really hard to find how to turn off “auto-follow” or buzz in general (somewhere small at the bottom of the page, have fun looking.)

And there you have it, a fully integrated community to feed your social network, at least enough momentum to make Facebook worry.

We all know the majority doesn’t read the fine print, nor is pro-active in privacy control. The minority may rage and rant, but in the end they are still the minority. So the deed is done, the misdeed still exists and Google now has their social network fast tracked.

Your very angry.... but always forgiving friend,

Tim