Google introduces social networking hub

Within days of the news that Facebook planned to challenge Google’s Gmail service by offering its own full e-mail program to users, the world’s largest search engine announced that it would take on the increasingly lucrative and popular world of social networking by launching a brand new service named “Buzz.”  Google Buzz is connected to the company’s existing webmail service and the site has evidently borrowed many of Facebook’s signature ideas. Buzz users will be able to post status updates—just as they would on Facebook—and also track comments and feedback posted by the friends or contacts in their online social circle. Each Buzz user will be invited to add comments to the updates or thoughts posted by their friends and they may even upload or link videos, photos and news items from across the Web. Google’s new service resembles Facebook so closely that it is clear the two companies will be fierce competitors as they each attempt to retain and solidify their positions as leading social networking hubs.

But Google’s Buzz isn’t only going after ideas pioneered by Facebook. Twitter was among the first social networking sites to introduce a mobile phone application, allowing users to track tweets even while on the road. Google has developed a similar mobile application, for those who increasingly access the web from their Blackberry or Apple iPhone. But a novelty for those who use Google Buzz is that they will be able to combine the search engine’s map tools in order to track the exact location of their friends or to simply leave a virtual mark after enjoying a dinner at a favourite restaurant or a pint at the local pub.