(no subject)

[theweaselking]

Google Buzz sucks.

Dear assholes: I don't want "the abillity to block people who start following me". I don't want "the ability to create a limited profile". I want you to never, ever, ever consider sharing who I send email to with anyone else, ever again. I want the people who use Picasa and Google Reader to get their *private comments* back into private mode without them needing to manually do it.

You dumb fucks.

Comments

[lafinjack.livejournal.com]

http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/millions-of-buzz-users-and-improvements.html

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

You mean that link I put in the original post, on the word assholes (http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/millions-of-buzz-users-and-improvements.html)?

[lafinjack.livejournal.com]

Er, guess it is. So disabling that checkbox doesn't accomplish what you want? You'd prefer it to start unchecked and be opt-in?

[chizzer.livejournal.com]

Exactly! Suddenly altering a system so that my private data is now *public* data without first gaining my express and intentional consent is, frankly, bullshit.

[kafziel.livejournal.com]

What exactly is suddenly made public by the addition of Buzz?

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

#1: Your most frequently contacted list. Made immediately evident to *those who most frequently contact you*, regardless of who those people are.

#2: Your Google Reader and Picasa comments.

[chizzer.livejournal.com]

Potentially?

Personal contacts (read: address book), personal email address, media content directly from my email-linked Google Android phone.

Address book can be read because you automatically "follow" your contacts in a twitter-esque fashion. "Follows" can be viewed through your public profile, which is activated by default.

[lafinjack.livejournal.com]

I mean, I agree, but flipping out about it isn't the best way to get Google to switch it around.

[chizzer.livejournal.com]

But it's SO MUCH FUN! :D

Don't be scared of purposeful anger

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

I think it's precisely the way to get Google to switch it around. People freaking out all over the internet got them to scramble to make it less painful for people who signed up on the second day. Screaming and yelling, in this case, really has a use.

And maybe, just maybe, if enough people bitch loud enough, it'll be remembered the next time someone things about pulling this "You can just opt out! Click here, 500 times, to opt out!" bullshit.

[salmonboxer.livejournal.com]

Screaming and yelling and flipping out about it is EXACTLY the way to get Google to switch it around.

Expressing customer dissatisfaction is the ONLY way to get a company to change what it is doing.

[mhoye.livejournal.com]

For very small segment of the population, arbitrarily changing their privacy settings means somebody might come to their house and beat them to death.

You don't change somebody's privacy settings and start radiating their information to the public without their explicit consent.

[lafinjack.livejournal.com]

You have to elect to use Buzz. If you elect to use Facebook, do you blame Facebook's privacy defaults for telling people the things Facebook privacy defaults tell people?

[thornedillusion.livejournal.com]

If you use gmail, you are automatically using Buzz. Attempting to opt out does nothing.

[lafinjack.livejournal.com]

Man, I am 0 for 2 in this post, somehow I got the impression that you had to opt-in to Buzz. Shutting up now.

[kadath.livejournal.com]

It's turned on automatically, but it doesn't do much except that brain-damaged auto-follow feature. This is non-obvious from how horribly the interface is designed.

Also, I'm not sure this was the case yesterday before people howled.

[the-trav.livejournal.com]

yeah I opted out when I got their invitation... Now I'm unsure if they're violating my privacy or not as I don't have the fancy buzz profile page

[illian.livejournal.com]

This is because you keep applying Logic and Reason from what you would do if you were calling the shot at Google. :)

[lafinjack.livejournal.com]

I thought they were usually better at this kind of thing.

[anivair.livejournal.com]

In your defense, there is a giant stop-page that suggests otherwise. However, I'm not sure that selecting the no option does nothing, but I'm also not sure what it does.

[cacahuate.livejournal.com]

Exactly. (http://geekfeminism.org/2010/02/11/who-you-speak-to-and-where-you-are-why-it-matters/)

[cheshire-bitten.livejournal.com]

Yep, massive fucking misstep.

[aeduna.livejournal.com]

Hi! We've turned the sensible quiet environment of googlereader into a giant kiddies pool like facebook! Hooray!

[divinevirus.livejournal.com]

I think you can turn buzz off. There is a little link to do so at the very bottom of the gmail page. Ctrl+F "turn off buzz" if you can't find it.
I would presume this would completely remove you from the buzz system and keep your privacy safe.
Please pardon me if this is common knowledge, or if doing so does not keep you from being followed by others. I don't know much about this kind of thing.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

That doesn't turn off Buzz. That just stops *showing you* Buzz.