|
No, the problem with Google Buzz was that it automatically created social contacts based on e-mail contacts. This would have been fine, except the default was for these contacts to also be public. That, quite obviously, caused a problem. Beyond that, Buzz was not a change to GMail or how we communicate, it was simply an attempt at a twitter-like social service.
What Facebook is doing is different. They're making it so that the Facebook messaging system can draw from multiple different sources and then sort those messages by the person they come from, not the way in which they were sent. So you've got your Facebook contacts who can private message you, or they can Facebook Chat you, or they can e-mail you (at your @facebook.com e-mail), or they can SMS you at the phone number you've linked to your Facebook account. No matter which method they choose, you can get the message in the same place. There are no indications that contacts will be made public - in fact, the way the privacy settings have been described, it'll be like you have an e-mail whitelist (only from approved senders) instead of an e-mail blacklist (block unwanted senders).
It should be noted that Google is reportedly working in a similar direction and plans to introduce more and more social elements to Google Accounts. One example of this can be seen in the newly released Google Hotpot, which has the potential to be a serious competitor to Yelp. It's unclear what plans they might have that relate to the new Facebook Messages - in fact, it's possible that they think having it all go to one device is enough, without explicitly linking everything.
__________________
Le temps détruit tout
"Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling
|