Arranged Delirium

I’ve been using Gmail since it was a private beta. It’s basically been my most heavily used email account aside from my college account. In those early days of Gmail there were a number of folks ranting about privacy concerns since Gmail effectively maintains an index of all your messages. I never really cared too much because I don’t really conduct a lot of private discourse via email and I didn’t think there was anything there that I cared about others accessing.

I’ve been annoyed though by Google Buzz. In part, I was annoyed because I didn’t even know about it - these “social features” were simply added to my Gmail account. One reason I didn’t know about though, is because I never check my Gmail account via a web browser - I just use a separate email client because I have multiple accounts I’m checking all the time and its easier to do in one place. My major criticism is with the Buzz features that are enabled by default. I think these significantly impinge upon my privacy, and I think it should be my choice to enter into the Buzz. In essence, before you could change your settings settings, someone could see the people you most frequently email (or chat with). I know I don’t really have any privacy on Facebook, but I’ve always thought of my email as relatively private. Secondly (and an annoyance more than a privacy concern), the overall noise generated by this tool is too great and simply creates more unnecessary information to cull through. Its useless like Twitter.

In Google’s defense, they have made some immediate changes - and fast. But I expect such amateur behavior from Facebook - not from Google. Google is smart enough to have known better before implementing. Here’s a decent article from Silicon Alley Insider that has been following the story as it develops. Here’s a link to an update that covers the changes Google has made. The timeline toward the ned is helpful in learning how the story developed.

So am I abandoning all Google services? No - there are still many Google tools that work for me. Nonetheless, Buzz makes my Gmail account one more thing that I need to worry about in terms of maintenance. So, Goodbye Gmail. I didn’t really need you anyway…