Buzz finally blinks (predictably)

When it first came out, the Google Buzz Anti-Privacy Social System was pilloried to such an extent that even the planned PR hype was overshadowed. Google's initial response was that We The Users were just confused, and would Get It over time. We at Broadstuff dumurred, and predicted that:

It is very clear what Google will have to do in the short term:

- Firstly, disconnect Buzz from GMail until they've sorted all this out. But they will resist it (update - are resisting this) as it destroys their instant market share massive

- Secondly, make the "expose privacy" functionality opt-in, not default. But they will resist this even more strongly as that is no doubt the core internal value proposition.

- Thirdly, Grovel. Admit they got it wrong. Blame an Intern for it all. Just do something to show they understand the errors of their ways.

Well, its been nearly a month of Google ducking and weaving - you can just feel their cognitively dissonant conflict between not wanting to admit they have erred, and wanting lots of users - but potential users watched their mechanations and stayed away in droves. So it looks like they have finally blinked - Mashable:

In an announcement that will be coming soon, Google (Google) will admit that they “didn’t get everything right,” which has resulted in serious privacy tweaks since its launch. However, many users weren’t affected by these changes because they had activated Google Buzz (Google Buzz) before the privacy updates.

Now in a renewed effort to correct its gaffs, the search company is going to ask all Google Buzz users to confirm (or change) their Buzz settings. This will be gradually rolled out tomorrow, but the result will be that every user will be prompted with a confirmation page the next time they click the Buzz tab.

Mashable believes the major aim of this is to divert the various official shots across the bows, such as the Federal Trade Commission.

Will this work, or is it too late? Actually, the biggest problem they have is that most people find the service a bit like Friendfeed - there is just too much "there" there, its too complex to use easily, and the content it has doesn't reward the effort of use.

Add that to the privacy furore and its going to be a long, hard road.....