Gmail Gets More Social With Google Buzz And Threatens FaceBook And Twitter

In an attempt to challenge FaceBook and Twitter, Google has launched Google Buzz, which is automatically integrated in Gmail. Google Buzz goes beyond the usual status updates that Twitter is popularly known for by letting people pull-in images, video or other data from websites including Picasa, Flickr, Twitter and Google Reader. You can then share these information to your closest contacts or with the public at large much like what you can do on your FaceBook wall.

Here are the five key features of Google Buzz, as laid out in the event at Google HQ today.

• Automatic friends lists (friends are added automatically who you have emailed on Gmail)
• “Rich fast sharing” combines sources like Picasa and Twitter into a single feed, and it includes full-sized photo browsing
• Public and private sharing (swap between family and friends)
• Inbox integration (instead of emailing you with updates, like Facebook might, Buzz features emails that update dynamically with all Buzz thread content)
• “Recommended Buzz” puts friend-of-friend content into your stream, even if you’re not acquainted. Recommendations learn over time with your feedback.

You can get more information about Google Buzz straight from Google: