If you have anything to do with the web or the social media world you have at least heard of Google Buzz, Google’s latest dip into the social world. Will it be more successful than Orkut? (Orkut is Google’s 2004 social networking launch of a product that was designed by an employee in his free time. Awesome.)

So why is this in Independent Talk? Because of all the interesting politics going on with this launch. The Social media tech world is increasingly divided, and some of the classic tenets of sharing and open sourcing and all those dreams are being left behind in a race to see who can make the most the fastest and the best. What am I talking about? A few of the players:

1. Google. They’re the search giant. They seem to have a lot of engineering geeks who make complicated products like Microsoft did.
2. Twitter. Super-simple service that has become a big-time spam-fest. A few months back someone from twitter said that they would probably become an invisible messaging system that is just part of what everyone else does- and Google Buzz does just that. And because being a Twitter trending topic actually matters these days.
3. Facebook. Clearly leading the way in the social sharing world with over 300 million active users. They have had a lot of issues with privacy settings and changing their interface frequently.
4. Apple. Why do they get to be in here? Because they know how to build user-interfaces that are actually simple. And Steve Jobs gives way better press conferences. The Google one this morning was like being at camp.
5. Mashable. How they report on it is important.

So, what are the politics?

1. Google is already massive. They come out with a  social media vehicle and everyone is going to give it one look. When they launched Orkut it was quiet and nobody in the U.S. really cared. This time around they made it a bit of a big deal. But is it too little too late? Facebook is already huge, and you know Google is going after them because they REFUSED TO SAY THE WORD FACEBOOK for the entire presentation and news conference. They even denied paying much attention to their competitors. What? It’s like Republicans and Democrats pretending like each other doesn’t exist- oh, wait…
2. Twitter trending topics are still a good gauge of what conversation is going on. #googlebuzz has been on there for hours now. So, at least we know it’s as big of a deal as #twittershizzle and Grand Slams (as in Denny’s breakfast), since those are two other trending topics… Just sayin.
3. The fact that Goolge would not say Facebook means that they are directly targeting Facebook. I’m one of the people Google wants, because I am a big Facebook user and a big Gmail user. What will I do? I have already gmailed and facebooked articles about Google Buzz… ahhhh!
4. Google’s press conferences are not fun to watch. They are corny, over-vocabularized events. They should hire Steve Jobs as a presentation consultant. Then write Google with two Apples for the O’s.
5. What Mashable is saying about Google Buzz in a few days is important. When iPad came out, they invented a new tab on their web page. There’s one for twitter. Will there be one for Google Buzz?

Photo Credit: xmo (via Flickr under CCL)