I'm not at all happy about it. I signed up for gmail because I wanted an email account that worked.

While I appreciate that Twitter and Facebook can (but only if I expressly ask them to!) talk to each other and that my self-hosted blog can communicate as well, I don't want a single site to rule them all.

Google is becoming increasingly Redmondesque in its integration of apps within an operating system. I don't like it one bit.

I try not to follow myself in comments, but I'm starting to get really aggravated by Google. All of a sudden, I have all these requests to “follow my shared items.” I realize google wants to tap into the power of social media, but I use google reader because it's an easy way to see who has updated their blog, not because I want to turn web surfing into a group activity. I think what frustrates me the most is the assumption on their part that I desire to turn everything I do into a public event.

Where do the introverts go to hide?

Good question. They really should make an easy way to turn the whole thing off if you don't like it. Perhaps if you remove Reader from Buzz?

I have mixed feelings on Google. They do seem to want to have control of everything, but they also seem to favor keeping those things open (e.g. how they've opened Google Wave to federation). If people actually take advantage of Google's open initiatives, it might keep them from ever doing anything too nasty.

I had to just “ignore” all the friend requests. Most were automated as others signed in to gmail for the first time, but I had to have one awkward conversation with a friend who was devastated that I wouldn't approve him.

Yikes, Caedmon!

Oddly, only one person even shows up as a potential connection on my Buzz. I'm not sure my Buzz is buzzing.