In time the answer is a clear Maybe. Google Replay makes it very easy to see what social media conversations are taking place about any keyword(s) you want to watch. Google Replay shows you in real-time the conversations that are taking place across a variety of networks and platforms, ranging from Facebook to Google Buzz to Twitter and more. For example, do you want to see what people think about American Idol?
- Navigate to the Google home page.
- Search for “American Idol”
- Choose Show Options and click on Updates. Search results, updated in the real-time, are now right in front of you.
I know, I know, who wouldn’t want to track American Idol in real-time? 
While Google is clearly your social media data store with real-time updates do not get too excited about being able to replace more expensive solutions anytime soon. While small businesses that are not yet investing in more robust solutions should leverage Replay, others will have to wait for more features to either be built on top of, or around, these additions.
In line with Google’s efforts to become my Twitter client, or rather my social client, it has also added Follow Finder, a recommendation engine for Twitter users. Expect to see a lot more coming out of this tool, or similar tools, as Google works to mine the data to build unique insights on influencers and power users.
2010 is continuing to shape up as an interesting year on the social scene and guess what…. It is only April.
John
April 17, 2010 at 8:05 am
[...] Google is trying to become my social media client, will it be yours? [...]
April 15, 2010 at 7:13 pm
Google’s brand-new Twitter search analysis tool is a big step in this direction. Combining the familiar, simple Google interface with better analytics? Huge.
I think it will be interesting to watch over the next year. Already, it’s interesting to look at how much Google actually knows about you and your web interactions, based on your Gmail, Google Reader, Google Docs usage, Google Calendar, and more. They’re doing very well at becoming a defacto part of life; this will just make it even easier, especially if they eventually build in some sort of Twitter/FB/LI/etc posting client.
But I’ve never used Google Buzz after the first week. Have you?
April 15, 2010 at 7:20 pm
Thanks for the comment Crysta. Google is starting to pull all of these pieces together. Regarding Buzz, yes, I am using it but not yet as a 2-way communication mechanism. Too often I am using it as simply as compliment to Stumbleupon, just another tool to shre interesting information with others.
John