The “Nuclear Option” for Google Buzz has arrived.
To coin a phrase from Lifehacker.com, you can choose to completely nuke Google Buzz from your account. Looking at the screenshots via this¬†PCWorld article, I wonder if this has anything to do with the recent FTC complaint filed against Google for the way that the “don’t be evil” search giant handled the rollout of Buzz?
Google has updated Gmail to include a “Buzz” tab, where you can prevent the public from seeing your followers list, remove the Buzz inbox from Gmail, and, as the nuclear option, completely kill your Buzz accountThat last link, with the warning sign and red text, completely removes Buzz from your Google Profile, according to its wording. A commenter notes that it might also kill your Google Profile entirely, so be cautious if that’s something you want to keep around.
I’m blocked from Gmail at work and can’t bring up the full desktop version from my iPhone, so I guess I’ll have to wait to do this until later this eve. But there is that note about deleting your Google Profile that will be interesting to watch. I find it interesting that Google is taking a course of action here that will not just bring you back to where you started before Buzz, but actually to a lower level of end-user engagement by deleting profiles. If anything, this privacy debacle has made me take a good look at what I use my Google account for besides email, if not thinking about pulling my personal email from Google entirely – with the full support from my lovely wife who noted that it’s not like I haven’t changed my address a bunch of times recently. 
UPDATE: Yup, it works as advertised from what I can tell. No more Buzz and no more Google Profile.
Categorised as: Online