If you work at Google, your ears are surely burning right now. Google's introduction of its Buzz social media tool this week was possibly the most disastrous product debut in the company's 12-year history.

Almost immediately, Google Buzz got smacked around hard by the blogosphere and veteran journos for making it easy to access information -- like who you're in regular contact with -- that people may not have necessarily wanted the rest of the world to know.

What Google Buzz does is essentially mash up two similar but distinct services: Twitter and Facebook. Twitter is very open -- anyone can follow or send messages to anyone else -- but very limited in what people can find out about you. Facebook opens the kimono wider, but offers much more control over what strangers can see. If they don't have your OK, they can't see much (assuming you know how to use FB's privacy settings).

More: http://pcworld.com/article/189388/