It struck me today that while I signed up as a Twitter user quite a few months ago – that I’ve never been back since and never have posted anything to my my Twitter account. So today I logged in and found that despite me never mentioning my account that I have 60 ‘followers’.
I posted something – and within minutes people were replying – how bizarre.
I think it was partly because when I first signed up I couldn’t post to it via my mobile phone service (I’m presuming I now could as I see a lot of other Aussies using it). The other reason I’ve never really used it was simply because I sometimes feel quite overwhelmed by social media sites. I find it difficult enough to keep a couple of blogs going and to play my part at b5media without up keeping lots of social media sites.
I do attempt to keep social networking sites like my facebook account up to date and log into mySpace and LinkedIn from time to time (as well as attempting to be an active StumbleUpon user) – but between them and day to day blogging I guess I find that there’s only so much a guy can do in any given day. While I’m convinced that social media is an amazing tool and something that bloggers need to explore – I guess I’m starting to feel a little social networking burnout due to the number of options to participate.
My question to you (and I know this makes two posts in a row where I’ve asked questions) is:
“How many social networking sites are you actively involved in?”
And which ones are you most active in (list them from most active to least if you like).
PS: and one last question for you hard core Twitterers (I can’t believe my spell check didn’t flag that!)…. How do you use Twitter? Is it purely for friendship, do you use it to promote your blogs, is there some other business application that you’ve found for it… etc?
I’m involved in digg – mostly commenting and digging. I rarely submit stories, Stumble upon for friends and stuff I really “stumble upon”, del.icio.us has too many dots in their domain name.
I think that’s about it. My twitter account is dormant, as are many others. I’m not anti-social just got too much going on :)
I use my blog, and comment on other blogs, more often than a social site to connect with readers and fellow bloggers.
Hey Darren – I hear ya loud and clear on the social media burnout thing.
I’ve narrowed my own use down to just:
1) Facebook
2) LinkedIn
3) StumbleUpon
For me they’re the ones that give me the best value.
That’s how I feel too – interacting with other bloggers provides more social networking than the social networks themselves.
I think most of the social network stuff is overblown hype – the real stuff going on is in blogging.
I wrote a post yesterday detailing with the hows and whys of social networking, specifically how many can be reasonably managed and who is more likely to keep up with multiple networks.
Check it out here: http://horimono.blogspot.com/2007/09/how-many-social-networks-can-one-person.html
Personally I follow the rule of 3: 1 personal, 1 business, and 1 niche site. I think this is the perfect number to efficiently manage my interests, friends and work.
I actively participate in the top 3 social networks (digg, reddit, SU). I try to submit about 10 stories to every network daily, but I probably spend a few hours simply reading stories on these networks.
Social networking is the best way to promote your blog if your content sucks.
Actually, it’s pretty much the only way.
There’s nothing hype about the social networks as far as I’m concerned. Just try out Stumbleupon firstly by adding a few of your choice posts — particularly, if your blog is newish and you don’t enjoy the exposure Darren has — as yet. AND – when you check your web stats a couple of weeks later it will motivate you to look at Social bookmarking with new eyes.
Mainly Two
Facebook-Great medium to find every other blogger on this earth!
Orkut- because of the local flavour. Lot of my fellow country men use orkut extensively and posting in a hot thread will definitely bring in few hundred hits.
I can manage to keep a few social networks active, but there are a bit too many social networks at the moment.
Digg is one of my favourites.
I have quite a few social networking accounts but i must say I hardly use any of them except hi5.
Honestly for me there is no BUSINESS-REASON for visiting hi5 everyday. Most of my friends are on hi5, so i just logon to view their new photos(of course when i dont have much doing).
As a matter of fact, hi5 is the most visited social networking in my country GHANA(Africa), so it is easier searching for friends and all.
Aside hi5, below are the social networking sites i visit; say once in a week.
1. technorati
2. digg
3. myspace
4. facebook
5.StumbleUpon
6. Twitter
I have joined numerous social networking sites but have never done much any of them except for LinkedIn which allows me to keep track of friends I met irl.
I am so busy I don’t really have time to look for new friends to meet so we can kill time by hangin’ out and chatting.
I do however frequent WarriorForum.com on a regular basis. I have found to it to contain a wealth of info on Internet Marketing.
orkut for connection with friends
stumble upon for new websites. I do really give thumbs up to the ones which deserve..
else its the commenting on other blogs which i think is best way to socialize and create readers for your blog!
I’m on LinkedIn and have introduced a couple of people, but that’s it. I have an account on Facebook, Ryze and Twitter, but haven’t really used them.
Although I don’t know if you could really call it a “social networking” site, I’ve been using ZoomInfo quite a bit. It’s pretty handy when you need to look someone up. It’s the equivalent of Alexa for the workforce.
I’ve really been enjoying StumbleUpon. I usually spend an hour or so a week bopping around the internet with SU and visiting sites I never would have found through searches.
I hate MySpace with a passion. Even if it were the magic ticket to unlimited traffic and income, I still would stay off of it. It is a perfect example of how wrong it can go when you give people with NO design sense free reign of the HTML candy store.
I really can’t think of anyone interesting enough that I would willing to trudge through MySpace sludge for.
I used to do stumbleupon a lot, but since I’ve started trying to network by interaction with other bloggers, I’ve kinda let that slip. I still check in regularly, but I don’t stumble much. I don’t get Twitter. I have a myspace account but have not done much with it.
I think social networking sites are great for the general public. However for serious blogging or website construction, they are generally a distraction – one that I wasted way too much time at.
I’ve got to agree. I find MySpace to be more akin to MySpamPornPlace and I’ve not yet found the time to delve into Facebook (although I have an account there). I stumble for ideas and personal pleasure, and I walk through a list of about 100 feeds every day and comment on those that intrigue me… which ain’t many (note about 6 for ProBlogger which is saying something!)
I keep Facebook primarily for friends & have a separate one for one of my business projects.
I use Stumbleupon for inspiration & when I’ve checked & read all my other feeds, emails, sites etc.
I have just started “twittering” more having joined up with an active group of hardcore twitterers who seem to use it mostly for social purposes. I initially joined to use it as a way to update family of my whereabouts in the world as I’m a permanent traveller & location independent professional and get tired of sending multiple texts every time we arrive somewhere new.
Myspace/LinkedIn – have profiles but rarely use them.
Like others, blogging is my communication & interaction channel of choice and with 3 blogs + guest writing on 2 others, it keeps me more than busy!
I use a bunch of the social networks. Mainly out of research for topics that I write or speak about. Here are the ones that are most useful:
Myspace: (ugh! please switch to Facebook) all of my “real” friends are there, so I am too.
Linkedin: I use for work related research and networking.
Digg & Stumbleupon: Finding cool stories and marketing my blog.
Flickr: Sharing photos with my family and friends.
Pandora: Finding new music.
Some of these are not always the “Best” apps, but they have the most people that I know. How use would you explain that fact that I still use my AOL IM name?
I joined Digg at the early stages.. facebook (for family stuff only), myspace (which I never use), stumble upon, reddit, delicious, newsvine and pounce. I also have some other ones like Twitter but never actually use them.
Social Networking is good but can be time consuming with no real benefit is not done properly. One has to be careful to not spend too much time B.S.’ing and actually networking for marketing purposes.. uneless you’re just having fun.
Insane Seb
http://www.insanemoneymarket.com
The only one I actively use is StumbleUpon. Digg and Reddit casually. I enjoy Facebook, but my enthusiasm for it has waned since the initial “this is the best thing since sliced bread” attitude. Could never be bothered with MySpace. Things such as Twitter are on my “maybe/ someday” list. I don’t think I will get to it though until someone really convinces me as to why I need it.
Though we haven’t had large-scale success, I have been experimenting with Twitter to promote our e-commerce site. I was very skeptical at first, but we have posted a few discount coupon codes with limited success.
We also automate posts using twitterfeed, to provide other relevant health information (we sell healthcare products), so our twitter posts are not just “hey buy your stuff here.” kind of posts.
I think for commerce, I have found 3 uses so far:
1. Post discount codes and specials.
2. Post relevant blog or news articles
3. Post real-time status updates (i.e. shipping status, etc.)
We are currently using Amazon.com’s Webstore platform (while we write our own software), and it’s quite limited in its functionality when it comes to interacting with customers.
Twitter helps us “humanize” our store and make people feel comfortable shopping with us.
StumbleUpon
Facebook
MyBlogLog
Delicious
LinkedIn
Reddit
Digg
Flickr
MySpace
Yahoo Mash
Think that’s it! No Twitter though.
MyBlogLog
Facebook
MySpace
hi5
Yuwie
Mainly Flickr but even that is gonna be cut back!
I do like MyBlogLog + BlogCatalog tho + even SpicyPage for interacting with Bloggers!!
;))
Peace*
I don’t use Twitter that often.
I used to use social networking sites quite a lot about a year ago. However, I fell away from it over time. I am starting to get back into it more, though after signing up to Virb.
Sometimes I like to digg stuff and add links to my del.icio.us.
I try to keep up with quite a few, but here is how they land:
* StumbleUpon
* Twitter
* Flickr
* Zooomr
* Del.icio.us
* Digg
* Pownce
* MyBlogLog
* FaceBook
* MySpace
* LinkedIn
Darren,
I just added you to my facebook friends, linkedin and Twitter feed! I do however use blogging both writing and comment as something more in depth like sitting around with friends in roundtable discussion or attending a seminar and being invited to the microphone. However the thing I like about Facebook is it always me to see friends there as a more well rounded person, Twitter allows you to think in elevator speech or headline mode and can be useful channel for broadcast to those interested in receiving those kind of updates. I’m pretty much settled on Twitter as my microblogging application, Facebook as my general social network and Flickr and by specific interest. BTW, you can broadcast your Flickr, blog and other RSS updatable items via Twitterfeed.com.
I kind of wish e-mail or rather a PIM application could handle microblogging and social networks via options in your address book. The closest thing I see to this is Plaxo which is a lot better now that it was in it’s previous more intrusive format.
For me personally, I’ve signed up to several Social Networks and Social Media websites, but it’s not the number that’s the issue, it’s managing all of those profiles that’s the main problem.
I don’t mind the influx of feedback from contacts, principally because I’ve got a workflow in place to deal with that.
We really need some standardized method of managing all of those profiles, rather than everyone having to endlessly sign up to yet another service with yet another profile…
I agree Wayne. I only have so many hours I have restricted myself to either the most popular or what works for me. Yet I have signed up for a lot more just to secure my user name “brand” but in the past month or two it has gotten ridiculous. Thier needs to be a standard way to bring a lot of these things together into something easier to manage. I don’t want to stop kicking the tires and exploring but we need to get a better grasp on if our explorations are fruitful or dead ends.
Hey there, Mr. Problogger. I do a lot of social networking. The biggest one I am involved with is facebook, friendster, hi5. I am trying to add more of them but since I am a full time student, time is hard to find. After December, I will be doing more social networking
Do you make a distinction between social networking sites like LinkedIn, FaceBook, and MySpace from social bookmark sites like Digg, Stumble Upon, and Del.icio.us?
Is seems as though the lines between theme are starting to blur, however, I uses LinkedIn and Stumble Upon very differently.
I’m very happy you tackled this topic Darren because I too find it overwhealming. I have accounts with:
squidoo
mybloglog
stumbleupon
digg
and I’m not very active on any of them because of the lack of time. For stumpleupon, I’ll start exploring the “advertisement” option because I read this week that a number of bloggers where getting excellent results at a low cost.
Given a comment that was left earlier by another blogger, I will consider Twitter.com and see how that works.
That said, Darren, I have a question for you or others who are part of this discussion:
Is it a good idea to higher the services of those companies that (manually) submit your site to social networks or is that a waste ot money?
THanks,
Gisele
http://www.mybeautymatch.com
Because i am german i use german networks.. ;)
Xing
Fellowweb
Yigg
Seoigg
infopirat
Townster
English;
sometimes: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook
Twitter
MyBlogLog
Digg
and I just started using Tumblr. To get all my usernames vist here.
I’m not really a social networking ‘junkie’, but I do digg posts, and Twit once or twice a day.
I use MySpace and YouTube often, but not to promote my blog.
From time to time I’ll use my StumbleUpon and Digg accounts.
Funny I’ve never even heard of Twitter. I’m gonna check it out. Thanks.
Not too many for me:
– LinkedIn
– Flickr
Myspace, Netscape, Delicious, Mybloglog, Reddit, Digg and a few others. The sites mentioned are the main ones. Reddit does not seem to be worthwhile. Actually, it seems to be a waste of time, while Digg and Delicious is ignored quite a bit now. These numerous social networking sites are getting tiresome. How many friends can a person really have on a dozen different websites? It becomes ridiculous after a while.
Phfftt..
Social networking is for social people… :)
Face Book
Tumblr
Flickr
del.icio.us
Stumble Upon
My Blog Log
Linked In
and yes, Twitter which I find very useful for ‘snap polling’ or quick questions, and responses to colleagues.
I’m very very social! :)
Wanna see…just give me a buzz!
MyBlogLog and massively stumbleupon, it’s just brilliant, i love it :D
I mostly just Digg and Pownce. Facebook is fairly up to date, but I only log in when somebody has sent me a message. Anything else is rarely gets a second look.
This is such strange timing because I’ve been writing up a post on “how I spend my time online”!
A quick rundown:
Flickr
Twitter
del.icio.us
MyBlogLog
Facebook (ehh…not too much)
LinkedIn
Y! Mash (occasionally)
As for Twitter, I use it for announcement-type things that I know my friends can relate to. Most of the people following my Twitter stream are people I go to school with, so when I mention something about a specific class or homework, I’m guaranteed to get a response.
Another thing I use it for is getting multiple friends’ attention at the same time. On Friday, for example, I was dying to cook a nice dinner, so I Twittered that I would be making chicken parm for anyone who wanted it. Within 5 minutes I had a dinner party of 5 assembled and it turned out to be a blast.
While Twitter only catches the attention of my more web-savvy friends, it’s still an incredibly useful tool!
Does Xanga count? You know, before all these networking sites come along, like friendster, facebook, myspace, people used to just use Xanga blogs to connect with each other.
I have a myspace account but I almost never use it. Too much clutter.
I check facebook very frequently. This has to do with the fact that I’m only two years out of college and a bunch of my friends are still in school.
I participate in a few social networking sites (primarily Facebook), but strangely none of them are ever used to promote my blog. Sure, it’s relatively new, but I just don’t think it would help for *me*. Twitter, maybe, but since nobody knows me, it’s like I’m twittering into the ether :)
Darren – to be really honest, I don’t get the time either. And I also limit my offline networking events too.
I’ve found that with any type of networking, quality is better than quantity.
Maybe I’m too old, but myspace and stumbleupon really confuse me, and I just can’t get into them somehow.
Funnily enough though – I do get a bit of traffic from stumbleupon considering all I did was sign up (it scared me too much when the system emailed my entire mailing list, without me realising what was going to happen!).
Tooo many to name but some of the big one are
1. StumbleUpon
2. Myspace
3. MyBlogLog
About 5 more but those 3 are my most active.
By interacting with others that you find interesting, and that find you interesting, the network you are building is created by respect, and peaked and/or shared interests. Not just a random stumble or a popular vote, but actual interest in what you are doing, saying and showing.
Besides my favoraite blogs, I also use Digg, Technorati, LinkedIn, Facebook, MyBlogLog, and Twitter.
I try and limit it to;
Facebook
LinkedIn
Submitting stories to;
Digg
Stumble
Too hard keeping all profiles up to date.
I have signed up for many that have fallen by the wayside.
To actually “network” I only use Facebook. MySpace got to “teenagerish” for me. Although with all of the new apps, Facebook is feeling a little MySpacey lately. I mostly use Facebook to keep up with a few old friends and all of my former students.
I also use Flickr, but only for hosting photos. I don’t go looking around at other people’s pictures really.
And I use Stumble to surf, and I do occasionally submit a cool page that I find there.
Other than that, my networking is done through blogging and it suits me just fine.
My Blog Log
Ryze
This are the two I use most.I have signed up for many others,but rarely use any of them.
Take care
Steven