Why your number of Diggs is important – A new algo at Digg shows the site now limits the number of stories users can Digg a day to about 90.
Twitters suspended – The full story – Suspended and you don’t know why? You may be experiencing a similar problem as these folks. They were caught up in a spam cloud and were consequently banned – by accident.
How fast can you add Facebook friends? Faster than Facebook will allow – It’s refreshing to see fellow Tribune reporters and columnists discuss social media. I love hearing their perspectives, especially this: Columnist Eric Zorn wanted to test how long it would take for him to acquire 1,000 Facebook friends.
COOL TOOL:Wee! New numbers on social network usage – Good information from Jan. ‘09, but it’s only social networks, not news. (PS Facebook is finally more popular than MySpace.) But what’s REALLY interesting? If you go to compete.com you can totally compare traffic and unique visitors. Very helpful. The only setback is that you have to pretty much log in or pay for anything of worth. Lame.
Google’s Social Web Blog – Finally Google enters the social community with its new blog. I’m excited to see what the giant has to say about social media.
8 Questions to Ask Your “Social Media Expert” – So many people are looking for SMEs, but they don’t know where to start. In my opinion, they need to first decide what they need, followed by this site. It’ll help determine which SME’s are worth their salt and which are not.
–And a related post: When Can We Start to Say “Expert”? – A very nice, basic post that reminds the community that no one can be an expert since it’s constantly changing.
–And one more: How Not to be a Key Online Influencer – An excellent case of “Think before you speak” and “If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all” when working on Twitter.
COOL TOOL:Twitter Influence Calculator – You can be chatty on Twitter, but that doesn’t mean you’re making an impact. Although I don’t entirely agree with this tool, I do find it interesting. It measures several areas of Twitter-use including authority (based on re-Tweets), visibility (based on references) and generosity (based on your RTs).
The 11 Rules of Social Media Etiquette – A great post for anyone starting in social media. Some of this may seem obvious to those who have been around for a while, but if duly noted, it can prevent a social media faux pas.
COOL TOOL:Twopular – Twopular is another tool for keeping track of Twitter trends. I like Twopular because it shows you if a term is increasing/decreasing/holding consistent in popularity; it also tracks the popularity of trends since the site began (Dec. 5, 2008).
I Can Digg It – After you spend enough time in the social media sphere, you become familiar with social media “celebrities” – or power users. MrBabyMan is one of these and is famous for his success on Digg. If you’re looking to learn more about Digg users, or social media in general, this story is a must. It provides a good history of Andrew Sorcini (MrBabyMan) and explains why social media can be so complicated.
How to be a better Tweeter – New to Twitter? Still don’t get it? Here’s a great post that explains how to offer more to the community than your daily breakfast Tweets.
Guideline for Cats – This is right on the money. I can’t say much more without ruining it, but here’s a quick snippet: “Always accompany guests to the bathroom. It is not necessary to do anything . . . just sit and stare.”
Twitter improves service, base; next, revenue – A great intro piece to Twitter explaining its history and purpose. Scroll all the way to the end to find Twitter piggy-backing services.
The Power of a Retweet – Solid, basic post about retweets on Twitter. Also mentions sites like Retweetist, where you can follow who is retweeting, or RTing, you.
Top 10 social media networks for Generation-Y – Other than a few networks, most of these are geared toward college students and recent grads. Some highlights: BrazenCareerist.com – A Digg-like site for blogs; if your blog post is chosen, it could be posted to the front of the site.
10 ways social media will change in 2009 – This year, social media has become a mess, according to the article. Since there are so many sites starting up and evolving, the author says we can look forward to a number of things in 2009:
- It’s about people – Creating meaning and value – Enabling convergence – Building a truly cross-platform experience – Creating relevant social networks – Innovating in the advertising space – Helping people organize their “old” social media ecosystem – Connecting with the rest of the US and the world – Preparing for new social media jobs – Making money
What am I looking forward to? Finding out how some sites (like Twitter) learn to make money, and how advertising becomes effective.
Hi -- thanks for stopping by. I'm Amanda Maurer, Digital News Editor for the Chicago Tribune. This is my personal blog of all things social media: strategy, community issues and generally cool things found online.
Want to find me on the Web? I'm acmaurer on most social news and networking sites.
