100 Tips and Tools to Research the Social Web

Someone brought this article to my attention and after reading it, I thought it would be good to share it with the group. These are solid tips so please read them and pass them on to anyone you know that is trying to build a strong social network:

http://www.selectcourses.com/blog/2009/100-tips-and-tools-to-research-the-social-web/

If you have any articles, tips, tricks, or resources you would like to share please email them to Susan Fischer at susan@clinchportal.com and we will post them.

digitweet - twitter fans this is your tool!!!

I got introduced to this the other day. For you twitter fans there is no better application than this. Its still in beta and the creators are still making it better every day. You will need SilverLight 2.0 to get the best experience from it but the download is worth it.

Check it out at:

http://digitweet.codeplex.com/

If you come across any tools you think the group would find useful please email them to Susan Fischer at susan@clinchportal.com and we will post them here.

Using Twitter More Efficently

People have been asking for help on how to use twitter more efficently and effectively.

STEP 1: Read Amanda Edwards-McArthur's article on useful twitter tools:

http://www.recruitingblogs.com/profiles/blogs/twitter-tools-by-special

STEP 2: Taking a look at my friend, Jeff Pontes' blog on 10 ways to use twitter more effectively:

http://strategysocial.blogspot.com/2009/03/10-ways-to-use-twitter-effectively.html

STEP 3: Read this article on How To Make Twitter A Powerful networking Tool. A friend of mine named Ann recommended this one.

http://communitymarketing.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/04/how-to-make-twitter-a-powerful-networking-tool.html?goback=%2Emml_inbox_none_DATE_1%2Emid_1121182329

As I come across more tools or ways to use twitter more efficiently and effectively I will list them here but for now please read the articles above, they are really useful.

Thanks Amanda and Jeff and Ann for sharing these blog entry.

If you have any tips, tricks or resources you think the other portal members would benefit from please email them to Susan Fischer at susan@clinchportal.com and we will post them here.

I want to pick my own ads

It has been talked about and brainstormed for a while but now someone has actually done it.
This will revolutionize ad serving. If only we could do this with conventional advertisement. Someone could click a button on their tv remote and tell them not to show that commercial again.

You can check out the article at:
http://mashable.com/2008/06/18/listenstoyo/

or check out their beta program at:

http://www.listenstoyou.com/

If you come across something you think people need to hear about social media and social networking please email Susan Fischer at susan@clinchportal.com and we will post it.

facebook new terms of use

For anyone using facebook, please take the time to check this out and comment on it.
This will affect how we all use facebook now and in the future:

http://blog.facebook.com/

If you don't check it out and comment on it now, you have no right to complain later so please check it out and pass it on to anyone you know uses facebook.

Christian Facebook?

A while back I wrote a posting on churches and social networking. You can see the link below:

http://socialnetworkingportal.blogspot.com/2006/11/churches-bible-and-social-networking.html

The new trend now is beyond the church. It leads us to Christians wanting to connect on Social Networks outside the church. This leads to tools like http://www.faithout.com Right now it looks a little rough but the idea is great. For those used to old facebook you will find navigation is similar. If you miss the old facebook then this may be an alternative for you too. It is in beta now but I see great things happening here.

If you know of any other social networking applications or have any other tips, tricks, tools you would like shared please email them to Susan Fischer at susan@clinchportal.com or Chris Williams at chrisw_88@hotmail.com

Social Networking For Kids

The growing trend seems to be to teach networking to kids when they are young.I came across a few websites where an attempt at this has been made. Both seemto be Disney based but one is miles ahead of the other.

The first is bunnytown. I like the aspect of allowing them to control their bunnyand earn carrots by playing games. They then get to spend their carrots on their homeand decorating their bunny. Its kind of a yoville for kids.

http://atv.disney.go.com/playhouse/bunnytown/index.html

The other is a lot more flashier and has a couple really cool features thatare very ingenious. The site is Pixie Hollow and its out there for the new Tinkerbellmovie that is being launched. This site allows kids to create their own fairy and have a fairy name.There are a couple cool safety features they have put in place. Firstly you can use a domain name thatwill allow your friends to come and find you and play with you on the site or anywhere on the go network.However the cool part is it is not giving out any personal info as it cannot match your name or anything like that.

The second cool thing is the chat. There has been a lot of talk about games chat windows being a place parents don'trealize are dangerous. Well Disney is using two versions of a special chat. The first being a list of questions and answers youchoose from a list. The other allows you to choose selected words from a list. This gives the flexability of chat to kids but makesit easier to use and since the word list is sensored your kids will not see obscene words.You can check this one out at:

http://pixiehollow.go.com/

If you have any kids social networking sites or just social networking sites in general you want add or even if you have a suggestion for an article please email Susan Fischer at susan@clinchportal.com