Written on October 1st, 2007 at 12:10 am by Darren Rowse
How Much Social Networking Do You Do?
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?
110 Responses to “How Much Social Networking Do You Do?” - Add Yours
Hyder
October 1st, 2007 12:15 am
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.
Martin Neumann | SmallOfficeAustralia
October 1st, 2007 12:28 am
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.
Jeremy
October 1st, 2007 12:29 am
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.
Coop
October 1st, 2007 12:30 am
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.
ALEX
October 1st, 2007 12:40 am
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.
The How-To Geek
October 1st, 2007 12:55 am
Social networking is the best way to promote your blog if your content sucks.
Actually, it’s pretty much the only way.
Roseanne
October 1st, 2007 1:01 am
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.
Ramanujam
October 1st, 2007 1:27 am
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.
Sander
October 1st, 2007 1:27 am
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.
Michael Boateng
October 1st, 2007 1:31 am
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
Nick's Marketing Tutorials
October 1st, 2007 1:31 am
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.
Salman Siddiqui
October 1st, 2007 1:42 am
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!
Carla
October 1st, 2007 1:43 am
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.
Mike Goad
October 1st, 2007 1:58 am
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.
Shawn Hoefer
October 1st, 2007 2:01 am
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!)
Lea
October 1st, 2007 2:01 am
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!
vitamincm
October 1st, 2007 2:03 am
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?
Insane Seb
October 1st, 2007 2:03 am
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
Peter (www.iwillchangeyourlife.com)
October 1st, 2007 2:06 am
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.
Lalit Dhadphale
October 1st, 2007 2:08 am
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.
Jeff Quipp
October 1st, 2007 2:10 am
StumbleUpon
Facebook
MyBlogLog
Delicious
LinkedIn
Reddit
Digg
Flickr
MySpace
Yahoo Mash
Think that’s it! No Twitter though.
Chris Jacobson
October 1st, 2007 2:18 am
MyBlogLog
Facebook
MySpace
hi5
Yuwie
BillyWarhol
October 1st, 2007 2:21 am
Mainly Flickr but even that is gonna be cut back!
I do like MyBlogLog + BlogCatalog tho + even SpicyPage for interacting with Bloggers!!
;))
Peace*
Pádraig
October 1st, 2007 2:23 am
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.
Brian Auer
October 1st, 2007 2:32 am
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
Patrick
October 1st, 2007 3:16 am
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.
Wayne Smallman
October 1st, 2007 3:19 am
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…
Patrick
October 1st, 2007 3:27 am
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.
Vik Dulat - Making Money the Easy Way
October 1st, 2007 3:36 am
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
Robb D
October 1st, 2007 3:38 am
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.
Gisele
October 1st, 2007 3:53 am
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
Yannick Eckl
October 1st, 2007 4:02 am
Because i am german i use german networks.. ;)
Xing
Fellowweb
Yigg
Seoigg
infopirat
Townster
English;
sometimes: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook
Zach Kollegger
October 1st, 2007 4:06 am
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.
Jason
October 1st, 2007 4:31 am
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.
Fab
October 1st, 2007 5:06 am
Not too many for me:
- LinkedIn
- Flickr
Nicole
October 1st, 2007 5:45 am
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.
Mr. GrownUP Geek
October 1st, 2007 6:05 am
Phfftt..
Social networking is for social people… :)
Kate Foy
October 1st, 2007 6:13 am
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.
Prashant Vikram
October 1st, 2007 6:13 am
I’m very very social! :)
Wanna see…just give me a buzz!
Tibi Puiu
October 1st, 2007 6:26 am
MyBlogLog and massively stumbleupon, it’s just brilliant, i love it :D
Eggo
October 1st, 2007 6:44 am
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.
Jenn Vargas
October 1st, 2007 7:27 am
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!
Kelvin Kao
October 1st, 2007 7:29 am
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.
Mark
October 1st, 2007 7:36 am
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 :)
CatherineL
October 1st, 2007 7:43 am
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!).
WarriorBlog
October 1st, 2007 7:43 am
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.
Eric
October 1st, 2007 7:50 am
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.
Neil Duckett
October 1st, 2007 7:52 am
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.
Bob
October 1st, 2007 8:01 am
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.
Steven Wilson
October 1st, 2007 8:35 am
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
Veronique
October 1st, 2007 9:09 am
This is a question that comes up for me a lot. My career these past 10+ years has been in social media so I am always looking at social networks and social media apps (sometimes it’s a fine line between one and the other).
The sites that I use most are as follows:
1. LinkedIn to keep in touch with business contacts (but friends are there as well)
2. Facebook for personal contacts (but business folks are there as well)
3. Flickr — a wonderful, and unexpected way to keep in touch with people.
4. Twitter is my mates for the most part, and a few people that I work with on remote projects.
Twitter has turned into an interesting team building tool, along with Facebook, because you end up learning little bits about people that you wouldn’t normally in a virtual working relationship.
I’m terrible about using the social link sharing sites (digg, sk*rt, stumble, reddit, etc.), even though I know they bring me more traffic when I make an effort to submit relevant links. I do use del.icio.us a lot, and have recently switched to only setting new links to “public” if they are relevant to my kids’ craft blog as I’ve got it streaming in with my blog feed. I doubt my product management, online community, and web2.0 links would be of much interest to that audience!
I haven’t been a fan of the blogger networks like MyBlogLog, mostly because they’ve never felt like sincere communities to me… more like a pack of wolves looking to take advantage of all the other wolves (yes, I do have a vivid imagination!).
Kirk Warren
October 1st, 2007 9:36 am
I typically visit forums and blogs related to my niche. While I’ve used Digg and StumbleUpon, I have never seen any gains from them as of yet.
Digg brought me a 20-30 visitors, but huge bounce rate. Doing the leg work myself at the forums or blogs and I get much better traffic with people that are actually interested in the topic and willing to come back.
Stumble Upon has brought 0 visitors or Google Analytics doesnt show it as coming from SU in the referrals. Either way, I don’t think the few articles I’ve submitted from my own site have really been picked up upon.
Other than that, I join Facebook, but do nothing with it. It’s more of a ‘join so people stop sending me invites’ type response. Same with mySpace and other random sites.
So, digg and SU are probably all I really use from the big lists of social networks.
Kirk Warren
The Weekly Crisis
http://www.weeklycrisis.com
WizCoder
October 1st, 2007 9:40 am
I am all facebook which a lot easier and faster than the rest.
Webomatica
October 1st, 2007 10:54 am
To be honest it takes a lot of busy work to keep track of many different profiles – and I agree it might be more trouble than it’s worth. Ultimately the most accurate “social networking profile” is my blog – if only these sites would tap into the information there rather than me having to do to them and login..
Coach Kip
October 1st, 2007 11:14 am
To answer your question, I am signed up for as many sites as I can. I am only active in a few of them.
StumbleUpon. I am totally addicted to this little tool. It is great, and I keep it current and active. I find that if I stumble my own posts I get a little boost in traffic everytime.
I am kind of involved in Facebook. I do not update it often, but I go to it a few times a week.
I use Digg, Reddit and Technorati a lot, but I have not found a whole lot of traffic generated from those sites. I like to use it more like a personal bookmark site storing what I like.
Those 5 is all that I can really keep up with. The rest I have is just for marketing purposes, but I am not utilizing them so I do not have a lot of pull with those.
Prashant
October 1st, 2007 11:33 am
I have only account on Digg
I like digg very much….
Dave Starr --- ROI Guy
October 1st, 2007 11:55 am
I wasn’t even going to comment until I saw Webomatica’s suggestion.
I have a LinkedIn profile and occasionally update there, but there is very little “community” to that service … it’s a directory more than anything else..
I see nothing “social” about delicious … it’s just a bookmark site, Digg, in my limited experience has nothing but socially deprived unfreindly clique members, so I waste no time there. I quit looking at Digg or NetScape as a source of news because the front pages are distorted by the “in crowd” in both places .
I’ve thought a couple times about trying Twitter, but Darren’s report that after all this tie he had a whopping 60 followers tell me that in a year, considering the difference in visibility, stature and social skills between Darren and I, I would be lucky to have one.
I wish there was a social network/back channel group where bloggers could share messages about blogging, instead of having to leave comments on each other’s blogs … but I haven’t found it yet … suggestions welcome
David Savage
October 1st, 2007 12:25 pm
I think StumbleUpon is the one people need to use. Most of my big blog traffic is generated from SU, however, I’ve gotten pretty popular on digg and I see some okay traffic from them. I’d say Reddit and Delicious are too hard to get quality traffic from unless you’ve been an active member for a while.
I spend very little time using social networks anymore, I have 3 myspace accounts, one personal, one gaming, and one business, but I hardly use them anymore.
I feel sites like Xanga, Facebook, and Myspace are black hat ways of getting traffic because of friend blasting software and spamming members.
And Twitter, lol, nope.
Leon
October 1st, 2007 1:00 pm
I use hi5 and MySpace, but not to promote my blog. Guess I should start.
Shankar Ganesh
October 1st, 2007 1:14 pm
I’m particularly active on Orkut, since a lot of Indians and my fellow classmates hang out there.
There’s not much you can do to promote your blog via Orkut. It’s not much customizable either.
Twitter is kinda fun. I use my IM to broadcast messages to buddies on Twitter, and it’s kinda easy. Most of my friends too use IM, and they instantly receive my message, my links, etc.
Robert Tatum
October 1st, 2007 1:24 pm
Time is definitely a factor for me as well. The only social networking sites that I really use are:
Digg
Del.icio.us
Reddit
I have a Facebook and linkedin account, but I have not had the opportunity to take the time to use them.
jen at semantically driven
October 1st, 2007 1:34 pm
I’m trying to come to grips with this social media thing. I get how it works but it’s damn hard trying to integrate it all with my daily life and my blogging.
First and foremost my blog is my social network, then:
- Flickr
- Bumpzee
- StumbleUpon
and lately Facebook.
I have to cut back though as it’s getting ridiculous. My blog and Flickr are staying. On the very odd occasion I’ve been stumbled it’s generated good traffic so Bumpzee and to a certain extent Facebook might slip off the list a bit.
Now, if they could be integrated a bit better somehow……
deusdiabolus
October 1st, 2007 1:38 pm
I currently have about 100 accounts all over the net. If it sounds unique then I try to check it out. The places I spend the most time would be Clipmarks, StumbleUpon, LiveJournal, Terapad and Wink.
Brad V.
October 1st, 2007 1:42 pm
I probably use Facebook the most, and that’s to keep up with my friends and see what they’re up to.
I also use LinkedIn as a way of professional networking. I know someone who got a great job via this site, so it’s worth the time.
I used to be much more active with Facebook, but now my priorities have shifted, so it’s much more of a passive activity now. Since I’ve gotten serious about blogging, I hardly ever have free time to surf around Facebook.
peteej
October 1st, 2007 1:43 pm
MyBlogLog
BlogCatalog
Stumble Upon
del.icio.us
and soon to be…
Facebook
MySpace
No Twitter, though. I don’t get it.
James Seay
October 1st, 2007 1:47 pm
Originally I started with myspace. Now I have added LinkedIn and Facebook. In addition to my blog, this rounds out my social networks. I swear not to join another!
Andy Merrett
October 1st, 2007 4:36 pm
Hands on I use Facebook primarily. My Twitter account pushes out various content from my RSS feeds, which is probably cheating – I haven’t manually updated it for months. Also trying to do a few bits with Stumbleupon and Streakr, though I forget!
As you say, Darren, there’s just not enough time to do everything, and social networking tends to fall to the bottom of the pile – though I do love Facebook it’s probably used 80% of the time for personal relationships.
Lawrence Bojkovic
October 1st, 2007 6:02 pm
Good question Darren.
I have recently joined Facebook, Jaiku, LinkedIn as well as set up my own network.
At first glance it seemed that they were full of “collector’s” who simply wanted to amass as many “friends” as possible. Hopefully, that type of user is on the decrease and we can begin to make some meaningful connections through them.
From a Blogging point-of-view they appear to be complimentary and perfect for attracting a wider audience to at least look at your blog.
I agree with an earlier poster who said that 3 social networks is probably the maximum that can be maintained by one person. Although you could possibly handle more through using RSS feeds.
IMHO it’s still early days and we probably need another year or so before the functionality improves to the point where updating several accounts becomes more intuitive.
Freesms
October 1st, 2007 6:26 pm
Friendly Social network can get you good traffic to your blog . I use stumble upon. I don’t use twitter and LinkedIn. If you post a interesting topic for reader in your social network, you can get more traffic.
Netvalar
October 1st, 2007 7:13 pm
I regularly use
Sellaband.com
Myspace.com
Tagworld.com
Stumbleapon and digg
That is all I can handle however having my blog set-up for the springwise widget and many other social networking sites having RSS on the main profile I from time to time sign up for a new one and just set-up my blog to show on the front page. Without active participation though I don’t get much from these others.
Robin Capper
October 1st, 2007 7:24 pm
I belong to;
Old Friends: Literally for school era contacts. Mainly read up where people have ended up rather than making many actual contacts but still worthwhile.
LinkedIn for Professional contacts. I’ve found LinkedIn good for industry related stuff. Not many new connections via it, a few good ones, but really good to formalise blogging & conference connections. I also like their growing “Q&A” section.
I don’t get Facebook but that’s because I’ve never been in it. I don’t like the closed nature of it and won’t spend time on something which hides it’s benefits behind a compulsory sign-in. Sign-in to contribute is fine but just to view, no thanks!
The best social networking vehicle I’ve found is having my own blog. More real contacts and “community” than any social site.
Lila
October 1st, 2007 7:45 pm
I use
#Myspace
#Facebook
#Yahoo Mash/360
#StumbleUpon
#Digg
#Del.icio.us
#MyBlogLOg
#BlogCataLog
#Bumpzee
and I also actively get participated with many facilities they have provided because I love making friends one thing and the other thing is that I can promote my Blog there.
Sigmar
October 1st, 2007 7:54 pm
I had been pruely relying on content, which I am still building (so I have a healthy back catalogue).
However, I was recently added to Facebook by a friend and I’m already getting hit regularly even though my site is quite a fringe interest.
I’ll bee looking into it a lot more.
Excellent site.
Sigmar
battle reports
Shane Joe Lazar
October 1st, 2007 8:33 pm
-Facebook
-Orkut
-Hi5
-Friendster
-Digg
-Technorati
Dennis Schipper
October 1st, 2007 8:53 pm
I use digg and reddit mostly for promoting my blog. I used to go through digg posts every day but i have less time for it now. I use technorati and stumbleupon to lesser degrees, although i might stumble for a while when i have time at work.
I also have accounts on delicious, flickr and other similar sites but i use them less and less.
If i exclude promoting my blog from all the social web sites i use, i would only had accounts on digg and stumbleupon.
James Mann
October 1st, 2007 8:58 pm
thanks for the reminder to get my butt over to my Twitter Account and start updating.
I think I tend to go over board on the number of social network sites until I have too many to maintain. It may be better to cut back and do a few properly.
Sam Smith
October 1st, 2007 9:00 pm
As far as social networking sites go, I’m not *heavy* on activity. As a full time college student though, Facebook is a God-send for me.
Every group and club you see on campus has their own group on Facebook, as well as many of the classes. It’s the simple fact that Facebook allows to stay in contact with old friends, meet new ones, and experience a higher degree of communication that makes it ideal for the college student.
Because my education comes first, I tend to only blog when I have the time or whenever inspiration strikes. As far as integrating my blogging and Facebook goes, I simply have links to my blog under “activities” on my Facebook profile, and I’ve had several people tell me that those links are how they came across my blog.
Serge
October 1st, 2007 9:08 pm
I’m not yet into much social networking. I should figure out all those sites that are mentionned here more in detail (del.icio.us, Linked, Stumble Upon, etc.). I already had a quick look at some of them a while ago but it’s not always clear to me how to use these sites effectively and if there could be really advantages for my blog.
analogstuff
October 1st, 2007 10:19 pm
I use only Stumbleupon and and i see that recently they have started using google adsense init so stopped using it.
Dr.Mani
October 1st, 2007 10:21 pm
I use 2 and am building a third.
#1 – MySpace – http://www.myspace.com/drmani
#2 – Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/drmani
I’m expanding on my use of Twitter, as it nicely complements some other stuff I do online.
All success
Dr.Mani
James Chartrand - JCM Enterprises
October 1st, 2007 10:26 pm
I’m glad to see that even the pros get overwhelmed by social networking. I recently posted how I felt social networking overkill costs me time and money, but I also felt like a whiner missing out on great chances.
I do have a LinkedIn account (I don’t maintain it), and I’m debating a Myspace page, but one social network that just knocked my socks off this morning is StumbledUpon. I’ll stick with that one for sure!
Too many tasks, not enough time…
robert mcintosh
October 1st, 2007 10:59 pm
I posted on blog and social netowrking fatigue very recently too, in my case specifically about the wine world.
Interestingly enough, that post then got me a lot of more attention as Tom Wark over at Fermentation then thought he would pick up on the issue too.
I use:
facebook
flickr
blogger (for my 2 blogspot.com blogs)
technorati (occasionally)
mybloglog
plus a whole host of wine specific boards and services
We do have a wine bloggers facebook group for discussing blogging in general if that is of interest to anyone else?
ifyouwillit
October 1st, 2007 11:10 pm
Thanks for inspiring my blog post – http://aliya05.blogspot.com/2007/10/why-network.html – other than facebook, I’m starting to feel lost by the social networking.
Debra Hamel
October 2nd, 2007 12:00 am
I wrote a rather lengthy post a while back on Twitter and the various ways one can use it and the various ways I’ve used it: http://www.the-deblog.com/2007/07/why-twitter-is-.html
Beyond Twitter and StumbleUpon, I’ve gotten a bit burned out on social apps as well. I tried FaceBook, for example, and just couldn’t get into it. There’s only so much one can do. But if you think about the real world, there are countless social clubs in one’s own community–the PTA and church groups and book clubs and so on. And no one needs or wants to be a part of all of them. Just so, it’s okay to say no to some social apps. Or at least that’s what I’ve been telling myself.
Anthony Lawrence
October 2nd, 2007 2:03 am
Simple answer to both questions: not enough.
It is something constantly on my mind though, and I do promote where and whenever I can.
Here’s a tip some might like: bumper stickers with your web site name. Most of the places out there will only take orders for 500 or so, but I found a site that will make as little as one – I ordered five for less than twenty bucks and I put them on our cars. Obviously much more expensive per piece than if you really need 500, but I don’t – it was “makestickers.com” (though I bet there are others out there too).
What I’d really like to find is someone offering reverse transparent stickers that I could put inside my rear windows.. I have found places that can make those, but again only in relatively large quantities.
Erica
October 2nd, 2007 2:18 am
Currently I am cataloging 2 years worth of blogs and podcasts for my employer, Voices.com. Obviously this is a big job, so I’m using multiple submission websites OnlyWire and SocialPoster to get that done quickly! We also find that StumbleUpon is a great tool and brings many readers to our site.
Our blog/website is very much a niche blog and industry, so we are casting as wide a net as possible.
Genesis
October 2nd, 2007 2:21 am
I use Facebook and StumbleUpon. While I´m signed up for Digg, Netscape, and a number of other sites, it is simply easier to narrow it down to a couple of regular sites. Plus, StumbleUpon is so easy to use with the toolbar and I frequently stumble around to get writing inspiration!
Twitter, I never really got the point of it. I was posting on there for a while, but the problem is that I would forget to check it frequently and then had to scroll down to find any replies to my twits. It took up too much time and the twitbin gobbled up too much screen for my tastes. So, that´s one 2.0 site that I´m not into.
engtech
October 2nd, 2007 3:09 am
delicious
stumbleupon
twitter
are my three
I use twitter by having one feed generated linkblog account, and one account purely for talking/responding to people.
engtech
October 2nd, 2007 3:16 am
Here are the accounts if anyone wants to friend me
http://del.icio.us/engtech
http://ninetimessix.stumbleupon.com
http://twitter.com/engtech
http://twitter.com/et
Tim Broder
October 2nd, 2007 3:20 am
Facebook and Digg for me. I just joined StumbleUpon and we’ll see how that goes. myspace just confuses me…
Dave Chambers, Wine Merchant
October 2nd, 2007 3:51 am
I could not agree more! After receiving 3 – 4 daily “Friend Requests” from porn sites, and none from viable community members, I stopped going to my new MySpace page after a few short weeks.
The reality of Web 2.0 is that it relies on a small percentage of the population to carry the load. Though I have no objective research I can quote, I seem to recall that only about 2% of the population falls into the catgory of “Maven”, to use the Tipping Point concept and terminology.
My experience is about the same – I am successful at getting a little better than 2% of my wine club members to respond with a review of the wines they order, even after multiple appeals via email and packing slips.
I think a contraction of Web 2.0 options is on the horizon, as the demands and thrills of real life exceed the declining gee-whiz factor of social networks.
John Stavely
October 2nd, 2007 4:17 am
Too many! Not that the content isn’t interesting, I just run out of time (and sometimes patience)
myspace,facebook,Oddpods,Flickr…
Charlie
October 2nd, 2007 4:49 am
I write a couple of blogs that relate to my Nascar radio show and Nascar auto racing in general – quite different from the subjects that most of you are into. I get great information here and have learned much. However, other than MySpace, which I just got involved with, I have found sites like Digg, Stumble and Delicious don’t do much for blogs such as mine. There are sports/blog and Nascar/social sites that seem to be great sources potential readers, but I have not figured the best way to promote my blogs there as yet. I find myself spending up to an hour per day adding friends and posting blog snippets at nascar.com, MySpace, Yardbarker.com and a site called Ballhype.com.
Adam Snider
October 2nd, 2007 6:53 am
I use a number of social media sites. I am most active on Digg, Twitter, Sphinn, and Facebook.
As far as how I use Twitter, I actually have 2 accounts. One is my personal account, which I mostly just use for fun and socialization, but also occasionally use to promote my blogs.
The other account is my work account, where I am the “official” Twitterer for the company that I work for. This account is used for promoting our products and blogs, but I also use it to build genuine relationships with people—in many ways, I treat it the same as my personal account, but make sure to keep a bit more of a professional image (no swearing, or posting overly-personal information, for example). I also follow a lot of people who will likely never become customers, simply because they provide interesting perspectives on things that relate to my industry (either directly, or indirectly).
Sandra Possing
October 2nd, 2007 8:29 am
Regularly:
*Facebook
*LinkedIn
Just started:
*Twitter
*StumbleUpon
Rarely:
*Myspace
*Friendster
*Bebo
Aruni
October 2nd, 2007 12:27 pm
I just don’t have time to do all of the social networking because I’m also trying to start-up a company and I blog when I can. One of my posts just got stumbled upon which was great but I haven’t figured out how to use stumpled upon to my greatest advantage yet.
I have not signed up for Twitter yet…maybe soon but if I can’t do something well then I’d rather not get into it at all.
Kim
October 2nd, 2007 12:55 pm
I have facebook and myspace for personal stuff, although I write about and promote my blogs somewhat through them.
I have a pownce account, but I don’t know how i feel about micro-blogging. I think i might switch over to tumblr for all my random linkage.
I do love StumbleUpon and use it quite often.
LinkedIn is very professional, and i use it for all me “work” stuff, from my day job to blogging.
Mary
October 2nd, 2007 1:00 pm
An article in the paper today said the employee recruiters check these sites for profiles and info on candidates. Folks, use your discretion on those sites. Personally, I have not had the time yet but now I will be very careful. I will probably try facebook.
ashok
October 2nd, 2007 6:28 pm
I’m pretty much only actively involved with Stumbleupon, because it’s so easy to use. Even when I wasn’t keeping up with the “friends” there so much, I was able to give thumbs-ups to things I liked and tag them and practice my blurb writing skills.
I should say I’ve been hyperactive with Stumbleupon the last couple of days because I’m angry with it. One reason why I couldn’t use Digg and Reddit was that they were monotone and nasty – funny pics and videos, internet cartoons that make fun of Christian fundamentalists or conservatives, and conspiracy theory.
That last one has exploded at StumbleUpon. I must have seen at least two or three articles in the top pages asserting that 9/11 was perpetrated by the US gov’t.
That kind of stuff just destroys the joy of social bookmarking. It’s one thing to have healthy political debate and even push an agenda. But the ability to flood a site with things that if said in public would make one look insane, and then get credit for such things – that’s scary.
I guess I can’t write this stuff off as meaningless because it exists side-by-side with the poetry commentaries where I strive to cite sources accurately and stay objective in my tone and comments. I believe the Internet is a powerful educative tool, and that scholars are going to have to blog sooner rather than later.
But as long as conspiracy theory dominates filters like social bookmarking, which search engines increasingly will turn to as the web gets larger (I’m pretty sure having your blog entries indexed in delicious helps Google refer your work), anybody who tries to be serious on the net could find themselves in a precarious position.
That’s my soapbox rant, sorry about it, but I felt you should know that sometimes there are really important reasons to get involved on a social bookmarking site. – No, it won’t change the world. But maybe someone will actually learn something. -
Joseph Bernard
October 3rd, 2007 12:58 am
Hi Darren, I have specific social network sites that I use. Some fit with what I write about and others are general ones I use.
The ones that fit are:
Zaadz
Gather
The general ones:
Reddit
Digg
StumbleUpon
Delicious
Zimbio
technorati
Bloglog
I write about self-development, purpose, consciousness and peace. I have tried Myspace and a few others like that but I don’t seem to get much in return.
I welcome suggestions
Joseph
http://www.ExploreLifeBlog.com
Carla
October 3rd, 2007 1:44 am
Ashok touched on one of the biggest negatives of social networking sites, an idiot can have unbalancing influence if he/she teams up with a couple of other idiots.
When you meet someone in person, you get a sense of who they are and can make a decision on how much credibility to give them. Yes, you can also build up an internet reputation, but 1) it could be a complete facade and 2) if someone has an agenda and a lot of time on their hands they can skew the results.
This really hit a nerve with me when I read your comment because just last night I came across an entry on UrbanDictionary that disparages the community where I live.
Do I care what some 14-year-old twit posts on that vile web site? No. No one is going to go to that waste of server space to get home finding information.
But I do care that the twit’s post is the #1 result on Google for a particular key phrase relating to the community.
Now I’m going to have to spend time trying to bury it in the SERPs.
Kirsty Hall
October 3rd, 2007 1:55 am
I’m active on:
Facebook – mostly to keep in touch with RL friends, I’ve not found it a particularly useful way to send people to my site but I don’t mind.
Flickr – works really well in driving people to my site, which makes sense since I’m an artist. I try to stay reasonably active on the groups there.
StumbleUpon – I’m still getting to grips with this one but I’ve had a few referrals from there and will probably try to increase my presence there in the future.
Ravelry and the Lime & Violet messageboards – both knitting sites so they’re mostly for personal use but a reasonable number of people from there do visit my sites.
There are only so many hours in the day and having an active presence on a social networking site is quite a lot of work. My experience with social networking sites is that they’ve also got to be fun, otherwise you just won’t bother with them.
Melissa Donovan
October 3rd, 2007 5:57 am
In the last month since I set up my blog, I’ve signed on with almost all the social networking sites I could find but you’re right — there’s not enough time in the day (or even the week) to give them all enough attention.
I find that MySpace and StumbleUpon are the most useful sites. MySpace in particular because there is a huge audience there and it’s easy to find people who are interested in specific topics. I’ve been keeping a blog on MySpace for about 3 months now and have already gained a large number of subscribers, and the people there are very active with leaving comments and being supportive. Facebook doesn’t even come close with regards to audience, functionality, and flexibility.
Great topic!
Jon
October 4th, 2007 8:05 am
In order of how I use them:
* Del.icio.us
* FaceBook
* FineTune
* Sphinn
* StumbleUpon
* Technorati
I also used to use linkedin until I found facebook. Then I dropped linkedin cold.
twoluvcats
October 6th, 2007 5:03 am
i have a myspace account, and i used to care, but then i watched my hits and no one came, so what’s the point…plus its just annoying to use anymore
i occasionally visit facebook, but i just can’t get into it
I use del.icio.us every day, but not much of the social features, just to keep track of stuff i want to look at
Alex@Net
October 7th, 2007 3:40 am
I do not use actively any social network services because I do not know how to integrate them into what I’m doing: consulting and building my site.
H411
December 18th, 2007 4:55 pm
MySpace- Demographic is too young.. too many “amateur web designers”, horrible that music is forced on you
Facebook- Coming on strong.. many people using it.. simple, easy to the point. Takes a little while to “get” what kind of service they’re offering..
Cat Laine
December 25th, 2007 10:32 am
1. Twitter. I’m really into twitter these days because there is something nicely visceral about how real time the information is. It’s also a great way to make an initial social contact or maintain contact with someone in your field that you’re just getting to know.
2. Facebook. I use it to keep track of friends and colleagues who I want to become friends with. I’m also trying to use it for fundraising and community building for my non-profit.
3. Linked in. Useful, but boring.
4. Myspace. Feels spammy. I hate the interface.
5. Seesmic. Going to try it out. Want to get into videoblogging for work, but am a bit daunted. Seems like it could be a nice entry.
6. Pownce. Trying it out. It’s nice in that you reply to people’s micro-posts in a threaded fashion which twitter doesn’t support.
Bud
January 15th, 2008 4:40 am
I have had to cut back on the social sites I use but I am down to
* Twitter – http://twitter.com/budcalabrese
* StumbleUpon – http://budcalabrese.stumbleupon.com/
* Technorati –
* Mybloglog – http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/members/budcalabrese
* Myspace – I try not to use it much anymore
tweakwindows
November 8th, 2008 1:14 am
I don’t think they not as good as they were.Anyways, here is my list:
BlogCatalog
Stumble Upon
del.icio.us
Facebook
MySpace
And of course, digg
Comments will be closed off on this post 90 days after it is published. Apologies to those this impacts but it's a regrettable and temporary measure to combat a growing comment spam problem. See our most recent posts where you can comment here.