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Which Social Media Sites Would You Use if You Could Only use 3?

Posted By Darren Rowse 7th of June 2008 Reader Questions 0 Comments

Here’s a question for the weekend that was submitted to me from Twitter friend philbaumann who asks:

if you were permitted only 3 social sites to work with, which ones would you pick?

So it’s over to you for your comments.

Which would you choose (be it social bookmarking sites like Digg, StumbleUpon or Reddit, or social networking sites like Facebook or MySpace or Social Messaging/Micro Blogging sites like Twitter or Plurk) – and WHY do you choose the ones you choose?

About Darren Rowse
Darren Rowse is the founder and editor of ProBlogger Blog Tips and Digital Photography School. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Comments
  1. Twitter: easy group conversation/ideas/exchanges
    LinkedIn: relevant to what I do for 8-10 hrs a day
    Digg: more quality categorized material than Stumble

    Actually, beyond those, the only other SM site I use is Facebook, and even then it’s rare — I log in when I get a message or a friend request and rarely have much to do with it otherwise.

  2. Stumbleupon, Twitter and BlogCatalog, though Plurk *may* replace Twitter (the jury’s still out)

  3. If I had to choose 3 social media sites to pick I would pick…

    1. Stumple upon. Stumple upon has gotten me sooo many visitors as of lately so it’s my number one choice.

    2. Digg. Digg also seems to get me a decent amount of traffic.

    3. Lastly twitter, It is becoming very popular nowadays and seems like everyone is using it.

    Those are the 3 Social media sites that I would personally choose. Nice to seem some of the sites fellow bloggers use here.

  4. 1. Church.
    2. Work.
    3. College.

  5. StumbleUpon, Facebook and MySpace

  6. This is a though situation. But, let’s see….

    First, del.icio.us…. actually, that one is the only one I really, really need. Not much for sharing as for keeping and organizing my bookmarks. Not only that I accidentally erase my local bookmarks every now and then and that I might need my bookmarks on more than one computer but I really don’t have a clue how to organize all those hundreds of links in folders, i.e. without tabs.

    Second… MySpace… yes, it is buggy and noisy and a huge time-waster but it is fun. And it is broader than Twitter which was a big competition for this place. Twitter is good for blogging (in many ways) but MySpace gives more contacts and better introduces people.

    Third is digg. It gives nice dose of fresh sites daily. I used to use StumbleUpon for that, but lately digg serves me better.

  7. I’d pick one of each.

    Facebook because it’s a decent happy medium between the traffic of MySpace and the more professional presentation of Ryze or LinkedIn.

    Stumbleupon, because it’s just more fun and user friendly than Digg and other social bookmarking sites and has some rudimentary social networking aspects built in.

    Plurk instead of Twitter. It’s new and buggy, but much more fun in its online presentation and seems to lack the annoying default to get text messages to your cellphone.

  8. I don’t understand how you people can use sites like Twitter and Facebook to bookmark link. It is just so hard to use for the purpose of bookmarking. Anyway, here is what I use:

    1) Mento to bookmark links & the links gets automatically imported to my delicious feed.

    2) I use Digg and Reddit to find interesting stories and links.

  9. hmm.. it has to be Facebook, which has just grown virally for me and has a great mix of business promotion stuff and fun silliness.

    Twitter, because I love to hear the background conversations and random thoughts and to have a place where I can put down my stupid random thinks.

    I can’t use stumble because I use Safari so I use Digg instead, but I really just see it as a tool, not as a social media experiment so I think redbubble has to be the third community site I really enjoy. great for arts networking.

  10. I write primarily about photography, so my social bookmarking site of choice is PhotographyVoter. Numbers are nowhere near as big as Digg, SU, and the others, but I know those following the site probably won’t bounce as much as those from other social sites.

    I also use MyBlogLog – it helps me keep track of what my friends and contacts have been doing online.

    As for my 3rd social site, I’m still waiting for an social site that doesn’t try to lock in your data (and will allow me to integrate my site feed if I want). Basically, I want a more open social site.

  11. Wow, talk about a conversation starter!
    Twitter — fun, practical, informative
    Stumble — easy, fun
    LinkedIn — practical, useful, brings in $$$

  12. I will definately keep

    Digg, Twitter, and Facebook

    Digg because I like reading the latest news. Twitter because I can chit chat with new people. Facebook because I can personalize and keep a good connection with friends and family.

  13. I would stick with StumbleUpon, Technorati, and Facebook.

  14. I think I will pick one from each category.

    Social bookmarking: StumbleUpon
    I’ve gotten the most traffic from StumbleUpon so I have the best impression of it. Also I’m not as big on geeky topics.

    Social networking: Facebook
    Probably because of my UCLA background. Most people I know are on it. MySpace is just way too cluttered for my taste.

    Social Messaging/Micro Blogging: Twitter
    Plurk is still new, and although fun, I feel like it will become really messy once you are following too many people.

  15. Twitter (that’s where the music plays – and my links etc. are stored too), Xing (that’s where the contacts are). That’s it.

  16. Wow, talk about a conversation starter!

    Hmm, more like a one-way response starter, I very rarely find much real interaction between commenters here (perhaps I comment on the wrong posts), certainly none in this post.

  17. This was pretty easy for me, since they are the first three site on my favorites list:
    1) Facebook – It’s just where everyone is, and it’s how I keep track of what my friends are up to.
    2) Twitter – I think it’s a really useful conversation starter and a way to get information (when it’s not down).
    3) Flickr – Mainly because I love photography.

    Does WordPress count? That would be in there somewhere too…

  18. I only use the Social Networking Site, Yuwie, because they pay their members for everything they do on the site.
    Twitter is good for posting a quick note.
    I also love Youtube.

  19. My three choices:

    Friendster— yes, Friendster’s still very much alive here in the Philippines and elsewhere in Asia. I have +500 friends on Friendster, and I frankly love it.

    Plurk—need I say more? Plurky, plurky, wurky, lurky, plurky, wurky, loo!

    StumbleUpon—since my blog is a sort of “mixed bag” blog, StumbleUpon provides me interesting content to write about. I consider it an indispensable tool for blogging. :-)

  20. Wow, such a hard choice. Definitely NOT Twitter or Plurk b/c I’m sick of hearing their names…….

    I’d probably go with Facebook b/c most of my friends are there & it’s a great way to keep in touch.

    Digg b/c it’s a great way to find out about new things & also great for promoting blogs.

    Imeem b/c I can’t live without my music & it’s a great place to share & find music.

  21. Stumbleupon – Helped me find out about some great website and some great games. xP

    Digg – Because I digg digg.

    Plurk – I actually haven’t tried this yet, but I’m about to. Looks fun. :D

    Make Money With Photoshop:
    http://make-money-ps.blogspot.com/

  22. I only use three now anyway, I don’t feel any need for more. I use Twitter, Virb, and PCityLIVE. Well, I do have a last.fm account, but I don’t use it for any of the social aspects, just for tracking my listening habits.

  23. Houssee.com, the best real estate Digg clone, for paling around with fellow real estate geeks.

    StumbleUpon for the heck of it.

    Oh darn, do I have to pick three?

  24. Digg: Because I’m a big fan, been a user for quite a while, and it’s where I go for news.

    Virb: Because it’s better than MySpace and Facebook combined.

    Can’t think of a third.

  25. MySpace – I just made a new account after 3 years. I’m a bit addicted.

    Twitter – love it!

    Facebook – kinda sucks though

  26. I only use Friendster.com and Multiply. Well Friendster for one is the most common social networking site and one of the first that really hit it big here in the Philippines.

    Multiply.com is something that I just tried recently tried and the good thing about this one is that it gives you the freedom to post as much pictures and information on your site unlike Friendster when it started. Though now Friendster is going to that direction.

  27. Digg, Twitter, and Delicious, basically just because they give me the most value.

  28. Stumbleupon – it’s fun

    Twitter – it’s fun

    Facebook – great for group activities and interaction

    @kristeralla, hi, one post where the commenters really interacted was surprisingly about the topic of comments, you can check it out here – https://problogger.com/should-you-add-keywords-to-the-name-field-when-you-leave-comments-on-a-blog/

  29. All are useless to my website

  30. Facebook: to see what my high school, college, post-college friends are doing… especially bay area events and photos galore!

    Tumblr: to microblog and ‘reblog’ my friends and see what’s the next hotest thing b/c it’s posted on Tumblr first about 85% of the time, at least with respect to news, odd stories, pictures, interesting new programs and other popular web searches

    My third would be WordPress if you could count its ‘social media prowess’: to write longer entries that cover everything from marketing and PR to cute kitties and cool toys to social issues and developing country challenges.

    But since it doesn’t quite cut it, Twitter comes pretty close

  31. Daniel, networking with other people on the internet is useless for your website? What the point of having one then? More pointedly, what’s the point of having an RSS feed and comments on your site if you don’t want interaction with people?

  32. StumbleUpon

    Facebook

    Twitter

  33. Nice Post.Posted this link in http://www.surfurls.com . Its a social bookamrking site.

  34. StumbleUpon, Twitter, facebook.

  35. StumbleUpon for discovering quality links.
    Twitter for the occasional small talk.
    FriendFeed for sharing and discussing topics.

  36. My 3 choices are:
    StumbleUpon – I love using it my friends are there and it is user friendly
    Mixx – I just love it
    Digg – for my business

    Tanny

  37. 1. StumbleUpon – for promoting my site. It does well there.
    2. Delicious – for bookmarking. Nice and simple.
    3. Twitter – for networking. I wish it worked more often, though.

  38. I would use:
    Twitter – simple and fast
    Digg – Is the social network that gives me more traffic
    Stumbleupon – Is the best for promoting my blog, it’s very nice

  39. Another question is how many social media sites does one have time for? When time allows, it is LinkedIn, Stumbleupon, Technorati.

    Jessica Bond
    Medical Careerist

  40. Facebook and Twitter – most popular among people I know and enjoy staying connected with. However, I agree with other readers that Twitter has been unreliable especially when integrating with updating Facebook status, etc.

    StumbleUpon – just beginning to experiment with

  41. Facebook – Business networking and all my friends are there ;)

    Twitter – business networking and because all my friends are there ;) (despite the many issues, I will keep the faith and stay loyal; Plurk was deleted 1 day after I got an account)

    Friendfeed – with the bookmarklet in my browser toolbar it cuts out a lot of extra keyboard-and-mouse work when I wanna share or save things I find interesting and the friends and community aspect is brilliant ;)

  42. My two favorites are Facebook and Twitter. I’m a little turned off by all the Facebook apps, but it’s been a great connection tool. And I really like the IM style of Twitter. Hopefully as it matures it will become more reliable.

  43. LinkedIn for keeping track of friends
    flickr for its photographic content
    and del.icio.us as useful bookmark service for someone who uses multiple machines.
    All the rest of the stuff I can cover with my own servers.

  44. Top 3 will be
    stumbleupon,propeller and thoof in same order.

  45. StumbleUpon
    great source of amazing and interesting websites

    Multiply
    simply because my friends in the Philippines are there

    Facebook
    play around with apps to pass time and to stay in touch with my US-based friends

  46. Facebook: this is a great network which you can share many things by posting links… Also there are applications of mixx, stumbleupon…. so you could have many networks in just one :D.

    Blogcatalog: it’s a great community, where you can discuss your favorite topics in the infinites groups. Also you have a feed where you can see the latest activities of your friends, so you can “monitor” your friend’s activities.

    Twitter: I’m not too fan of this one, but certainly it’s a good way to quickly connect with the people. It’s perfect to stay in touch with other bloggers being one of the most simples “networks”.

  47. Thanks for the link JoLynn. There is a bit more interaction on that post than some others, but most people still only interact with the post rather than the other comments. It seems a bit of a shame, because I love real comment discussions, where people respond to what each other has said and not just the post. Maybe the folks who comment here prefer to do their interacting elsewhere (FriendFeed, Facebook etc)? Maybe it’s too exhausting to read all of the comments?

    Still, my first comment on this post was the same, I responded to the post, and only half of it at that. If I’d thought more about it I would have said that I love Del.icio.us because it works for bookmarking stuff that I might want to find again and makes it way easier to find. The tagging system works well. I haven’t used the network feature to its full potential, but I like receiving links that I know are intended especially for me. Plus I can put a feed of my latest bookmarks on my blog; I don’t know how many people find it useful, but I know my mum appreciated at least one site I bookmarked… if it’s useful for one person then I’m happy.
    Facebook is good because practically everyone is on there. Twitter is cool because there’s a sort of micro-interaction that I’ve started to lose since high school, where you can say random things, have random conversations… things that only work when you’re in the moment or in the right situation.

  48. Darren,

    The top 3 I focus on the most are:

    1) Facebook

    2) Twitter

    3) Digg

    –Joseph Ratliff
    Author of The Profitable Business Edge 2

  49. Is someone (Daniel? Darren?) taking notes of which social media groups are more used than others?

    Off the cuff, it seems that Facebook, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Digg, and Twitter are on the top.

    I have accounts at both StumbleUpon and Digg but don’t use them to their full potential: How do you, who’s reading this, use both services?

    And what’s with Twitter? I signed up for an account about 18 months ago, around when it was launched, and didn’t get anything out of it so dropped it.

  50. I will use Stumbleupon, Digg and Del.icio.us

    Digg – have gotten many fans there, then to get more traffic to promote my site.

    Del.icio.us – its nice and simple, mainly for bookmarking.

    Stumbleupon – it has gotten a good interface, to generate more traffic

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