Comments on: How Often Do You Use Social Media Tools?

By: Brian Jones@product reviews

Brian Jones@product reviews — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:08:10 +0000

Its not about the number of applications its about the amount of money you get from them. Almost all social network apps are about making money, promote them for a month, make a new one, its all about changing interests and attracting different people. Except for Mobsters, that is addicting.

By: Andrea Hill

Andrea Hill — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 04:42:34 +0000

This is exactly why I left *website* development last year... it's no longer about destination sites, it's about the services that tie information (and people) together. Andrea Hill´s last blog post..Does your Organization Need a Wikipedia Entry?

By: Heidi Cool

Heidi Cool — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 05:34:26 +0000

Every time I get an invitation to test some new service with a funny name I groan, but then I go look because I'm naturally curious. There are far too many services out there to keep up with. But I can see why people keep developing them as there are always going to be new niches to fill or features to provide that don't currently exist. Alas, it's not just about building a better mousetrap, it's also about popularity. If X is brilliantly useful and Y is so-so, but everyone is using Y, then we have to use Y too. The nature of social media is that we have to go where the people are. There's no using in using X if it means I'm talking to myself. It wasn't so long ago that Twitter and Pownce were often mentioned in the same breath, in the same articles comparing their various features. Pownce had a much richer feature set than Twitter but the latter took off. Perhaps it was the simplicity that made it work but Twitter now has millions (12ish?) of users and Pownce is gone. I use a number of different services but I'm not sure that I have even one that I use each day. (I've been experimenting with Twitter-free Saturdays). Obviously I do use Twitter a lot, but the one I use most is probably Delicious. I'm saving things there (or referring to prior saves) on and off throughout the day. As to LinkedIn, Facebook, Digg, StumbleUpon, etc. my usage varies. I rarely update my FB status, but I try to schedule 1 day a week to answer questions on LinkedIn. There is only so much time in a day so I have to focus my energies on the services that both offer the most value to my life as a Web designer/strategist AND cater to my core audience of potential clients and peers. I'm a heavy user, because as Steve suggests, I'm in the Web biz. I can't advise clients on social media if I'm not out there using it myself. But for people outside the industry I can see how they'd spend much less time online. Heidi Cool´s last blog post..Is Flash evil? No, but Flash-based sites can be a marketing nightmare.

By: Steve Tiano

Steve Tiano — Sun, 31 May 2009 15:46:19 +0000

I wish there were some demographics to get a sense of exactly who the heavy users are. My initial suspicion is that it’s marketers and people otherwise in the business of creating such apps or of selling the idea of marketing, without any regard to what one might market. Oh, and kids, too, I imagine are big, big users.

Otherwise, who has time to try out, much less use, more than one such app?

By: Ari Herzog

Ari Herzog — Sun, 31 May 2009 15:36:35 +0000

Funny how you’re the first person to grasp the question I was asking, not to answer the blog post title.

By: Craig

Craig — Sat, 30 May 2009 23:29:53 +0000

I wish they would realize there are too many. Every day I read about some new tool that is out there trying to basically be the next one in a million tool and network. All these are the same just with one variation. Hard to keep track of and basically pointless. Wish they would come up with something more worth it or a service that is more worth it instead of crap that will be forgotten in a week. Craig´s last blog post..Snap Review of “UP”

By: Kikolani

Kikolani — Sat, 30 May 2009 17:20:27 +0000

I still do all of my social networking on the site itself, not with apps, unless you count the Selective Twitter Status that I use to put select Tweets as Facebook statuses. I am considering an app to manage multiple Twitter accounts though, as I am operating one for myself, and one for my job now. ~ Kristi Kikolani´s last blog post..Fetching Friday - Resources, #FollowFriday, PageRank & SEO