seobridges.com

I found this blog written more than two years ago that lists 38 mobile social networking sites. Two years later 17 of them survived an onslaught of smart phones, apps for everything, and sites like Facebook and Twitter going mobile.

Of those 17, four offer mobile services Facebook, Twitter, and others don’t. I listed those mobile social networking sites, and  I put asterisks next to the four that set themselves apart.

Veeker – * Take videos on your computer and send them to your cell phone and any other cell phone.

3jam – Includes visual voicemail, voicemail sharing, and more. Not really mobile social networking, but it was on the original list.

flagr – * Create maps of your favorite places and share them with friends.

Socialight – Lets you build iPhone app. Not really a mobile social networking site, but it was on the original list.

Jaiku – Update your Jaiku stream. You can see your friends’ availability, location, and calendar events.

Zannel – Update several sites, including Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, and more.

Mig33 – Use the chat feature to connect to your e-mail and various other social networking platforms.

Mobiluck – * Let’s you know where your friends are, and sends you an SMS when your friends are in your area.

Broadtexter – Create a mobile club for your brand. Good for people who have an audience (tribe).

Zinadoo – Not really mobile social networking, but you can create a mobile website.

MocoSpace -  Includes free chat, games, videos, and more.

BrightKite – Update groups of people via text.

Treemo – * Create a personal mobile page via media: Image, video, audio, and text.

Wadja – A microblogging platform.

Rabble – Picture-sharing, blogging, places, groups, messaging.

JuiceCaster – Share your photos and videos from your cell phone.

Shozu – Updates your favorite sites at once.

Mobile social networking must evolve as mobile phones and major social networking sites evolve. Here’s a smaller but more recent list by ReadWriteWeb. Give it another year or so and more sites on both lists will be outdated.

I don’t think I’m important enough for people to want to receive texts that I found a coffee house that makes an apple cinnamon latte (Such a find might be worth the 140 characters via Twitter). If I see a good book, I might let people know. But I consider mobile social networking platforms other than Facebook and Twitter overkill. What do you think?  Do we need mobile social networking sites that update people via text?  Where will mobile social networking be a year from now?

If you want me to update you about the jerk who cut me off, the cute waitress who smiled at me, or any other personal details, let me know. I’ll text you directly. The point is, it’s one thing to make your Tweets personal. When it comes to forming groups and updating people via text, unless your Ashton Kutcher or Lebron James, that’s overkill. Aside from that, they use Twitter like the rest of us to update people.

Comment, friend me via Facebook, or Tweet me.

Erick

This past weekend I watched an old, 1927, black and white, silent movie called Metropolis. The more I read the captions, the more I realized silent movies were the first microblogging platform. For this blog, I will use Twitter as an example, but the list applies to all microblogging platforms.

Silent Movies vs. Microblogging

Text

Silent Movies: Writers had a limited amount of text with which to convey the most pertinent messages of a silent movie’s story line.

Microblogging: A limited amount of text should tell your audience a story about yourself and your products or services.  Your Tweets should be relevant, personal, and conversational. Not necessarily all at the same time.

Scenery

Silent Movies: Where writers couldn’t add text, scenery had to match the story line.

Microblogging: Your Tweets, your brand, and your website should match your message.  Write about what’s relevant to your audience, and brand yourself as caring about the same things your audience cares about.

Gestures

Silent movies: Actors used overt gestures and facial expressions (Silent movie actors studied the art of mime).

Microblogging: If someone retweets you, thank them. Interact with your followers and those you follow. And don’t be afraid to put a smiley face or wink in with your Tweets.

Future

Silent Movies: They evolved from one form of communication into another.

Microblogging: It evolved from one form of communication (blogging), and it will evolve into another form of communication.  Microblogging may not die out, much like blogging, but it will develop into a new form of communication.

I don’t think it’ll be too long before we’re using computers like the one in Tom Cruise’s Minority Report. Maybe them, social media marketing will become more virtual, and we’ll be able to interact with one another in holographic virtual realities.

Do you have any thoughts about what social media marketing might look like in the near or far future?  Go ahead and comment, e-mail me, or Tweet me.

If you’re engaged in Social Media Marketing, you should be equally engaged in Social Media Monitoring—the listening side of the conversational web.

You can listen for your name, your brand, other brands, your company, your competitor, or any number of terms.  Though, no matter who you listen to or what you listen for, it’s important you listen strategically and converse actively.  I listed some Social Media Monitoring tools. Some of them have free versions, so go ahead and peruse.

Social Media Monitoring Tools

Jive Software Radian⁶ BrandsEye PostRank BuzzGain SM2 Buzz Logic

Trackur Visible Technologies ReputationDefender Sentiment Metrics Brandwatch

StepRep CISION ScoutLabs Sysomos ListenLogic Vocus Social360 PivotLink

Questions to ask before listening

• Why do you want to listen to what people are saying (market research, customer relations management, etc)?
• What are you going to listen for (Name, brand, etc)?
• What mediums/people are you going to listen to (Find out where the most relevant conversations are and listen to those)?
• Are you willing to spend time and money to listen and respond?  If yes, how much?  If not, is it really worth your time? (There are plenty of free tools, but you don’t get what you don’t pay for).

Do you know of any other Social Media Monitoring tools, or do you have any other suggestions of what people should consider?  If so, comment, e-mail me, or Tweet me.

I believe in niche social networking site.  Since I am a writer, this week’s blog is a listed of various literary social networking sites.  Now, before you join all of them, find out which ones fit you best.  And after you join, become an active part of the community.  Be sure not to get into the habit of putting up profiles just to gain an extra link to your site.

Writers have a bad habit of being recluses who only network with other writers.  We need to network with our readers as well.  It’s all about finding your audience (Tribe).  I’ve put asterisks next to a few of my favorites literary social networking sites.  I don’t yet have profiles on all of them, but here are links to my RedRoom and San Diego Writers profiles.  If you have a profile on either of those, I’d love to connect with you.

Good Reads­ – This is a great site to read your friends’ reviews of books they’ve read.

Authors’ Den – * This is a great place for readers and writers to connect.

Shelfari – This is a great place to keep a list of the books you’ve read and want to read, as well as to see your friends’ lists.

weRead – You can get personalized book recommendations, share your ratings and book reviews, and connect with people with similar reading tastes.

Library Thing – This is a social networking site for book lovers where they can catalogue their favorite books.

Absolute Write – This isn’t really a social networking site, but they do have a forum.

filedby – * You can discover great new books here, as well as readers and writers can connect.

Internet Book List – The name says it all.  This is not really a social networking site, but they do have a forum.

CrimeSpace – This is a Ning site for people who like to read and write Crime fiction.

Book Marketing Network – This is also a Ning site for book authors and Publishers to connect.

Readerville – Another literary non-social networking site with a forum.  Though their forum focuses on bringing in weekly authors that people can begin conversations with.

Writing – This is a place where writers of all levels can build their writing portfolio and connect with other like-minded people.

Reader’s Circle – This is a great place for readers who are looking for a book club.

Critique Circle – As the name suggests, this is a place where writers can critique one another.  There is a ToolChest that offers great aids for writers.

For Writers – This is a great place to find writers groups.

Chick Lit Writers – This is a great place for women (okay, maybe some guys too) who write Chick Lit.

Forward Motion for Writers – This is a forum for writers.

Writing Forums – Another forum for writers.

editred – They offer a forum, as well as you can build your readership.

Red Room – * This is simply the closest thing writers and readers have to Facebook.

IndieBound – This is a great place for readers who support independent bookstores.

Nothing Binding – This is a place where writers can connect with other writers and promote their work.

She Writes – This is a Ning site where women writers can connect with each other and their readers.

San Diego Writers – If you’re a writer or reader in or around San Diego, or you just want to connect with San Diego writers and readers, this is the place to go.

If you know of any others, please comment.

Erick

Throughout the last several years, programmers have developed WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) Web design platforms, allowing everyone to take their piece of the Web. Among the most popular of those are WordPress, MovableType, and Wix.  I believe that of all of those sites that allow everyone their piece of the Web, one will revolutionize the way in which we interact with each other through social networking.

For the past couple of years, ever since the iPhone went on the market, everyone has wanted the latest app. In fact, the saying goes, “There’s an app for that.” A while back, Evan Williams (CEO of Twitter) referred to Twitter as being part of a social networking environemt. If sites like Twitter, Facebook, and others are part of a social networking environment, then people who use those sites and connect them to their websites responsibly are social media environmentalists.

During the evolution of websites that allow people to develop their own websites, third party developers have added apps and widgets that allow people to integrate their websites with various social networking accounts. Those third party apps must be supported by that site; though, people want more security in knowing that the apps and widgets they put on their sites won’t harm their sites or their computers.

Finally, one WYSIWYG platform (Squarespace) has developed their own apps, giving everyone the ability to design their own website and the confidence in knowing where their apps came from. And because of this innovative WYSIWYG platform, I believe 10 years from now, we will look back on the Internet in the 2^nd decade of the 21^st century as the decade of Social Media Environmentalism.

In the future, I hope to see Squarespace develop apps and widgets for various other social media sites. And I hope sites such as WordPress, Movabletype, Wix, and others will follow.

For now, we the people of the World Wide Web want apps for that and everything else, and we don’t want to have to worry about our security. Squarespace just started a new trend—Social Media Environmentalism—and those who build their sites using Squarespace can pride themselves on being some of the very first Social Media Environmentalists.

Let’s get a conversation going.  Let me know your thoughts.

Erick

I want to start by thanking those who made the all new SEOBridges.com a reality. Thank you to Renee Johnson of DevotionalDiva.com, who introduced me to Michael Forney—CMO of Ignition Garage. And thank you to Michael Forney and the team at Ignition Garage—Tim Engstrom (redesigned my site) and Sheila Cowley (designed my new logo)—for making this happen.

Onto the future of SEO Bridges.   We are discontinuing our blog on open source software; though, you can read those blogs below this blog or in our articles section.  Moving forward, I will personally blog about SEO content and Social Media Marketing (SMM), as it pertains to our audience. Of course, we will also have guest bloggers from time to time.  In the near future, I will launch a charitable arm that will benefit San Diego’s literary community.

With that said, I extend my thanks to those who have worked with me, supported me, or just clicked through my site. I anticipate working with many of you and serving your needs.

Erick Pettersen

SEO Bridges, Principle

Every week, I try to bring you Open Source software for you social media marketing endeavors that I am able to test out first. That, of course, means it must be simple enough for someone like me to use. This week, I am going to tell you about a program that I am not going to download, but I hope to give you an easy-to-use tutorial that will help you get started with it. Elgg is a powerful Open Source social networking platform. Well, that is what they claim to be, but I am going to take their word for it.

For those who like to read and explore for themselves, here’s what’s in Elgg according to Elgg (that means they wrote it, and I am giving credit to them):

Profiles

Elgg comes with default profile fields that can be extended or completely customized by the site administrator.

Activity Streams

The granular activity stream feature ensures you keep up to date with all site activity.

Blogging / Microblogging

Blogging and microblogging functionality that is both powerful, yet simple to use.

Pages

Create documents collaboratively with full control over read and write access.

RSS / JSON

All content – such as blog posts, activity streams and group discussions – is available in both RSS and JSON formats

Widgets

Add widgets to user profiles.

Video

Search for your favorite videos on services such as Youtube and add them to your Elgg video gallery.

Social bookmarking

Share your web resources with others in your company, group or course.

Groups

Collaborate around specific topics via public, private or hidden groups.

Access controls

Control who can access your content.

Web Services API

Expose functionality through the REST API by building a plugin and either publish the API for other developers to build clients, or provide your own.

Documents

Upload and share documents with the rest of your network.

Photo Gallery

Using the powerful Tidypics plugin, let your users create their own photo galleries.

For those who would like to know more about how they  can use Elgg for their social media marketing, there are plenty of plugins to explore, including plugins for events, photos and images, widgets, games, site and user admin, and more. There is also a forum for those who want to know the latest about what is going on in the world of Elgg. For those who want to download Elgg, it includes bug fixes and security enhancements. For those who want to experience Elgg, but do not want to download it, they can sign up for more information here.  For those who need help uploading it, here is a great video. (Video coding and me ain’t getting along too well this week).

Okay, so that’s it for this week. Enjoy. And please tell me what you like or don’t like about this blog. I’ll try to get a live video on here for all you visual people. Oh yeah, thank you all for your comments.

Erick