Get busy - get social!

I’ve been trying to get “with it” virtually, learning about Social Media (SM). Seems the revolution of technology has made connecting with others and finding/sharing web content on any topic you can imagine, never easier or more fun. Whatever your reasons for getting social, it’s clear you only get as much out of it as you put in, so I approach it no differently to any other scenario where you meet people. I’m no expert, but believe if you put your best profile forward, give as much information about yourself as you can, and if possible customise your page with themes, links, fav photographs, videos and music then you’re more likely to make a positive and lasting impression. But it doesn’t stop there. You’ve got to get proactive, seeking and inviting those you think are interesting, have something in common with or can establish a worthwhile connection to.

I've met some intelligent, inspiring and warm people who have introduced me to a lot of things I probably would not have known otherwise. Most are open and very keen to share their life stories and knowledge, thus conversing with them has become an important part of my development, both personally and professionally. It's also fun checking out what others are up to! ;)

Working from home can sometimes be isolating, lacking face to face human contact, so being a part of online communities helps enormously towards my not feeling so out of touch with the outside world. It’s also a way to ensure I stay up-to-date with new developments online, and other areas that interest me, so the value is not to be underestimated.

If you’re still unclear as to what SM is and it’s benefits, perhaps I should just leave it up to the experts at Commoncraft to explain it in plain english!



Here’s my little effort in highlighting a few sites that seem to have the most cred or hype at the moment. Please note these are just for starters, and I haven’t even had the chance to thoroughly investigate them all, so you’ll have to forgive me for those I’ve unintentionally left out. This is why I encourage you to do a search for “social media music/video/networking etc” and see what you discover!

BOOKMARKING
Technorati, StumbleUpon, Squidoo, del.icio.us, Ma.gnolia, Furl, Yahoo360

NETWORKING – FUN AND BUSINESS
Myspace, Facebook, Friendfeed, Ning, Hi5, LinkedIn, Xing, Ryze

MICRO-BLOGGING
Twitter, Plurk, Jaiku, Pownce

LATEST NEWS AND WHAT’S NEW ON THE WEB
Digg, Reddit, Mixx

PHOTO SHARING AND MANAGEMENT
Flikr, Photobucket, SmugMug

VIDEO SEARCH AND SHARING
YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo! Video, Dailymotion

MUSIC etc
MOG, Imeem, iLike

Come join me everywhere!

Alex
;)
http://twitter.com/vipvirtualsols
http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/community/vipvirtualsolutions/
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/8/269/923
http://www.ryze.com/go/vipvirtualsolutions
http://vipvs.stumbleupon.com/
http://digg.com/users/vipvs
http://mylinkingpowerforum.ning.com/
http://teamcircle.ning.com/
http://www.mystaffingforce.com/
http://fabulously40.com

p.s/ There must be something in the air, as I was finalising this post when a great opportunity presented itself. I subscribe to ProBlogger – an informative site providing blogging tips and tricks galore. Mr PB, Darren, decided to start an experiment naming it the “Social Media Love-in”. Check out the link for full details, but basically he gave his readers 24 hours to respond with all their SM links giving them the opportunity to increase their online connections. The response? Approx 682 comments!!! Don’t think since you’ve missed the deadline you’re not invited to the party too. Comprehensive lists are being collated and will be posted on ProBlogger, with the first one being 538 Twitterers that blog. So what are you waiting for?!