Tag Archives: digg

What’s Your Social Media Ritual? Sharing My Own 15-Steps

fireworks

At work, we’ve been talking a lot about the information scans we all do on our own…who we refer to, which sites are the best, the most useful feeds, etc. So, now, out of curiosity and from inspiration gained from Chris Brogan’s recent post: “Where I Learn More,” I’m asking: Where do you go to learn?

Brogan’s article is great, as in it, he talks about the role of influence and asks us to reflect on what influences what we learn, think, behave and believe….so close to a social marketing (the real social marketing) question my buttons were popping with techy-excitement.

Here is my average, daily, social media ritual.

Please share me yours, and perhaps we can both expand our horizons a little. =)

  1. Check my work e-mail account. Its true fellow co-workers.
  2. Check my regular Gmail account. I get various e-newsletters and feeds here such as the Ad Council Creative E-newsletter, emails from the Social Marketing listserv, Chris Brogan’s new e-newsletter and others.
  3. Check my blog email account. I get various e-newsletter and feeds here that help me stay up to date on the social media, nonprofit, and social marketing arena. Some of my favorite includes Nedra Weinreich’s Spare Change Blog, Beth Kanter’s blog/wiki, and Ogilvy PR’s 360 Digital Influence blog.
  4. Check my Bloglines feeds, to see what good posts are up and published.
  5. Check out both the nonprofit and the social media categories on Alltop.com
  6. Do a scan of: TechCrunch, Trendspotting, Read Write Web, Osocio, Non-Profit Times, NextGov, BrazenCareerist, Social Times, and others. This can depend on the day and the topic I’m currently investigating.
  7. Check old Twitter feeds I may have missed. Especially key feeds from @GeoffLiving, @Nedra, @chrisbrogan, @scobleizer, @rww, @abfdc, @allllll the others I follow on Twitter. Really, it’s a community working together and sharing. It. is. awesome.
  8. If it’s a Monday, I check out the Carnival for Non-Profit Consultants.
  9. Check in on Linkedin to see if anyone new I know has joined or connected. The homepage on Linkedin is becoming increasingly fun.
  10. Surf around the NonProfit Blog Exchange if Emily has posted some great new posts.
  11. Then, it’s on to the social bookmarks. I check my delicious, both my networks and my subscriptions. Oftentimes, those I am connected to are in a similar field or have similar interests, so thank you everyone on del.icio.us.
  12. Then, I spend a little time on Digg, and may occasionally check in on StumbleUpon. I’m really liking Mixx more and more too, though, there doesn’t seem to be as many people on it.
  13. I check up on the scoop of my work’s internal wiki.
  14. Check meetup.com for upcoming events and opportunities to take online connecting –> offline.
  15. More scooping that I probably, and I apologize, didn’t list. Though, if I remember more, I will place in the comments. There’s always MORE to learn and MORE resources to discover. =)

Important note to make: This is just the listening phase.

About the listening phase. I might do some or all of this ritual depending on the day and the time. The point is though, that my ritual is…I am always listening. Always checking in. Always asking questions. Always working to seek answers.

The FUN part, is taking it all in, reflecting, and creatively organizing the content and information in your head to implement innovative, effective communications. And, when I really want to *get wild,* I reflect further, beyond the field of communications, social media or marketing…but more to what Chris mentions, about influence. About change. About society. About trends. About what it all means.

Photo Credit: Flickr, Elias Pirasteh


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Social Media Highlight: Digg…Can you add an 8th category termed ‘social good?’

Ever see an image similar to the one on the left and get excited when you recognize one of the many images? You’re feeling really good if you can recognize two of them. Three of them and you’re on top of the world.

There are numerous social media sites and applications. This is why I am going to start another series…I like series-i. (plural for series?) =) In addition to telling you about the site/place/platform/application…I’m going to sign-up, use the app for a couple of weeks and offer a reflection on my thoughts and experience.

Today, let’s learn some more about Digg.

Name: Digg

About: In 2004, Kevin Rose started Digg, a social media site where users can find and share content from anywhere on the web from news articles, blog posts, podcasts, images and videos. All the content is submitted and voted upon by users. The higher the number of ‘diggs’ the more popular and valued the content is valued by digg’s users. Today, Digg has over 500,000 users and 8.5 unique visitors.

Use: If content receives enough ‘diggs,’ then it is moved to Digg’s front page. Digg also enables one to comment and give shouts about content. There are currently 7 categories a user can submit content to: technology, science, world & business, sports, videos, entertainment, and gaming. Digg also has a Digg Lab, similar to the Google Labs concept, in that it offers new tools and a deeper view of Digg.

Demographics: This article offers a nice visual representation of Digg’s dems. Some say Digg is in trouble and others say Digg is the next big company to get bought up. Some say it’s demographics are too narrow. Others say that its large male-base of followers will perpetuate Digg’s growth. I’m just here telling you what Digg is.

My Vote: I give Digg 4 out of 5 wings.

Rationale:

  • Good: I like using digg the more I, well, use it…which is usually typical when I begin using any type of social media. Unlike some social bookmarking sites, Digg lets me get feedback and hear more from peers about the type of content I submit to it. And, I get to see/read what peers find interesting which helps me find new and interesting content.
  • Bad: Call me a novice, but it’s a little too complicated. With all the social networks out there, I feel like it’s trying to be too much and isn’t focusing on what it’s really good at – users submitting and rating content. Also, a big kicker, is that I asked for my age to be private on Digg, and despite me checking the box for my age not to be shown, it continues to be shown. Hmm. This is a big turn-off for me.

Social Marketing and Digg:

  • Numerous social marketing and nonprofit stories are submitted to Digg everyday.
  1. One way to further the movement, submit more of these types of stories.
  2. Digg more of these types of stories.
  3. Contact/Email digg and ask them to add a nonprofit, charity, philanthropy, community or social good category.

Join me on Digg @ Socialbttrfly


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