You never know what social media site might be the big thing. What is popular today may soon be a thing of the past, and what currently exists may take it’s place.
In the early days of social networking everyone I knew was in Myspace but I opted to join Facebook in the private days. I even reopened my Bloomsburg University alumni email account to gain early access, as only college students were allowed in.
Among the public education circles, Furl was the best social bookmarking service. They were acquired by Diigo. For some time, internet marketers did all they could to be bookmarked on all the platforms. Some services helped syndicate to all bookmarking services.
When Digg launched, I was elated to have made page 1 of stories dugg. Now – the site has been overhauled several times and can’t even find the 1 story it shows made the front page. The cool kids have moved over to Reddit, which has been around since 2005 like Digg. A few interesting ways of using Reddit have cropped up, most notably the show submissions for a daily podcast Tech News Today.
Do you remember when Youtube only allowed 10 minute increments? My account has allowed unlimited time length for over a year now, but before then I posted long clips to Viddler. Among them is a great video by Christopher S. Penn from PodCamp Philly 2009. He’s presenting about Social Media ROI in the clip, and is recorded saying that StumbleUpon’s traffic is like people stumbling around the web drunk. Now, StumbleUpon has gained considerable traction since launching the iPhone and iPad app.
So – what can you do about all the changes? I recommend claiming your accounts on every platform imaginable. Even if you have no plans to use it now, fill out the basic information and claim your username to protect your brand. Drive traffic to those accounts one when you actively participate. If you need further help in claiming these accounts, contact me.
In the meantime, I recommend Chris’s post on focusing on one social media home base, in addition to your own website as the foundation of your online presence. In addition, don’t forget to check for further connections once per month on your accounts.
Related articles
- StumbleUpon Drives More Than 50% of Social Media Traffic [STATS] (mashable.com)
- Facebook Falters While StumbleUpon Races By (marketingpilgrim.com)
