It’s A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

What is StumbleUpon? Ask a few people this question and you can get some differing answers. Some will say it’s simply a social media site while others say it is the lazy man’s way of surfing through the Internet with a click of a button. But those more involved with Stumble will tell you - it’s a community. And just like in your real-life neighborhood, if you want to get along with everyone, make some friends and contribute, there are some things you should be doing. Here’s a quick list of some easy and ‘neighborly’ tips to help you be an active member of the StumbleUpon community.

• Be active – If you want to be successful you have to stumble, stumble, stumble!
• Be honest – Thumb up pages you like and thumb down those you don’t. This will help StumbleUpon show you pages you’ll like and connect you with like-minded users.
• Don’t be shy – Review the pages you like by adding a comment. It’s not only part of being an active member but it gets you exposure and may entice others to check out your stumbles.
• Offer Something To The Community – Submit new content. Although it may seem everything has already been added to Stumble, there is still quality content yet to be discovered. Use other sites like Digg or Reddit to help.
• Make Some Real Friends – Start by finding users that have similar interests or who have thumbed up any of your submissions. Make sure that when you add a friend, you actually check out their blog and thumb up / comment on anything you like.
• Be Sure To Compliment Your Neighbors – Review / thumb up other stumbler’s blogs. Most times, they will look through your blog and if you have decent activity, they’ll give you a review too!
• Always Thank Your Neighbors – If a stumbler has reviewed your page, it’s common courtesy to thank them for the comments. Either send them a message or review their blog as well and let them know you appreciated it.
• Offer To Lend A Hand – Keep an eye on your friend’s submissions with the ‘What’s New’ tab on your homepage. Make sure to thumb up and review any of their content you like. They’ll be sure to do the same for you.
• Personalize Your Home – The best way to get involved with the community is to let them know who you are so be sure to add a unique avatar, describe some of your interests, and add a bit about yourself in the ‘Introduce Yourself’ section of your profile.
• Don’t Be Boring – Again, make sure you continue to be active, join some groups and play around with the StumbleUpon toolbar. There are lots of different ways of stumbling: just your friend’s stuff, only pictures, only news, and you can even stumble an entire site like Flickr or Wikipedia.

I hope these tips help take your stumbling to the next level, or at least give you some new friends to share your stumbles with. If you’re just looking to surf and ingest content as quickly and easily as possible, then have at ‘er and just stumble any way you like. But if you’re interested in being part of the larger picture and getting involved in the community, it’s definitely worth trying out these tips and showing others how neighborly you can be. Be sure to check out my own profile during your travels. Natitude

Check our previous StumbleUpon post: Basic Overview for New StumbleUpon Users

Plurk or Twitter? Twitter or Plurk?

I seem to be spending more time micro-blogging these days. When micro-blogging first came out I thought it was a complete waste of time. I mean, who really cares what I had for lunch. So I avoided it for as long as possible until I read an article by Dan Zarrella called 10 Ways Twitter Can Boost Your Social News Profile. Since I am an avid Digg user I am always on the look out for ways to make Digg more interesting.

My first foray into micro-blogging involved spending time on Twitter. I was surprised at how quickly I gained followers. I had no idea people were interested in what I had to say. And I found out that although lots of people “tweet” about what they had for lunch it was a great way for me to network with my Social Media friends. Sometimes “Tweets” of wisdom magically appeared on my screen and I was thrilled to be following such smart, interesting people. My friends were also pointing me to some fabulous articles and resources on the web. I was sold on Twitter.

And then one day some of my Twitter friends started talking about Plurk. I ignored it at first but it wasn’t long before I had a page full of tweets all about Plurk. So I signed up and I liked it too. You still talk in 140 characters on Plurk but it is so much easier to have a conversation. The timeline lets you keep up with older or missed plurks and is kind of fun to use. Plurkers are joking, using emoticons, talking about karma and really being social. The thing is I don’t seem to get as much work related-benefit there.

When I had a burning question last week I sent out several Direct Messages on Twitter and got lots of responses where on Plurk the question seemed to get lost in the deluge. But then again, Twitter is broken so much of the time… But the user-base on Twitter is so much larger than Plurk... But I like the Plurk interface better… What’s a girl to do?

Using both means that you aren’t a truly active member of either, which nullifies some of the benefits. So I’ve written a little Limerick to help express my confusion:

Usually I like to use Plurk

Until it feels like work

And then in a flitter

I tweet off a Twitter

And end up feeling like a jerk

Digg is that Popular Guy from High School

I was going to write about how Digg and I have a love/hate relationship but the more I thought about it the more I realized that Digg doesn’t hate me. Digg barely knows that I exist. Why would Digg hate someone they hardly know and usually just ignore?

And then I realized that Digg is like that popular guy in High School and I am like the geeky girl that has a crush on him and does his homework and helps him study for tests just so he might acknowledge my existence. (Please feel free to alter genders if you males out there also feel like this applies to you too.)

Digg uses me to help retain popularity but doesn’t really care about me.

Let’s look at the parallels for a minute:

	Popular Guy from High School	Digg
ME	Listens to all of his stupid stories	Spends lots of time in the Upcoming section wading through stupid stories
ME	Hangs on his every word	Votes for lots of submissions to help move them onto the front page
ME	Spends countless hours doing his homework	Spends countless hours looking for great submissions
ME	Helps his friends when they need it	Help my Digg friends so one day I might be able to make a story popular

And just when I am fed up and ready to stop chasing that elusive front page I finally get a story popular. The popular guy finally smiles to me in the hallway or even waves to me in front of other people. That one nugget of recognition and validation I so desire is given to me for a fleeting moment so that I am drawn back into the vortex that consumes my day.

Digg doesn’t care if I work hard to find new and interesting content to submit before someone else does. Digg doesn’t care if my submissions get to the front page. Because Digg knows that some other geeky girl or guy will be along soon to take my place if I ever decide to fawn over someone else.

But just in case Digg does need me a little bit, Digg gives me that smile or wave in the hallway that keeps me working hard and makes me feel special amongst the thousands of other minions out there all looking for the same attention.

FriendFeed, how do I love you? Oh, let me count the ways

In keeping with our recent theme of reviewing different social media and networking sites, I’d like to quickly talk about the newest one I’ve joined – FriendFeed. If you’re anything like me, you’re probably already signed up with a ga-zillion other social sites and thinking “oh great, another site I don’t have time for”. Well boys and girls, get out your daily planner and make some time.

Here are just a few of the reasons why:

- The layout is easy to follow and all replies/comments are kept with the original post. This means that if you decide to go and get some real work done, you don’t miss chunks of conversation.

- Topical Rooms. FriendFeed has rooms covering all sorts of topics from Twitter fanatics to all things blogging. This makes it super easy to get targeted feedback too!

- Rooms/Conversations are open. You’re free to join any room and participate on any post. You can also start your own conversation by posting a thought, question, link, or image and all members of the room will see your post.

- Everyone is equal. I have to be honest, since I’m not a well known ‘face’ on the internet, trying to join in on someone’s blog or Tweet can be intimidating, and most of the time, it goes unread. But with FriendFeed, the freedom to join in anywhere ensures that everyone gets their chance to be heard.

- Import Accounts/Blogs. With profiles on so many sites, wouldn’t it be great to import them all to one place? FriendFeed does just that by allowing you to import your profiles from Digg, SU, Delicious, Flickr, Twitter, and even your blog feed – just to name a few. Everything you do is displayed on your ‘Me’ page and anyone who subscribes to you, will be able to see all your activity on the various sites. And this brings me to my next point…

- Exposure. Because you’re free to participate as you like and can easily show what you’ve been doing on other sites, it’s easy to get in front of a lot of eyes and gain subscribers.

- Last but not least, the Hide feature makes it easy to weed out any of the noise. If you don’t like something, hide it. If you don’t like what someone is posting, unsubscribe from them. It’s easy to control what you see and what you don’t.

What sets FriendFeed apart from other networking sites is its simplicity, openness, and unlike some other sites I’ve been participating on recently, it’s not overwhelming for new users. Granted, I’ve come across a few people who don’t share the same enthusiasm for FriendFeed as I do, but for me it has become one of my most valuable tools. I’ve found great information easily, received excellent feedback from other users and I’ve even managed to make a few friends along the way. And isn’t that what networking is all about?

The 10 Digg Commandments

Every devout Digger should have a set of rules to follow. Isn't that the way most good cults start?

1. Thou shall not worship any Social Media site other than Digg – not Reddit (and SU isn’t really a Social Media site no matter what you guys say)



2. Thou shall not take the word Digg in vain – what you say about Mixx is your own business



3. Remember to Digg everyday – there is no such thing as a holiday on the InterWebs



4. Honor Kevin Rose – he’s kind of a big deal (in his own mind)



5. Network and make friends – your submissions will go nowhere without them



6. Thou shall not spam your fellow Diggers with many shouts – you will be unfriended



7. Thou shall not have more than one Digg account – can you say spammer?



8. Thou shall not submit duplicate content – get your own damn content



9. Thou shall not bury for no apparent reason – you have the option to not vote



10. Thou shall not covet Top Diggers front page success – without them there would be a lot less content