Think Tank Solutions

What are social bookmarking sites? Basically, these are sites that allow users to post their favorite sites, using tags (or keywords) to categorize and organize them; then other users can take these bookmarks and add them to their own collection or share them with even more users. Here are some of my favorite social bookmarking sites that I use every single day.

1. del.icio.us

del.icio.us is a social bookmarking site that has rapidly taken off even more in popularity since being purchased by Yahoo. I use del.icio.us probably the most out of all these top picks, particularly to post interesting sites that I’ve found around the Web. I also subscribe to quite a few del.icio.us tags, such as popular and reference, and I get all the sites tagged with these keywords in my RSS reader of choice, Bloglines.

2. Digg.com

Digg is social bookmarking and social networking gone a little crazy due to the fact that anyone can submit a Digg (site), and then anyone can comment on those same Diggs. For me the most interesting feature of Digg has to actually be the comments on the sites and stories, since the Digg community is not shy about letting folks know how they feel about a particular Digg. Primarily focussed on geeky, technology-type items.

3. Listible

Listible hasn’t been around very long, but already it’s one of my must-visit sites. Probably because I have a weird thing for lists. Anyone can start a list about pretty much anything; I’ve seen lists for Firefox extensions, TV theme songs, and much more. Listible users can rate the items on the list and add comments.

4. Furl

Furl, a service of LookSmart, gives users the ability to save copies of any Web page, search within your own personal archive of Web pages, and share what you find. People use Furl to create their own personal shopping lists, real estate directories, job searches, student research papers, etc. This may just sound like a fancy way of saying bookmarks; but the thing about Furl is that you can access it from any computer, which means that your Favorites will go with you.

5. Yahoo My Web 2.0 Beta

Yahoo My Web 2.0 is a social search engine, which means that people and search technology are working together to create both better searches and a better search experience. From the site: “What if you could tap into a directory of favorite web content bookmarked by thousands of people? And what if that content was organized so that you could browse through it by keyword or instantly search to find content on a particular subject?” It’s a great way to network and bookmark at the same time.

6. Flickr

Flickr is a social bookmarking and social networking site with a twist: it’s all about photos. Users can upload and tag their favorite photos, then other users can bookmark those photos as favorites and share them with even more people. You can also comment on individual photos and share why you like (or dislike) that image.

7. Slashdot

Slashdot is the original social bookmarking site. Slashdotters can submit stories or links they find interesting and then users comment on them (usually the comments are extremely active). The only drawback of Slashdot is that stories and sites have to be pre-approved; this has actually driven a lot of very fervent Slashdot users to other social bookmark sites such as Digg.

8. YouTube

YouTube is another social bookmarking site with a twist; it’s all about videos. Users upload their favorite videos and their fellow YouTube users can comment, pass these videos on around the Web, or paste them on their Web sites or blogs. YouTube is a great way to find popular homemade (mostly) videos.

9. Simpy

Simpy is a social bookmarking site that allows users to “save, tag and search your own bookmarks and notes or browse and search other users’ links and tags.” There’s a lot of technology-related stuff here but then again, there’s also a lot of very eclectic links on here as well.

10. Popurls.com

Popurls.com is one of my must-read sites every day. Popurls is a lovely conglomeration of about 10 different social bookmarking sites, some of which I’ve already mentioned in this list. Popurls is a great way to get all your potential bookmarks in one place.

Tags: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by admin
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When it comes to web brands, you’d be hard-pressed to find ones more popular than Google, Yahoo and Digg. These sites are becoming so well known (2 already are as popular as any brand out there), any major Internet marketing campaign must consider leveraging these sites.

Yahoo!, Google Apart Of Mobile Phone Hype

The early part of the New Year has been especially kind to the mobile phone industry in terms of positive buzz - culminating with yesterday’s Apple iPhone announcement that knocked the social media side of the web off its feet. Standing at the center of this social media storm (well, perhaps not in the middle, but definitely major players) are none other than Google and Yahoo!.

During yesterday’s iPhone announcement - presented by Steve Jobs - Engadget’s coverage revealed the iPhone would very supportive of Google’s cavalcade of web applications (a Google Maps demonstration was presented during the announcement) as well as confirming a partnership with Yahoo!. Surprisingly, the iPhone is not the only device these competitors have partnered with.

According to numerous reports, both Yahoo and Google have also partnered with Samsung for the recently launched SGH-Z720 phone. Google’s partnership allows users to access three of Google’s web applications - search, Gmail, and Google Maps.

Yahoo!’s partnership calls for the phones to come preloaded with Yahoo! Go 2.0; Yahoo! oneSearch (Yahoo’s mobile web search feature); Yahoo! Mail; Yahoo! Messenger and Yahoo! Personal Information Management. Of course, all of these services are intended to provide potential owners with a more robust user experience and considering all of the applications available, Samsung has succeeded in doing so.

Partnerships like these are good indicator of what powerful search engines like Google and Yahoo are focusing on (not solely of course): the mobile Internet. As more and more users adopt this method of Internet interaction, partnering with the mobile phone companies to provide mobile web services goes a long way towards securing a future beyond organic web search.

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Where Did Digg’s PageRank Go?

Apparently, either the current Google PageRank update or someone at Google doesn’t like Digg because the nexus for social media currently has a PageRank score of zero.

That’s right, when you navigate to Digg.com, Google’s green bar turns white (this goes for both the www. version and the non-www. version). I’ve got a screenshot if you are interested in case this gets corrected anytime soon. Although, when you consider How PageRank Works, then perhaps this wasn’t an accident at all.

Hat-tip to DazzlinDonna for pointing this out at her SEO Scoop blog.

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Sandman’s Son Coming To Google

Google’s geek cred, which has long been established, is about to get another shot in the arm. Neil Gaiman, author of the Sandman graphic novels and a host of other writings, has revealed his son is about to join the ranks of a company that was recently voted the best place to work at.

Over at his blog, Matt Cutts can hardly contain his geek excitement and rightfully so when you consider the pedigree young Gaiman will bring to Google. From the bragging rights perspective alone, Gaiman’s hiring should be seen as a bonus for Google, although the search engine has never lacked a significant buzz factor.

Gaiman’s hiring can only increase Google’s already strong social media buzz (consider how many fans of the Gaiman genre are bloggers and will undoubtedly comment about this move), while further endearing the search engine to geek crowd.

Tags: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by admin
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