Ubertwitter

There are many mobile Twitter applications for the extremely popular smart phones.  My favorite, as a Blackberry user, is Ubertwitter.  There are others that I will  discuss in the future.

Ubertwitter is very popular with Blackberry users and its features and dashboard layouts have grown with each version.  This application allows you to manage multiple Twitter accounts as well as allowing updates to Google Talk.  You can update your status, upload pictures and video to share, optionally share your location, and share links. Options allow you to change fonts and colors of themes.

The best part about Ubertwitter, from my perspective is that you rarely need to log in to Twitter via a desktop platform thanks to Ubertwitter.  For the average Twitter user it works!

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is one of my favorite applications to manage multiple accounts.  It  has been free up until recently and for most accounts it still is free except for the largest.  You can add many social networks: Facebook, including fan pages, Twitter, Linkedin,  Ping.fm, Wordpress.com, Foursquare, and Myspace.  You can add and manage multiple Twitter accounts.  This is one of the biggest advantages of Hootsuite.

I value the ability to schedule updates and drafts can be saved for scheduling again, possibly depending upon activity on Twitter in different time zones for example or to update across different accounts.. I think this is one of the advantages of Hootsuite.

Hootsuite has a great dashboard which can be customized according to your needs.  This can be keyword searches, specific users, groups, or lists.  Analytics is another advantage of the Hootsuite dashboard.

The desktop is advantageous because it is web-based.  The competitors are slow to get away from Adobe Air installations for their respective desktop applications which can be susceptible to crashes.

Hootsuite also has mobile applications for the Iphone/ Ipod Touch and also for the Droid.  I am patiently awaiting the Hootsuite application for the Blackberry.  Two thumbs up for Hootsuite.

Foursquare

Foursquare is a location-based application for social networking.  It works best from a mobile device.
Foursquare has been growing exponentially but  it took quit a while to reach one million users, grew more rapidly to reach two million.  The last growth spurt was the three million users milestone which occurred in one month.

With the introduction of Facebook Places, Foursquare really caught fire.  What can users do with Foursquare?  I don't think it has reached its potential.  I believe Foursquare, like most social media, has a great upside.  Businesses can promote with an incentive for check-ins.  You check-in to a location and the frequency can result in you being coronated as the "mayor" if you have been the top visitor that has logged check-ins.

Gowalla is the primary competitor for Foursquare.  I think the large and growing group of users will have to see what develops.

Linkedin

Linkedin is the professional networking platform.  It is a resource for employers and also for networkers.  It is growing at an incredible rate every day.  Linkedin has collaborated with Twitter.  You can update through Twitter to Linkedin or through Linkedin to Twitter.  There are many resources to show you how Linkedin works.  YouTube has many videos to demonstrate. Lewis Howes is quite an authority on Linkedin and can mentor you to get the most out of your Linkedin profile. Linkedin has a learning center that is a great starting point.  I think Linkedin is a priceless tool to allow us to network and I strongly endorse it.

Twitter

Twitter, what can I say about Twitter?  In the spirit of full disclosure, Twitter is, by far, my favorite platform.

I feel that Twitter is a river of info rapidly flowing by.  This can be good and bad.  If you follow many, you may miss an update due to the volume of activity.  If you share an update it may not be viewed by many due to that same fact..  The great thing is that there are many applications and websites that help filter out what you are searching for.  You can create groups and lists (folders) to concentrate what you are searching for.

Twitter started out to be transmitted via SMS text message, hence the 140 character limit  SMS has a limit of 160 characters.

 Twitter has 800 million search queries per day.. I think this is one reason Linkedin has integrated Twitter and moved its update section into a more prominent position on the Linkedin site.  Mashable has a great guidebook to help you get started.  With 190 million users per month, it is evident that Twitter is successful.

Twitter is categorized as a microblogging platform.  It is a great tool to communicate your message and mobile and desktop platforms allow this to occur 24/7.  Twitter may be tempted to boast to potential users that Twitter is so great it could save your life. You just need to ask Leigh Fazzina.

Second Largest Search Engine

Can you tell me what the second largest search engine is?  If you said, YouTube, you are correct.  As of February, 2010, it is the fifth largest website.

YouTube recently announced that the time limit for videos has been raised to 15 minutes from 10 minutes.   Do you know how much content you can include in a quarter hour clip?  Isn't video a captivating medium versus text?

You need to register with YouTube to upload videos.  This privilege is unlimited.  To view a video, you do not have to be registered.

Whether you want to watch something hilarious or learn something new, there are plenty of videos available.  Surf away!

Facebook

Who hasn't heard of Facebook?  Facebook is a giant platform which recently eclipsed the 500 million mark in users.  Facebook is synonymous with exposure.  With one half of a billion people perusing the site, you can get tremendous exposure.  Exposure can be good or bad.  Some say any publicity is good.  I think there are exceptions.  Large scale exposure can be advantageous but one mistake can have a lingering negative affect.  Be careful with what you put out there.

There are plenty of phish in the internet sea.  The phisherman are waiting and working to get your personal info.  I have had a half dozen attempts by an individual in Germany to access my Facebook account.  Facebook security will prompt you to reset your settings when your account has activity that is unusual and raises a red flag
I am thankful for the Facebook vigilance.

Milestones come and go through our lives.  A milestone of one half billion users is admirable and a testament of the good parts of Facebook.  To celebrate the milestone Facebook Stories has started to tell how Facebook has touched our lives.