From Blog to Tumblelog to Twitter

Social media is supposed to be the cornerstone of Web 2.0 and with this I agree. I’ve been dipping my toes in the social media waters for over a year, now, and I’m just starting to get a clear picture of what roles each piece should play. (How’s that for mixed metaphors?)

I still think that blogs are the most powerful forms of social media and communication out there. They are so flexible and can be customized in so many ways, that often you do not even know you are looking at a blog. Blogs have also become mainstream and that has increased their power and reach several-fold. Whatever you do, you MUST have a blog. You can see my personal blog at PeacefulBirder.com.

Tumblelogs are a form of mini-blog, a way of sharing various forms of media (text, photos, video, and more). To get an idea of what these look like, you can go to the Tumbler home page or to my own Tumblelog.

Twitter is even more streamlined, 140 characters of text per post. I can see many uses for Twitter that go way beyond the traditional “here’s what I’m doing now”, although even that serves its purpose. Here are some of the more unusual ways of using Twitter and here is a good guide to Twitter. You can see my own Twitter feed and even follow me if you wish.

This is just a brief introduction to some of the means of social networking available. The next post will talk about some of the really big social networks, like Facebook and MySpace and what changes I think we’ll see in the next year.

Chris O’Byrne
OnlineArtsMarketing.com