Seesmic Web makes it easy to access your Twitter account from any browser and at any time. The new interface of Seesmic Web now brings to the forefront: Adjustable Column Size, Sounds, Mute / Un-mute Users, Location Trends, Inline Pictures and Video Previews.

Updated Followers and Following List in Contacts

Manage your followers and who you follow in our recently released Contacts feature. Be able to look through and view all of your relationships on Twitter by reviewing their profile, add them to lists and easily manage your connections.

Adjustable Column Size

By allowing much narrower columns, Seesmic Web will surely become the best friend of your Notebook! Wanted to view more columns simultaneously and they seemed too large? Go to the left side of the screen and choose the width: small or wider!

Sounds

Missed important tweets because you did not check them in time? Seesmic Web now announces you when you’ve received Direct Messages, Replies or you’ve even sent tweets. Sounds are enabled by default and can be disabled by clicking on the second button of the top right bar.

Mute / Un-mute

Ever wanted to hide someone from your Seesmic Web timeline when the tweets might have spoiled your surprise? You can do it now with the Mute feature! Clicking on the username, opens the profile preview and opting for Mute will exclude all the user’s tweets only from your Seesmic Web platform. If you changed your mind, you can simply undo the process from Contacts.

Inline Pictures and Video Previews

Seesmic web now lets you preview pictures and thumbnails of video directly from the timeline, without clicking on anything. It has never been easier to know what’s behind all those shortened links! In Seesmic Web, you can adjust sound, replay or pause or pause the video.

Trending Topics Locations

Do you want to know what’s setting trends in certain parts of the world or must-go-to cities? Seesmic Web now allows you the possibility to do it, whether in Europe, US or simply Worldwide. By going to Trending Topics Location, you can select the city of your choice or region that catches your eye and view the mostly talked about subject.

You can now check and display all of your Contacts without any limitation. The opportunities to discover the benefits of Seesmic Web platform are numerous! Just let us know your opinion.

One of the latest social media applications that has been getting a great deal of buzz is … Google’s Buzz. Google rolled out Buzz not too long ago, with the hope that it would become the next be social media thing. Google is hoping that the fact that Gmail users automatically access Buzz will help it continue. Also helping is the fact that Buzz makes it easy to connect Buzz to other social media feeds, creating a hub of sorts for your various social media accounts, including Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and your Blogger profile.

All of this connectivity had an initial downside. Almost immediately, outcry over privacy on Google Buzz was raised. Private information was widely available, and that caused immediate concerns. The good news is that the widespread panic caused Google to make changes to its set-up, and now Buzz can be adjusted to rectify most of the privacy problems. Now that Google has done its tinkering, and many social media mavens have had their say, Buzz is being considered for its usefulness. While Google Buzz isn’t for everyone, it can be a helpful tool in a number of settings, including education.

If you are looking for an innovative way to connect with students, especially in an online learning situation, here are some ways that you can take advantage of the features offered by Google Buzz:

Create Education Groups

Google Buzz allows you to create different groups, based on shared interests. It is also possible to set up private groups on Buzz so that you are not sharing group information with outsiders. This is one of the most useful features of Buzz for educators. You can create individual groups for each course you teach. Additionally, if you are working on class projects, you can set up small groups and monitor how they are working together. Here are the steps to creating a private group and sending messages using Google Buzz:

1. In your Gmail account, go to “Contacts”.
2. Click on “New Group” and create a name for the group.
3. Add members’ emails to this group.
4. Go to Buzz and click in the message box.
5. Look below the box to see the drop down. Switch from “Public on Web” to “Private”.
6. Click on “Post to a group” and check the appropriate box.
7. Write your message and click “Post”.

Of course, the major drawback is that all of those in the class group or course have to have their own Gmail accounts and access to Buzz in order to coordinate projects and discuss class items using this social media tool.

Collaborate on Projects

Using the ability to set up groups in Gmail and in Buzz, it is possible to use Buzz to collaborate on education projects. Indeed, Buzz is set up so that conversations can take place on a variety of subjects. This allows students to collaborate with each other, sharing files and information. Google Buzz allows for the sharing of pictures, documents (Google Docs can be used easily with Gmail and Buzz), and research links with each other. This can make collaboration fast and easy.

On top of this, it is possible for others in the group to easily follow the thread of conversation, something that can be quite difficult on Twitter when you have groups of people trying to read what others are saying. Buzz keeps related conversations together, so it is easy to see what other group members have contributed to class projects. Every post has the option to insert a link or photo. With Google Docs, you receive a link that you can put in this section (or just share the doc with everyone in your group).

Class Discussion

For distance education, Google Buzz can be great for facilitating class discussion. It is easy for online educators to upload class materials so that class members can see them using Buzz. Then it is possible to discuss the materials with class members. Class members can comment on their own time schedule as well, easily pulling up what they are looking for by post discussion, and seeing what others have said. Then they can add their own comments.

Google Buzz also makes it easy to answer questions students might have. A student can post a question, and the teacher can answer it — allowing everyone in the group to see the answer. This can be an effective way for those who might have similar questions to have them answered quickly and easily without having to email the instructor separately. Filtering improvements should help increase the efficiency of this process.

The fact that you can do this with more than 140 characters (as with Twitter), and the fact that you don’t have to enter individual “friends” for each message (as with Facebook) make Buzz quite convenient. Comments, questions and explanations can be as long as necessary, and illustrative media is readily available.

Course and Assignment Updates

It is possible for you to quickly and easily send out course and assignment updates to everyone in your class using Google Buzz. If you need to make changes to an assignment, cancel a class meeting, or set up a special online class chat, you can use Buzz to quickly let everyone in your group know. You can also post information on extra credit assignments, or let students know when their grades are available.

You can also notify students when you have a new video lecture up. The “Insert Link” feature allows you to insert a link from YouTube and have the video show up as something playable immediately. You can also connect your YouTube account to Buzz, so that every time you upload a new video, it is automatically disseminated to all of your followers.

Drawbacks to Google Buzz

Even with the privacy upgrades to Buzz, there are still some concerns. One of them is that in some cases there is an “all or nothing” approach, making it difficult to make some things public and some things private. Another downside to Google Buzz in terms of privacy is that when you use Buzz on mobile devices, it can show your location to followers. You might not want class members knowing exactly where you are.

And, of course, in order for Google Buzz to be effective in education, all of those taking your course must have a Gmail account and use it regularly. That’s no real hardship, since it is free, but some online students may not be too keen on getting a new email account just to take a class.

In the end, though, Google Buzz offers some interesting possibilities, especially for those looking to beef up their online education offerings.

Thanks to Emily Johnston, Best College Rankings

Business school can help you when working for or running an already established business, but it can’t provide you with the real world experience needed to run a start-up or pursue entrepreneurship. More and more, MBA curriculums are being distinguished as training and networking grounds for upcoming entrepreneurs. Being sharp enough to face the challenges of running a company can be merciless, particularly in this high tech, fast paced territory. Because getting ahead in business frequently has nothing to do with qualifications or exceeding a set of specific goals, here are some cutting edge blogs that will help you win at the business game and expand the horizons of your education.

Cutting Edge Business Blogs for Productivity

It takes a disciplined personality to set accountable actions in order to become a successful individual. Acquire some helpful productivity skills that you couldn’t learn in business school from these blogs.

1. David Allen, Getting Things Done (GTD) -The acronym for “Getting Things Done” is a work and life management system by David Allen. His purpose is to improve the quality of life by providing the world’s best information, education, and products for personal productivity.
2. Productivity Cafe – Your source for ideas on getting things done, being effective, and reducing stress. Aim towards efficiency and a better life.
3. Productivity 501 – A site dedicated to bringing you regular tips and tricks to help increase your personal productivity.
4. 43 Folders – Discusses personal productivity, life hacks, and simple ways to make your life a bit better. The posts are engaging and give a different view of personal productivity and the challenges of modern knowledge.
5. Lifehack.org – Find great tips for saving time, organizing your life, and increasing productivity. Lifehack.org invites reader participation on its forums and has a popular “How to” section that’s worth checking out.
6. Laura Stack: The Productivity Pro – Learn how to get things done, be more productive, and enjoy life to the fullest with the suggestions from professional Laura Stack.
7. Black Belt Productivity – Read articles that preach time management as the main method to maximizing your productivity. Little life hacks, easy-to-use tools, and calendars are also reviewed in this blog.
8. Zen Habits – Get a business blog that covers everything from achieving goals, productivity, being organized, GTD, and motivation, to getting a flat stomach and eating healthy.
9. Jeet Blog – Mainly focuses on different Web 2.0 apps and online tools and how they can help you become more productive in your daily life. You will also find articles on blogging, social media, and on different aspects of the blogosphere.

Cutting Edge Business Blogs for Career Development

If you are just graduating college, there may be some specific needs you have when entering the job market. Check out these sites for a little help making the jump.

1. Career Rocketeer – This is one of the most popular career development blogs on the internet. They welcome ambitious career entrepreneurs of all ages and professions who are driven to reach greater career heights.
2. The Creative Career – Observations on the transition from college into career. It also has insight on how students can adapt to the aspects in public relations, communications, and marketing that are always changing.
3. Brazen Careerist – This blog is anything but your classic career site. Formed by a group of top Gen Y thought leaders, these posts provide forward thinking and encouragement to define your own path.
4. Daily Career Connection – This business blog is for individuals interested in growing as job professionals. Whether you’re just starting out or have been looking for a long time, this business blog has many tips that can help.
5. The Career Key Blog – These bloggers want you to utilize this site as a forum for sharing news and respectable resources about careers. They also explore many self employment and entrepreneurial options.
6. Rise Smart Blog Learn more about rising up in the ranks at work, even if you’re starting at the bottom, from this site.
7. Women’s Leadership Blog – This blog is sponsored by Future Women Leaders . Although not solely for career coaching, it shares resources, tips, and advice to inspire women to become leaders in both their professional and personal lives.
8. CareerDoctor.org – Great advice from Dr. Randall Hansen, Career Coach. He has over 20 years of experience coaching everyone from teenagers to senior executives with a variety of education and job search issues.
9. SI Career Development Blog – Brought to you by the University of Michigan School of Information, this is not just a blog for their students. The articles posted can help anyone obtain valuable information to develop a career.

Cutting Edge Business Blogs for Social Networking & Media

Business networking is a valuable tool to gain information, so increase your visibility in your field and make connections to help you move forward with the help of these business blogs.

1. Mashable – This is one of the leading tech blogs focused on Web 2.0 and social networking news. With more than 5 million monthly page views, this is the go to site for reviewing new sites and services along with breaking updates on what’s new on the web.
2. Sociable Blog – Get all the latest news and articles, as well as some great video about social networking,  social media, communities, and software from all over the world.
3. Networking Now – This blog is written by the founder of BNI, the world’s largest business networking organization. Get marketing secrets and anecdotes about his years of experience in small business marketing.
4. The Social Networking Weblog – Videos, tips, and tricks make it easy to get a grasp on working with social media. There are also some easy step by step tutorials.
5. Social Media Coaching Center – Find what you want to learn about social media on this site. They’ve put together a group of coaches and social media gurus to show you how to use the tools and networks.
6. Online Social Networking – Educate yourself on the new strategies and tactics of social media. You can also get helpful information about building your presence on the web.
7. Market Like a Chick – This blogger’s main emphasis is to present advice and useful guides in social media and blogging. Her commentary is offered from a strong woman’s point of view.
8. The LinkedIn Blog – This is the corporate blog of the world’s biggest professional network, LinkedIn . It gives you the chance to communicate with more than 10 million members.
9. Chrisbrogan.com – Chris investigates the use of social media and social networking tools. He has been helping individuals work more productively for years.
10. Social Media Explorer – Journey into the world of social media to find efficient and formative ways to relate brands with buyers. This blog is authored by Jason Falls.

Cutting Edge Business Blogs for Self Awareness & Improvement

The business world can be frustrating, but just remember you can choose how you respond to your settings. Increase your self-awareness so you can get a better understanding of what pushes your buttons with the help of the below business blogs.

1. PIckTheBrain – This is a website covering anything related to self improvement and development. The main categories discussed are self education, personal productivity, and motivation.
2. KnowledgeReform.com Blog – Get self improvement advice and tips as well as practical knowledge needed for self empowerment. You will feel inspired to enhance your life upon reading many of these posts along with the need to educate your mind as well.
3. Think Simple Now – An objective composition that pinpoints key issues in our lives that cause us to be unhappy or depressed. Simple answers are brought to you in a way that’s easily comprehendible. Motivate yourself to seek contentment and true well being.
4. Steve Pavlina.com – Steve is known as one of the most respected personal development bloggers on the World Wide Web . He has written over 1,000 articles on a wide variety of self-help topics.
5. The Positivity Blog – Focus on bringing and seeing the positivity in your life with this blog. Expand your opportunities and open up new phases of life with these informative articles
6. Life Optimizer – These posts can help you optimize personal effectiveness and focus on your dreams to gain success. It is a great source for personal motivation and inspiration.
7. iNeedMotivation – This blog is all about self help and motivation for practical individuals. Topics discussed include personal development , spirituality, and the principles for success.
8. Live Your Life with Prosperity and Success – Written by Brian Maxwell, who is a life coach, motivational speaker, and author of self help books. After working with some of the world’s biggest companies, he decided to start speaking motivationally to smaller groups to provide inspiration for living life with happiness and wealth.
9. Self Improvement – The goal of this blog is to stress the value of self help to individuals around the world. Whether she’s discussing dealing with failure or giving tips for problem solving in everyday life, she is bound to provide some inspiration.

Cutting Edge Business Blogs for Marketing

Although there are marketing classes taught in business school, these blogs offer up innovative views on today’s business marketing.

1. Seth Godin’s Blog – Mr. Godin was founder of Yoyodyne, an interactive marketing company, which Yahoo Inc. acquired in late 1998. His blog often creates direction in business and life, such as financial advice for grads.
2. Duct Tape Marketing – Get marketing tips from this small business expert. John Jantsch hands out three or four small business marketing tips weekly in easily understandable bite-size tidbits.
3. Drew’s Marketing Minute – Tips and strategies on issues such as business plans, picking domain names, and going mobile are included. There is a plethora of information to help you make the right choices for business.
4. The Internet Strategist – Gain knowledge from an internet industry veteran with her own New York marketing firm. This blog specializes in traditional and internet marketing for entrepreneurs and growing businesses.
5. Strategy Stew – A place where business and marketing professionals go for creative ideas on trends. There are links to experts and all things related to getting your ideal customers.
6. How to Change the World – Guy Kawasaki is a managing director of Garage Technology Ventures, an early-stage capital firm. His articles often provide usable lists that are relevant to marketing for his readers.
7. TylerCruz.com – Chronicles everyday operations of his life as a web entrepreneur. Post topics range from blogging tips, affiliate marketing, inspirational and motivational posts, guest posts, in-depth articles, and reviews.
8. Search Engine Land – A great resource for news and information about search engine marketing, optimization, and how search engines work for searchers.
9. Business Pundit – Learn things you never would have thought of on this unconventional blog. You will receive bold opinions and advice on marketing topics that help businesses grow.
10. Copyblogger – This blog offers some copywriting tips that are essential to online marketing and effective blogging.
11. Online Marketing Blog – Offers digital marketing related articles, resources, and interviews. Subjects discussed range from search marketing to online public relations.
12. PyroMarketing – Greg Stielstra, author of “PyroMarketing: The Four Step Strategy to Ignite Customer Evangelists and Keep Them for Life,” shares his marketing mastery on his blog.
13. Andy Beal’s Marketing Pilgrim – Andy Beal discusses news from the search engine industry. Her posts are on topics like blogging, RSS, and other internet marketing strategies.

Cutting Edge Business Blogs for Personal Branding

No professor will show you how to differentiate yourself as an expert in your field, articulate your unique value, and establish respect and credibility. These unconventional business blogs on personal branding will.

1. Personal Branding Blog – Position yourself to become known for your perseverance and expertise. See your brand from the very beginning and go beyond the competitive edge taking place in major companies.
2. Altaeeblog.com – Learn all about using personal branding power to enhance your opportunities. Get yourself noticed and gain motivation at the same time.
3. Brand Yourself – Get a better understanding of the basics behind business branding. Learn about what you need to do to get your name out there.
4. Quick Sprout – By the age of 21, Neil Patel was named a top 100 blogger by Technorati. He was also voted as one of top influencers on the web according to the  ”Wall Street Journal.” See why by visiting.
5. Krishna De’s Biz Growth News – Get some inspiration as well as resources and research so that you create an engaging personal brand. Gain knowledge of traditional marketing, communications strategies, and social media.
6. Cube Rules – Cube Rules offers support and personal branding advice. They cater to career-minded individuals working in corporate America.
7. Jibber Jobber Blog – These personal branding experts offer updates on networking and organizational tools. There are also thoughts and reviews on other resources.
8. The Engaging Brand – Read this blogger’s thoughts on the world of business, branding, and creativity. His goal is to enable people to be the best that they can be.
9. Brand-Yourself.com Blog – Tools, education, and hints to help you build your personal brand online are found here.

Cutting Edge Business Blogs for Effective Communication & Presentation

One of the most important skills anyone can develop is the capability to speak decidedly, persuasively, and aggressively in front of an audience of one or 1,000. Read these blogs for some tips and advice on how to do just that.

1. Communication Nation – This business blog is dedicated to that belief that communication is one of the most important skills anyone can have, in business and life. The blogger thinks we will be happier and more productive if we can improve our ability to communicate.
2. Six Minutes – Public speaking and presentation skills analysis and opinions. Become a more forceful speaker and communicate conclusively.
3. Professionaly Speaking – A community of speakers of all experience levels come together to learn, share, and grow in the understanding of public speaking. They also have great resources such as the rhyming dictionary and movie speeches.
4. Mike Stopforth – Mike is an entrepreneur, communications consultant, and keynote presenter. He is passionate about young individuals profiting in business, e-communication, and how they work together.
5. Robin Good’s Latest News – Everything you need to know from experts in the field about new ideas, tools, and resources to communicate with media technologies.
6. The Accidental Communicator – The blog for improving your presentation and communication skills. There are also some fast tips that can help you in a crunch.
7. Overnight Sensation – Learn how to reach your communication potential faster. Public speaking, personal development, and interpersonal skills are just some of the topics covered.
8. High Stakes Presentations – Sims Wyeth gives people the knowledge and skills they need to become accomplished speakers.
9. Business Communication Headline News – A full range of help and education that you need to achieve all of your communication and presentation needs. Meet your expectations of public speaking through this blog.

Cutting Edge Business Blogs for Sales, Negotiating, and Critical Thinking

Being able to evaluate information, sort the potentially valuable from the trivial, analyze its relevance and meaning, and make a decision based upon it is a crucial skill that can’t be taught in any business class.

1. Negotiating for Profit Includes information on negotiating tips and strategies on all types of situations both business and personal. There is also video training and tutorials available.
2. The Thinker – A blog all about critical thinking, decision making, problem solving, and creativity.
3. The Sales Blog – Written by S. Anthony Iannarino, a sales coach and entrepreneur for over ten years. His commentary offers a fresh, new look at the art of sales and sales management.
4. The Negotiation Board – Jonathan and Jennifer Martin are both graduates from the University of Washington Business School. They hope to use their experiences not learned in school to help anyone learn how to negotiate.
5. Think About It – A business analyst working with Web 2.0 tools and knowledge management. Her focus is on crucial decision processes and critical thinking material.
6. Sales Management Front Line Blog – Discusses key issues currently relevant to the success of sales leaders. Take action and act with that special edge to deal with any challenge.
7. Sales and Sales Management Blog – Discussion of sales and sales management topics with an emphasis on addressing real world issues with legitimate answers. There are articles by a number of to top guest trainers and consultants included.
8. IQ Matrix Blog – Dedicated to helping you improve your human brain potential through a sharp mixture of mind mapping and critical thinking fundamentals.
9. Sales Management 2.0 – Created to share helpful insights and practical knowledge that will help every sales professional increase their income without compromising their values.

Cutting Edge Business Blogs for Writing

Learning to write well involves not just mastery of grammar but the ability to organize one’s thoughts into a coherent form and target it to an audience in the most effective way possible.

1. There Are No Rules – Learn about today’s publishing trends and how authors can survive in all the faced paced changes in technology. Get a closer view of the publishing business and find practical tools for success.
2. Grammar Girl – Grammar Girl provides short, friendly tips to improve your writing. Simplify your grammar problems with memory tricks to help you remember use those tedious grammar guidelines.
3. Quips and Tips for Successful Writers – Between fast articles and insightful advice from successful writers, all of your writing questions can be answered and compared between the present and the past.
4. The Book Deal – A blog for writers of all ages. Get a look at a veteran’s take on the weird and ever changing way books are published in the business today.
5. Six Sentences – What can you say in six sentences? Take a try to give your creativity a jump start.
6. The Creative Pen – Outstanding blogger, podcaster, and social media guru, Joanna Penn, offers interviews, hints, and answers for writers with a digital media focus.
7. Query Shark – Literary agent Janet Reid gives her authentic and direct standpoint on query letters. She brutally reviews letters from writers who are brave enough to get thrown into her shark tank.
8. A Newbie’s Guide to Getting Published – Author J.A. Konrath has done it all and gives his weathered advice and writer’s perspective on what it takes to get noticed in the arena of book publishing.
9. Writer Beware – You should definitely add this blog to your list of favorites if writing is your interest. The best site for reports and analysis on the scams and downfalls of publishing.
10. Loudpoet – Publisher, poet, and digital media planner, Guy LeCharles Gonzalez, shows a wide angled view and offers some paired necessary advice for struggling writers and publishers.

Cutting Edge Business Blogs for Finances

Good financial management can make or break a company. It’s not just a matter of having enough money – it’s about having enough money for the right things at the right time. These blogs will help you stay focused on your business and personal budgets.

1. Get Rich Slowly – This business blog is devoted to personal finance, offering tips and advice on saving money, investing wisely, and getting a grip on your investing.
2. The Financial Guru – Receive a holistic approach to money and wealth from Vanessa Summers. She is the CEO of a company dedicated to empowering people to be successful in any economy through entrepreneurship.
3. PFBlogs.com – This network of personal finance blogs will connect you to all kinds of great advice for organizing your money.
4. Wise Bread – Learn how to live “large on a small budget.” This personal finance and frugal living guide is also chock full of clever life hacks.
5. Young Money.com – Trying to change the way young adults earn, manage, invest, and spend money since 1999. This blog is primarily written by student journalists and focuses on money management, entrepreneurship, careers, investing, and technology.
6. Rich by Thirty – If your major goal in life is to make money, then check out this blog. Its content is full of tips for raking in the big bucks.
7. Getting Finances Done – This blog is “your guide to stress-free financial control.” Learn how to organize your bills, stay out of debt, and get a handle on your bank account with these excellent hacks.
8. The Simple Dollar – Access free calculators, personal finance tips, and articles like “Your Money or Your Life: The Money Trap.”
9. The Only Guide to Investing an Entrepreneur Will Ever Need – A guide with a simple premise of investing their savings cautiously. A personal finance guru, Lewis Schiff gives advice on everything from how to invest your money to how to prepare for recession.
10. The Wisdom Journal – This is a blog about life, money, business, and the pursuit of balance. Read posts about personal finance, marketing, management, and links to other great sites.

Graduating from B School can be the most fulfilling thing you’ll do in your lifetime. Just understand that there’s a lot more to it than business plans and target markets. Most of what you learn won’t be taught in Business 101, but left up to you (with a little help from these top 100 cutting-edge business blogs).

Thanks to Samantha Miller, Online University Reviews.

Seesmic for BlackBerry is raising the standards in smart mobile engagement. Always having in mind the infinite number of online social networks, the app introduces Multi-Accounts, Ping.fm component and choosing photo uploading size. Seesmic for BlackBerry also focuses on other features that will make your Twitter experience faster, much more efficient and useful.

Seesmic introduces the possibility to add multiple Twitter accounts. The Seesmic for BlackBerry update, thus, gives you the ability to simultaneously verify the accounts introduced and reach out to your Twitter followers at all times. The app does not only assure connectivity and easiness in sharing beliefs and ideas, but it also guarantees natural and intuitive navigation between multiple accounts.

When posting a new tweet, you can simply select the accounts you want to send from. The app allows you to maintain a default account which will be generated each time you open Seesmic for BlackBerry. Adding up to ten accounts and checking timeline and information provided in each, will surely make the Twitter experience not only a professional one, but fast and attractive.

Seesmic for BlackBerry now introduces the Ping.fm component. Add the Ping.fm account and you can not only engage in social conversations, but also maintain your audience aware at all times and through about 50 social networks. When launching the introduced Ping.fm account, you will see the added networks and posting will occur concurrently in all.

TweetPhoto Service

Smart devices enable you to always stay connected and share the information you consider most important with your Twitter friends. Therefore, Seesmic for BlackBerry and now TweetPhoto is your preferred platform. This service provides online communication and image sharing an advantage of all social media users. Uploading images through TweetPhoto enables continuous social interactions around real-time photo sharing.

You can now select the size of the photos you wish to post. Opting between Small, Medium or Large, you will be able to upload any image and not experience difficulties related to its dimension. Either in your Twitter accounts, in Ping.fm on in both platforms at the same time.

Let’s say your business is a boutique PR firm called “Starburst PR”. Maybe you’re not getting a lot of traction in the news or on social media yet, but you’re working on it and want to keep track of your progress. You don’t want to be shelling out hundreds or thousands of dollars a month to a software firm, but you do need some way to get organized.

Welcome to the Absolute Beginners Guide to Media Monitoring. This step-by-step tutorial will help you set up email alerts to bring media mentions to you, reducing time spent and helping you keep track of engagement.

Let’s get started!

WHAT TO MONITOR

The first step is to make keyword groups so that your email alerts will be organized. Keywords will change as you gain more experience in how your industry is discussed online. This experience will also tell you how to limit industry keywords that bring too many results. For instance, “starburst” would bring millions of results but (”starburst” AND “public relations”) might be a good targeted search for your business.

Keywords may include:

1. Your company: any brands you use, names of executives or other words that potential clients might use to talk about your company.

2. Your competitors: competitor names, brands and executives.

3. Your industry: to find potential clients, look for ways that people refer to your industry and track those words. This often takes some hours of just reading through the results you already have to identify common words that may be used without a specific company mention.

WHERE TO MONITOR

GOOGLE ALERTS – Blogs, News, Web General

Creating Google Alerts for your keywords will bring you all* mentions of your company in blogs, online news, video sites, web sites and online groups.

Additionally, it is useful to be familiar with other businesses using your name so that you can decide on keyword limiters. Over time, you will be able to determine if there are words that can exclude businesses with the same name without affecting results related to your company (ex: “Starburst” -candy -astronomy).

To set up an alert:

1. Go to news.google.com
2. Type “Starburst –candy -astronomy” into the search field.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page, where it says “Stay up to date on these results” and click on “Create an email alert for Starburst –candy -astronomy”.
4. To the right, you will see a box with options to determine what type of alerts to receive.
5. Add the email of the person who will be doing your media monitoring.
6. Click create alert.
7. Receive and click on confirmation email from Google.

Alert Options:

Decide how often you would like to receive emails with search results. They may be sent at the moment that Google finds the result, every per day or once per week. Select your preference in the “How Often” drop down.

The next decision is whether you would like to receive different types of media results separately or as one email. You may choose “comprehensive” as the alert type to have all of your results sent together. Or you may create separate emails for blog results, news results, web results and others.

If you prefer to receive these separately, you will need to create a separate alert (going through the process above) for each type of alert.

Additional Keywords:

If you would also like to track competitor or industry keywords, you may add these to your email alert by adding a capitalized OR between search terms.

Ex: “Starburst PR” OR CompetitorName OR “industry keyword”

I like to run test searches before creating the search strings to see how many results it might return. This way, you can create separate searches for words that return a lot of results, and combine words that return few results.

SOCIAL MEDIA

There is a plug-in available to bring Twitter results into Google but I don’t recommend it because it is more efficient to deal with Twitter results separately, as they are most likely to require a response.

There are many free programs available to create Twitter email alerts. I like SocialOomph for its ease-of-use.

You may use the same search strings that you created for your Google Alerts.

To set up alerts:

1. Go to socialoomph.com
2. Login or Register (in the upper right corner).
3. In the middle of the page, there are a series of blue boxes. Click on the one that reads “Other Tools”
4. A new blue box will appear below the first row. It will read “Keyword Alert Emails”. Click it.
5. Scroll down past the instructions.
6. Make sure to click the box next to Keyword Digest in order to receive email alerts.
7. Select the frequency of emails, as you did for Google Alerts.
8. Enter your keywords (see “Search String Creation” below).
9. Save.
10. Receive and click on confirmation email from SocialOomph.

Search String creation

SocialOomph’s searches are a bit unique, so if you have simple strings of a few independent words you may add them on separate lines.

Ex:
@starburstpr
“Starburst PR”
competitorname
industrykeyword

If your searches need to be more complicated and have exclusions or inclusions, I recommend using the wizard. Above the search area, click on “Open Power Keyword Wizard” next to the wand icon.

Be sure to add keywords for any Twitter handles of interest by adding @twittername as a keyword.

Not Twitter

For other social media sites, the results may be brought into Google or you may have to do a manual search on a regular basis. I recommend setting up a schedule for sites not covered by Google, such as those with password protection, at a frequency determined by the volume of mentions you see with a preliminary search of each site.

HOW TO RESPOND

Think about how your company responds to people in real life and take that same approach in social media. If you pride yourself on answering every phone call, every email and every visitor, then respond to every inquiry online with the requested information.

You can also take a proactive approach to mentions of your company where the person is not specifically trying to reach you.

Examples:

Mention: I had a horrible experience with the receptionist at Starburst PR.
Reponse: I am the Office Manager at Starburst PR, would you share your experience with me so I can improve our process?

Mention: I am looking for a PR firm. Has anyone used Starburst? What did you think of it?
Response: I am a client manager at Starburst, please let me know if I can set up a visit for you or if you need any additional information.

This is also true for industry mentions where someone is looking for a recommendation. However, it is not appropriate to respond when the request specifically and only asks for information about a competitor.

Appropriate to respond to: I am looking for a public relations firm. Any suggestions?
Appropriate to respond to: I have a proposal from Shout PR. Anyone know of alternatives?
Not appropriate to respond to: Does anyone have information about Shout PR?

ORGANIZE YOUR RESULTS

…in your email.

Once you have all of your alert emails set up, create a new folder called “Media Monitoring” in your email program to organize them. I recommend creating a rule to automatically send these emails to the folder. This avoids being distracted by these emails as they arrive so that you can work with them all at once in the time you have set aside for media monitoring.

…in your schedule.

Like any type of email, media monitoring results can interrupt your work day and waste a lot of time. It is far more efficient to set aside a time each day or a couple of times per day to read through your results and respond where necessary.

…in your archive.

While reading through your monitoring emails, make a record of any mentions that are significant or contain information that you want to track or measure. Also record any reaction that you made as a result of the mention.

This can be done in Microsoft Excel or any worksheet program. I recommend the following fields:

1. Media (blog, twitter, news, etc).
2. Source (url)
3. Date
4. Type of Mention (company, competitor, keyword)
5. Response, if applicable
6. Field(s) for any metrics you are interested in tracking. This can be products mentioned, sentiment of mention, a rating of how important to you the mention is, or any other information you want to record.

You can flag entries for follow up at a later date. You can sort them to keep a count of where, how and by whom you are being mentioned. You can create data reports to share with colleagues to help quickly show them information about your media coverage.

So now you have a complete, yet simple and effective, system for monitoring your online media coverage. This is enough for most individuals and small businesses. Even if your volume of coverage or engagement means that you need to bring in the big guns (media monitoring software), this is a great start to help you understand and organize your needs so you can find a solution that works for you.

If you’ve got all this down, check out our Media Monitoring 101 post for more advanced tips on monitoring and measuring your media coverage.

Thanks to Hannah Del Porto, ImpactWatch.com

Wadja.com, a unique social networking site that uses labels to create people-to-topic connections, has introduced a re-design of its homepage and logo.

Over the last half a year, Wadja has evolved and grown into a unique Social Network that features streamlined, topic-specific conversations based on labels, and messaging. To reflect Wadja’s progress, the company has decided to re-brand its homepage and logo.

Maria Papathomopoulou PR Manager at Wadja notes, “We are delighted with the introduction of our new logo and the redesign of our homepage. The new homepage depicts label topics that our users have created, as well as ideas for labels that users could create. It also allows newcomers to the site to test the system before they subscribe to Wadja’s free service. It’s pretty neat! Once you’re in of course, you can do more by inviting friends and contacts to follow your label and create a community to discuss that one specific topic you are all interested in.”

The new logo has been designed in the same vein as the homepage, with Wadja’s own font and style, fresh and forward-looking. Both the logo and the homepage symbolize the new look and feel of the site – simple, clear, bold and different – all standards that Wadja aspires to and represents.

Wadja’s homepage is the window to the social network with a difference; one based on the bold new premise of creating forums (labels) that simplify and streamline social content and the ‘noise’ of real-time information flow, with all the advantages of online messaging and SMS.

The value of labels is derived from enabling the creation of communities that come together through their common interests, hobbies and activities. Wadja creates personal, customized, label “tags” and opens up a whole new world of messaging.

Handmark, a leading global developer and distributor of mobile applications and services, launches TweetCaster, the advanced, feature-rich Twitter application available for Android smartphone customers.

TweetCaster makes “tweeting” from Android-based smartphones fast, easy, and fun, delivering a simple, yet comprehensive Twitter experience. In addition to all the standard features needed to enjoy a complete mobile Twitter experience.

TweetCaster offers:

• Multiple Twitter account support
• Integrated retweets
• Integrated Twitter lists
• Push notifications for tweets, mentions and direct messages
• Offline tweet caching
• URL shortening (and previews)
• Photo attachment
• Threaded direct messages
• Font/Theme customization

TweetCaster is immediately available for all Android-based smartphones, including the popular Droid and Nexus One.

A free version of TweetCaster is available in exchange for a “tweet” about the application. TweetCaster Pro, a premium version of application without ads, is also available for $4.99 in Android Market. For customers who download the free version of TweetCaster and wish to upgrade to TweetCaster Pro, an Upgrade Key will also be available in Android Market.

I wanted to let you know, Retrevo has just compared the State of the Union with the iPad launch event to give people an idea of the buzz as it happened on Twitter.

Apple’s iPad announcement achieved high levels on the Retrevo Buzzmeter (peaking at 7,000 tweets per minute) and it might surpass Buzzmeter levels for the State of the Union Address. Buzzmeter readings for Steve Jobs and the iPad came close but didn’t exceed President Obama’s moment in the spotlight. The State of the Union also had a longer sustained chatter after the event completed. The State of the Union chatter on Twitter peaked at just over 9,000 tweets per minute.

Just prior to the event a somewhat elevated activity compared to the much lower “baseline” of the night before the event. As the event gets underway at 10:00 AM and Steve Jobs takes the stage, a low level buzz that builds toward the formal announcement at 10:10. Activity drops off momentarily followed by the highest level of the event measuring 7,000 TPM which coincides with the hardware description at 10:30 AM. Then several smaller bursts associated with more announcements until activity peaks again as the event was winding down.

What is the Tech Buzzmeter? – Retrevo’s Tech Buzzmeter is an automated tool that tracks and quantifies “buzz” surrounding technology related launches, topics, and events as they happen online.

After Apple’s allowed it, fring launches its 3G-friendly VoIP app. With fring on 3G, fring users get unrestricted, mobile communication. Now iPhone fring users can call, video call, chat and more for FREE over 3G and Wi-Fi.

iPhone users can now use fring anywhere directly on their device and enjoy the same always-on freedom millions of other fringsters on other platforms have enjoyed for years.

How do users get the new update?
Current users don’t need to do anything to get this update, just open fring on their iPhone and they are good to go!

If for some reason they continue getting a message saying that “voip calls are not allowed…” – Just click on More > Go offline and open fring again.

In addition to enabling voice and video calls over the internet over 3G and Wi-Fi to other fring users, fring users can call their friends on Skype, GoogleTalk and MSN and all their friends on regular phone lines via Skype-Out and hundreds of popular SIP services.

In addition to the iPhone/iPod touch, fring supports thousands of devices on multiple platforms including Symbian S60, Android, Windows Mobile, J2ME, Linux and Intel’s Moblin devices.

Twenga, the most comprehensive shopping search engine, has received the Red Herring 100 Global Award, awarded to the top 100 private technology companies worldwide.

In three years, Twenga has established itself in 14 countries, most recently the USA, Brazil, Australia and India. Twenga’s websites now display more than 180 million products from over 75,000 retailers and receive more than 25 million visits a month. Twenga’s key advantage remains its totally objective and neutral product results, ideal for shoppers, who are always looking for impartial price comparisons.

Twenga is able to display almost 10 times more product offers than other price comparison sites thanks to its proprietary technology automatically indexing retailer sites, and thus guaranteeing that users really find the best deal.

“We would like to thank the Red Herring Global Award judges for recognising the worldwide success of Twenga with this global award. Thanks to our pioneering technology, we have succeeded in establishing our shopping search engine in 14 countries across four continents in less than three years.” said Bastien Duclaux, CEO and co-founder of Twenga.

Red Herring is a global media company uniting the world’s best high-technology innovators, venture investors, and business decision-makers in a variety of forums: a leading innovation magazine, an online daily technology news service, technology newsletters, and major events for technology leaders around the globe.