How to Make the Web Work for You – Part 1 of 2

Web 2.0

I hate to throw around the term web 2.0 often, but the truth is that we really are moving into the next generation of the internet experience. This movement involves the investors, the developers, and the users and in my opinion will be even greater than the original tech boom that happened in the 90′s.

At some point, I’d like to get into where I think the internet is heading and how we can all ride the wave, but for now I just want to get your feet wet by helping you get more involved in your browsing and social networking experience.

Social Networking

If you aren’t familiar with the term “social networking,” then I highly suggest checking out sites, such as The 30 Day Challenge, Mashable, or Del.icio.us to get a feel of what I mean. You are probably already familiar with sites such as Facebook(which just overtook Myspace) and Myspace, but those are early networks trying to adopt the new web interface and aren’t really what I am going to talk about here.

Social Networking is a way in which people can not only keep up with their friends, but also follow business associates or teachers, share websites, content, or ideas, and build networks of allies in their internet entrepreneurial efforts.

The keys to really doing this effectively, lie in using a variety of tools that not only heighten your experience, but also allow you to increase efficiency while doing so. So, with the what and why out of the way, lets talk about the how.

Tools

Twitter/Twhirl

My new favorite tool actually isn’t even used within the browser, although the engine itself does. Do you remember how popular Instant Messaging used to be? Well, now it is back with a fury…call it IM 2.0 if you like, but what makes this so special is that it allows you to be everywhere without going anywhere, whereas old IM clients limited you to just your friends.

The tool itself is called Twitter and at first glance, many people such as myself wondered, “why do I need to type what I am doing or thinking and who cares?” Then, I found how others use it an had one of those Viola! moments. Instead of just typing what you are doing and thinking (although you can and should do that when you feel like it), you can use this to get blog hits, diggs, bookmarks, or just share fun or interesting info. You can see how I use it here: http://www.twitter.com/nhangen. While you are there, go ahead and create a profile and login. Once you get comfy using it, then you can start searching for people to follow, but don’t worry too much about that now.

Now, here is the fun part…going to a website and typing something in just isn’t that appealing is it? Of course not, and so you have Twhirl - the answer to the problem. Twhirl installs just like an IM client and can be used just as easily if not easier. You simply enter your account info and you are ready to go. You can even use it for Friendfeed. I use this tool so often it has become a part of my life. I can’t tell you how many friends and partners I have made using this system and honestly, it will become the next “must use” item on the net…so grab it while its hot.

StumbleUpon

Do you ever have those moments when you want to kill some time online, but don’t know where to look? Maybe you’ve got a new site you’d like to draw some traffic to and have tapped most of your SEO resources (we’ll talk about SU traffic in another post). Well, look no further because StumbleUpon will change the way you browse the web…seriously. Stumbleupon is a toolbar that you can add to either Firefox, IE, or Flock (coming next) that upon creating a profile will ask you for your interests. Spend time going through this properly, because it will be important when you start “stumbling.” Once you have selected your favorites, you click the Stumble button and Stumbleupon sends you straight to a page based on your interests. The great thing about SU is that it is fantastic for finding sites I never would have. You can either give a thumbs up to save for later, a thumbs down to show you aren’t interested, or just Stumble again. Like any other tool, you can also follow friends and share sites with others. Here is an example of the SU bar:

If you decide to try SU, do me a favor and hit this post or my main page with a thumbs up…I sure would appreciate it (you can find a thumbs up button at the bottom of my posts). You can also add me as a friend.

Flock

Flock is built based on the Firefox engine, but has so many additional features that there is almost no sense in using Firefox any longer (note: if you still use IE, you are behind the curve big time). Some of the main improvements over Firefox are:

• Built in Media, such as Youtube, flickr, picassa, facebook, and Digg
• Built in RSS reader which makes it very easy to subscribe and monitor feeds
• Several Built in Social Bookmarking tools, such as Digg, Delicous, SU, twitter, facebook, etc

Flock has done a great job of integrating these features, and with some additional tweaking you can really get things done in this browser. So, check it out at Flock.com.

That does it for Part 1, in Part 2 we’ll hit head to social bookmarking and media tools.

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