Top 5 Blog Topics

Hmmm. Let’s see, I’m wondering, what should I blog about?

I’ve been researching several topics recently with the help of Addict-o-matic and here are my options:

1. Page Rank
2. Netvibes
3. StumbleUpon
4. Forums
5. Commenting

Posterous – Lifestreaming or Not?

[tweetmeme source=”Ileane”]I recently created another blog on Posterous but I wasn’t really sure why I would need it. To fill you in on what Posterous is, the tagline from the homepage: “is the dead simple place to post everything. just email us.” And after all, my tagline and the purpose of this blog states:

I’m here to learn, to teach and to connect!

Therefore, I consider adding another blogging platform to my social media arsenal, as a golden opportunity to share the experience with my readers.

Searching For The Perfect Tweet

Let’s explore how to build the ultimate “Perfect Tweet” together; shall we?[tweetmeme source=”ileane”]

In order to be “the greatest” and go viral this tweet should:

1. Go out at the best time of day
2. Reach the perfect audience
3. Get a high number of retweets for a blog link
4. Gain new followers

Do Twitter Backgrounds Attract New Followers?

[tweetmeme source=”Ileane”]On the Website Babble Forum someone mentioned custom Twitter backgrounds and it sparked an interesting exchange amongst us babblers. Here’s some insight on the topic.

Why is Twitter so hot?

Twitter is a great way to increase blog traffic, stay in touch with friends, meet new people, and build popularity for a brand. Usage of Twitter has skyrocketed and currently it is reported that there are over 6 million registered users which might double by 2010. And with literally hundreds of Twitter 3rd party services and applications that can accessed via the web or your cell phone it seems there’s always a new tool being introduced to enhance your Twitter experience.

How Do You Line It Up?

Twitter backgrounds are regarded as your introduction to what I like to call Twitterville. You want to make a positive “first impression” and possibly influence people to follow you.

If you use PhotoShop, RC Concepcion of Layers Magazine has an excellent tutorial on PhotoShop User TV episode #205. Don’t have PhotoShop? Then take a look at this article I came across on from Smashing Magazine called Effective Twitter Backgrounds: Examples and Current Practices. This article demonstrates the basic layout and pixel width of the Twitter home page and ways to avoid overlapping the background design with your tweet stream. I actually followed the layout rules in the article to create my Twitter background. It took me about an hour because I keep going back and tweaking it so it would be just right. I was all excited and ready to pat myself on the back.

I asked my friend to and take a look at my shiny new background. She really rained on my parade when she said – “I’m using Tweetdeck – I never see anyone’s background…”

So I rushed to open Brizzly and then over to Seesmic and sure enough, no backgrounds. I guess I never thought about it before then. Just, take a look at your twitter stream to see where the tweets are coming from. You’ll only find about 2 or 3 that are from the web (and I bet one of them is from me).

Twitter Backgrounds are for the birds!

I truly hope you didn’t spend money on a Twitter background before you read this post, and I hope you didn’t spend an hour (or more) creating a stellar background in PhotoShop like I did. Look at the bright side of things. Having a perfectly aligned twitter background does not make people follow you.  Here are some examples of very popular Tweeples and how their Twitter backgrounds appear on a standard 15-inch monitor.

Social Networking Resources

Do you ever wonder what those tiny little icons at the end of an article or post on the web mean and what they are used for?  I put together a listing of the most common tools used for promoting with today’s social media.

According to Wikipedia, social media is defined as media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media supports the human need for social interaction with technology, transforming broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many)…

Here is the list I have compiled so far, minus a few well known omissions (MySpace and FaceBook). Let me know if you think other tools are worth adding.

Delicious http://delicious.com/

Is social bookmarking. Search the biggest collection of bookmarks in the universe. All your bookmarks in one place. Bookmark things for yourself and friends. Check out what other people are bookmarking.

Digg http://digg.com

Digg is a place for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web. As a user, you participate in determining all site content by discovering, selecting, sharing, and discussing the news, and videos that appeal to you.

Flickr http://www.flickr.com/

Share your photos (and video) and watch the world.

Kaboodle http://www.kaboodle.com/

Kaboodle is a social shopping community where people discover, recommend and share products

Linked In http://www.linkedin.com/

Relationships matter. Over 40 million professionals use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas and opportunities

RETHINK Common Sense

I’ve always had an absurd way of looking at the world.  I’m considered strange by some, smart by others and there are those that call me “weird”.

In my own defense I’ll admit, that I’ve always wanted to be “interesting”.  For example, I keep hearing this term RETHINK.  It’s used a lot in advertising and I can’t figure out why the ad execs find it so appealing. 

Honestly, I find it rather insulting. 

It’s like they are saying “Hey stupid, stop thinking what you were thinking and start think what we tell you to think. If you buy our product you will be so happy that you are rethinking things.”

Common Sense tells me that I am way too smart to fall for that, but this strategy must be working on someone out there because they keep using it.  Try counting how many ads you see in a week demanding you to rethink something.

And let me know if  its just me and my absurd, interesting view of the world?  If you don’t agree with me – think again.