Top 5 Social Media Extensions for Chrome

[tweetmeme source =”Ileane”]Google Chrome is quickly becoming the browser of choice and will most likely dethrone Firefox in terms of user sentiment, speed and security but let’s not forget about the growth of the Chrome extensions library. Although Firefox continues to be favored by webmasters, Chrome is gaining acceptance in the mainstream as users escape the grasp of Internet Explorer and embrace the security of  Google’s sandbox powered browser Chrome.

Paired with the success of Google Buzz, developers are paying close attention and quickly issuing extensions for Chrome that rival Firefox and incorporate quick access to Buzz, Gmail, Google Docs and of even the good old-fashioned social networking tool Twitter.

Tweetmeme

Tweetmeme extension for Chrome is a handy tool for sharing to your Twitter stream. It’s most often used for websites that don’t display the Tweetmeme button or if you simply can’t find the Tweetmeme button on the page. One thing I’d like to suggest to Tweetmeme is that they make it easier to cut or copy the text of the tweet. Most of the time I’d like to paste the tweet into HootSuite and schedule it for another time. By the way, if you have the Tweetmeme plugin running on your blog, check out my Hub Page on how to customize the Tweetmeme plugin settings.

My Shortcuts

I found out about this extension on Madras Geek’s blog and it is quickly gaining in popularity. What I like about My Shortcuts is that you can add custom URLs to gain quick access to your blogs or additional social profiles. The defaults take you to Gmail, Buzz, Contacts, Tasks, Docs, Reader, Voice and include additional options for creating new email and new documents.

Symtica

Symtica provide more comprehensive access to your Google accounts like Gmail and includes Google Analytics, YouTube, Blogger, Picassa and a host of others including your favorite and mine Webmaster tools (just kidding).

I’d like to see Symtica and/or MyShortcuts provide access to my AdWords and AdSense accounts to make the my life just a little simplier.

Google Buzz Button for Shareaholic

This extension is devoted solely to Google Buzz and the Buzz Button for Shareaholic will display the Buzz count of the page you’re visiting.

Google Mail Checker Plus

I first mentioned this extension in Web Browsers – What’s Yours? and it’s become one of  my favorite extension for monitoring Gmail and Buzz. Google Mail Checker Plus displays the count of unopened mail and allows you check and view your inbox without ever opening Gmail. Here’s a quick screencast to demonstrate.

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Now it’s your turn, I’d love to learn what extensions you’re using for easy access to social media? Do you use any blogging extensions for Chrome?

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Web Browsers – What’s Yours?

Image via Wikipedia

What’s your favorite web browser?

[tweetmeme source=”Ileane”]How often you search the web, and what you’re using the internet for – are most likely the key factors impacting your choice of browser. If you’re a novice, it’s quite possible that you may not even know that different browsers exist. You know enough to easily find the blue icon with the letter “E” and a yellow swoosh around it and you’re quite happy with that. You might even be aware that Internet Explorer is the most popular browser found on home and office PC’s around the world.
Bloggers, designers, developers, webmasters and other more advanced web users eventually explore more savvy browsers including the most popular ones from Firefox, Safari, Google Chrome and Opera. Similarly, cellular phone or mobile users will find “mini”, mobile or android versions of the same popular PC and Mac browser alternatives.

How do I know which web browser to use?

The simple answer to the question of which browser to use is – Try them all and pick the one you like. Hey the good thing about browsers is that you can use more than one. Right now I’m using Google Chrome but I also open Internet Explorer to access my work email account from Microsoft’s Webmail service. If you’re a blogger I recommend that you at least give Google Chrome a try.