| The last few years have seen a social media | | | | probably the more accurate term for these services, |
| revolution. Smart businesses jumped on the | | | | since consolidation of all social tasks is the ultimate |
| bandwagon and businesses that were slow to react | | | | goal, rather than just the connection of two or more |
| got left in the collective dust of tweets, feeds, posts, | | | | sites. |
| and status updates. Now, with so many social | | | | Gone are the days of opening up multiple tabs, then |
| networks available, the hardest decision for businesses | | | | copying and pasting information from one status field |
| to make is not whether to create a profile on a social | | | | to the next. Social networking aggregation allows |
| network, but which one to spend time developing? The | | | | businesses to work smarter and actually post more |
| answer becomes a lot simpler with the use of some | | | | information across more channels than ever before. |
| helpful plug-ins and add-on's that let businesses update | | | | However, this means more responsibility and thought |
| multiple social networks at the same time. | | | | should go into each post since the damage of an |
| As we speak, companies like Status.net are working | | | | unprofessional post will be multiplied numerous times |
| on new platforms that will enable users to blast | | | | over. With real-time search set to become a major |
| information across all social networks from the service | | | | player in the areas of customer service, SEO, and |
| of their choice. This is the natural next step for the | | | | corporate reputation, these types of social |
| social web 3.0. Right now, if marketers want to create | | | | aggregators are great news for businesses. Not only |
| a business presence on Twitter, but feel silly visiting a | | | | will it make it simpler to broadcast news across the |
| new site just to "tweet" in 140 characters or less, they | | | | social web, but it will challenge the social networks to |
| can link up their businesses Facebook fan page to | | | | offer more services and further integration to improve |
| Twitter and perform two updates in half the time. Visit | | | | user experience. |
| Facebook.com/Twitter for instructions on how to do | | | | Many of these services are also available for smart |
| this. | | | | phones. For the best Blackberry and Android |
| This is jus the tip of the integration iceberg. Free | | | | aggregation apps, Google "Seesmic" the company that |
| software such as Yoono, PingFm, Hellotxt and AOL's | | | | developed some of the best third-party Twitter |
| Lifestream (formerly Socialthing), allow users to update | | | | applications ever made. They just acquired the |
| many of their social networks: MySpace, Flickr, | | | | aforementioned PingFm, so stay tuned for further |
| Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and | | | | social connectivity for mobile in the very near future. |
| more, all at one time, from one simple desktop platform | | | | Businesses should research what each service has to |
| or sidebar. Before deciding which service to register | | | | offer, take a few programs for a test drive and find |
| with, users should check to see which social media | | | | the software that suits their social media needs. Here |
| sites each feature is compatible with. Yoono's | | | | are two places to start: Yoono, PingFm. The best part |
| collapsible sidebar feature (available as a Firefox | | | | is, right now, since social aggregation is still in the |
| add-on) conveniently makes it possible to view status | | | | development stages, every service mentioned in this |
| feeds and update one or multiple social networks while | | | | article is free. |
| the user is viewing something completely different on | | | | Businesses cannot afford to stay out of the social |
| their browser's page. Switching between multiple profile | | | | game any longer. Once a social networking presence |
| options in the browser's search bar takes some | | | | is established, connectivity and aggregation are the |
| getting used to, but using an add-on like this is far | | | | keys to managing social reach and staying ahead of |
| superior to bookmarking social sites. Aggregation is | | | | the competition. |