The Washington Post has been working on one of the most advanced news reader applications for Facebook. Here is the Social Reader for Facebook! The social reader is a fully interactive news reader application for Facebook. It brings all worlds best news stories into one place.

via – Crenk.net

• Raptr Is the Ultimate Gaming Service: Connects PSN, Xbox and More – May 16, 2011
• Get Your Word Fix with Word Free – December 7, 2009
• iPhone App Reviews for Social Media News – March 2, 2009
• Crenk Interviews… Zentact – January 7, 2009
• Phone Apps for Your Next Road Trip – January 11, 2012

Washington Post Facebook Social Reader News Application originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

General Social News Websites

1. Reddit: Popular social news website with a large user base. Covers a wide range of news. Includes several topical sections called subreddits, which focus on specific topics like programming, science, politics and business.

2. Digg: The largest and most popular social news website on the internet. Covers all topics including politics, entertainment, technology and general news. Includes a separate video and image section.

3. Propeller: A social news site that covers all topics from technology to politics and entertainment. Operates in a similar fashion to Digg.

4. Fark: A community news site which allows users to comment on news articles. User submitted links will be posted on the main page once they are approved by the administrators.

5. Slashdot: Primarily a tech news site, Slashdot also covers topics like books, games, politics and entertainment. Users can submit stories and they may be published after editors approve it. A popular site that can send a large amount of traffic.

6. Metafilter: A community weblog which allows users to share links and discuss interesting websites/topics. Moderation is done through editors as well as peer pressure in order to prevent gaming.

7. I am bored: Covers general topics with a strong focus on weird and offbeat news. You can submit a link which may be posted after the editors approve it.

8. Mixx: A general social news sites which has a category for all types of news. Topics covered include business, entertainment, sports, health and tech. Includes the ability to create groups to share news with other users.

9. Shoutwire: General news site that is well populated with a loyal group of users. Topics covered include technology, politics, entertainment, lifestyle and sports.

10. Newsvine: A website consisting of community-driven news stories and opinions. Users have their own blogs and can write articles, save links to external content and vote/comment on other user stories.

11. IndianPad: A general social news site that with a large indian userbase. Topics covered include entertainment, sports, videos and tamil news.

12. Linkfilter: Covers all sorts of news. All links are posted and moderated by users. Links can be ranked on several levels: clicks, votes, age, or a combination of all three called points.

13. NewsCloud: A general social site with a focus on news in all topics. Similar to Newsvine, each user has their own blogs and can publish content to be voted up by other users.

14. Hugg: Hugg is a social news site with a strong focus on environmental issues. Also includes other categories like politics, science, fashion and technology.

15. Plime: A general news site which features a wide variety of topics ranging from religion and sports to technology or business. Odd news performs best in this community.

16. C2NN: An active social news site with a variety of topics including environment issues, business, politics, animals and offbeat. Similar to Hugg in focus but much more populated and active.

17. Kirsty: A general news site with a focus on fashion, entertainment and design on top of other topics like technology and food. Has a strong female user base.

18. Nowpublic: A participatory news network which focuses on citizen journalism. Each user has their own individual profile blog/page and can upload videos, images and news stories.

19. Stirrdup: General social news site with four broad categories: politics, technology, news and entertainment.

20. Searchles: A hybrid social news sites which covers all topics. Includes a video section and offers personalized filtering features and the option of joining groups made up of other users with similar interests.

21. Linkinn: A social news site that specializes in pictures and video. Covers a broad range of topics, particular offbeat and weird content.

22. Earthfrisk: Covers topics like humor, politics, entertainment and business. Combines a social network and group features with digg-style news voting.

23. Truemors: A social rumor news site which focuses on the publication of “true rumors that are relevant, informative, and interesting.” Users can post links anonymously via text, voicemail, web or email. Editors moderate content.

24. StumbleUpon: A social network and browser toolbar which allows users to channel surf the internet. Technically not 100% a social news site, although users can submit webpages to be rated by other users. Here is a guide to StumbleUpon.

25. Linkswarm: Covers a wide range of topics from celebrity gossip to funny media, science and politics. Focuses on pop culture and bizarre news as well.

Niche Social News Websites

Here are social websites which focus on a specific niche. For best results, only submit to them when your site falls within the same niche or covers the same topics. Or else you’re likely to be marked as spam.

26. Sphinn: Sphinn is a social site for search and interactive marketers. It’s designed to allow you to share and discover news stories, read and take part in discussions, discover events of interest and network with others.

27. Dzone: DZone is a free link-sharing community for developers. Other topics commonly featured include web design and programming.

28. Tweako: A user-powered site and social network with a focus on guides and tutorials in all categories like computing, technology, and the Internet.

29. Autospies: A social site that focuses on automotive news, car reviews, auto show photos and videos.

30. Design Float: A social news site for design-related content. Topics covered include business, freelancing, advertising, digital art and branding.

31. Ball Hype: A site that aggregates content from thousands of sports blogs. Users can submit stories and votes will determine if they make it to home page.

32. YCombinator Hacker News: A news site that focuses on technology, startups, business and entrepreneurship.

33. SWiK: A community driven resource for people who use open source software.

34. Buzzflash: A user driven progressive political news website that allows you to submit political stories.

35. DNHour: DNHour.com is a user-powered news portal built specially for the domain name industry. Most members are generally from the domain name industry, which includes domain name owners, companies or professionals.

36. PlugIM: PlugIM is a user driven internet marketing community. Topics covered include search engine optimization, products, business and marketing.

37.Showhype: Operates in a similar way to Ballhype. Stories come from two sources — users and aggregated content. Users can also submit a link to a story that they’ve found or write their own article on ShowHype.

38. Small Business Brief: A niche social site which focuses on small business news. Topics covered include marketing and sales, website development, management and entrepreneurship.

39. Hypediss: Social news site with a focus on design, fashion, urban culture and art.

40. Chictini: Product-oriented social site which a focus on new trends and styles. It’s possible to submit news stories although most of the submissions feature products from online retailers.

41. DotNetKicks: DotNetKicks.com is a community based news site that focuses on topics like NET development techniques, technologies and tools including ASP.NET, C#, VB.NET, C++ and Visual Studio.

42. Lipstick: Reddit-style social news site for celebrity gossip.

43. Hubspot: Social news site for marketers, entrepreneurs and business professionals.

44. Winelifetoday: A niche social site for wine lovers. Topics covered included news and opinion articles to do with wine.

45. iliketotallyloveit.com: Allows users to publish and share products with the broader public which they find cool, innovative, exceptionally beautiful, or just weird. Included with every item is a link to an online shop where it can be purchased.

46. Wordsy: A niche social news site for people who love reading and books. Topics covered include small presses, fiction writing, authors, book awards and poetry. (Note: Wordsy has suspended its site since Dec 2008)

47. Value Investing News: A niche social news site that covers stocks and investment news. A small but active community.

48. Teenwag: Focus on celebrity gossip. A hybrid social network with digg-style voting. Users can submit links to be voted up by other users.

49. Muti: Muti is a social bookmarking site inspired by reddit and Digg but dedicated to content of interest to Africans or those interested in Africa.

50. Tip’d: A social media site for finance, investing, and business topics. Tip’d users vote on stories they like by clicking the ‘Tip it’ button that appears next to each story, and then can comment by pressing the ‘Discuss’ link below the story.

This list is a work in progress and there are a few sites that have been either launched or hit the deadpool. We will be updating this very soon!

• Washington Post Facebook Social Reader News Application – November 26, 2011
• Mixx Acquired by UberMedia: Redditors Rejoice – April 20, 2011
• Kevin Rose Leaves Digg to Pursue Other Startups – March 21, 2011
• Twitter Introduces Hovercards to Make Twitter More Social – February 10, 2010
• Will AT&T’s Buzz Search be a Success? – January 29, 2010

50 Social News Websites: A List of General and Niche Social Media Communities originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

Over the past few months Twitter has made several changes such as the introduction of Lists which means that we see tweets from people we don’t directly follow. This annoyed me for quite some time as I was never really bothered to see who the person was, but still had them congesting my Twitter page. Now, Twitter aims to solve that problem by introducing ‘Hovercards’.

This means, that when you hover your cursor over someone username or avatar, information will be displayed about them as well as other options such as Reply, DM or Retweet. All of which don’t load another page, it’s done there and then.

“On any timeline, as its namesake suggests, Hovercards are cards which appear when you hover over a username or avatar. The cards display additional information about the person and allow you to interact with them while staying within the context of your page.” say Twitter on their blog. ”

“One way we’ve found these cards to be useful is to find out more about retweeted people and follow them right there. You can also see more information with an expanded view of the card. Sending direct messages to people you follow will also be possible with Hovercards so you can interact with tweeters without having to move off the page.”

This feature is currently in the process of being rolled out so we won’t all have it right away. However, within the coming days and weeks it will be the standard for all Twitter users.

• Will AT&T’s Buzz Search be a Success? – January 29, 2010
• Get Your Word Fix with Word Free – December 7, 2009
• Tweetdeck Evolves For Power Users – December 4, 2009
• Twitter – In it for the long haul – July 26, 2009
• Use Tweetrush for Your Twitter Addiction – September 3, 2008

Twitter Introduces Hovercards to Make Twitter More Social originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

Back when the internet was gaining huge amounts of users at the turn of the millennium, everything was about the World Wide aspect. But now, it’s worn a little thin. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still useful and connects people and companies all over the planet. But local search is where there are big bucks to be made. Think about it, aren’t you more likely to click on an advertisement when it’s a 20% discount for the Chinese restaurant around the corner, instead of an offer for the Chinese HiPhone?

All the major online services have caught on with Twitter being the latest having launched Local Trends. Now, Buzz.com looks to catch in on the local .com boom. At the minute it’s still in Beta testing. But more and more tech blogs are talking about it.

While Buzz.com will rely heavily on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, At&T have stressed that they have not built a social networking site, although you will be able to share many things with friends and family. By indexing what people are talking about as well as working with companies and advertisers, buzz.com will provide people will accurate search results for things like clubs, restaurants, shops, deals and much more. It’s like social media for local businesses.

I can’t wait until Buzz comes out of private Beta. It sounds like a great service to get the skinny on what’s going on in your locale. If you want to try your luck at getting a private invitation, click here.

Want to know the best places to go or businesses to call? Let buzz.com help you tap your social net for business recommendations from the people you trust most – your friends and family. – Buzz.com

• How to Add a Sidebar with Facebook, Twitter, Delicio.us and Digg – October 31, 2010
• TrendsBuzz: Latest Trending Keywords from Google, Yahoo, etc – March 3, 2010
• Twitter Introduces Hovercards to Make Twitter More Social – February 10, 2010
• Twitter: Local Trends Go Live! – January 27, 2010
• Get Your Word Fix with Word Free – December 7, 2009

Will AT&T’s Buzz Search be a Success? originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

Apple devices come with a native recording device, and even social networkslike Utterli have functioned as a way to capture audio and share it, but none have been as easy as and intuitive as Audio Boo for the iPhone and the iTouch is. The application takes voice recording to a whole new level with a press of a button. Before you know it, you just might start audio recording a whole lot more than you think.

Audio Boo is both a desktop and mobile app. The desktop app allows you to configure your account, asking you where you’d like your “Boo’s” to post. You can choose from a variety of social networks but it’s also stored in the audio stream for others to interact with and comment on.

With a mic you can simply press record and share your message. When done, you stop the recording and then input a message you want attached to the recording, this message is what is seen when the Boo is posted to your accounts. You’re also able to tag it with keywords for easier finding not just for you but for your listening audience.

Audio Boo is free and easy to use for both the iPhone and the iTouch so get the mobile app, configure on the desktop app and get your recordings started.

• Zemanta Levels Blogger Playing Field – December 8, 2009
• Publish Your Content On Your Mobile – December 1, 2009
• Regator Tracks Blogosphere Social Mentions – November 30, 2009
• Is Foursquare the Perfect Crime? – February 19, 2010
• Foursquare Fans Check-in via Desktop with FoursquareX – January 17, 2010

Audio Blog with Audio Boo on iPhone originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

More recently Zemanta has made efforts to level the playing field, finally succeeding in opening up it’s engine to include not just articles of recommendation from relevant sites, but to also include recommendations from other bloggers who, perhaps have not hit their stardom online. This gives an great opportunity for a smaller blog site to be listed as related content and drive traffic to the site while at the same time providing a level of authority they would have otherwise not been able to have.

Naturally the fear of diluting the related content option has been expressed, but by not allowing the larger community of bloggers to be listed also kept users from seeing some of the quality content produced on smaller sites, so in my eyes the door swung both ways.  TechCrunch did make a good point in stating that the service will at least ensure that users will keep returning, and in that perhaps lies the real gem of keeping the community together.

• Audio Blog with Audio Boo on iPhone – December 15, 2009
• Tweetdeck Evolves For Power Users – December 4, 2009
• Publish Your Content On Your Mobile – December 1, 2009
• Regator Tracks Blogosphere Social Mentions – November 30, 2009
• Personally Publish Self Works with Lulu – January 1, 2010

Zemanta Levels Blogger Playing Field originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

Recently I’ve found the pleasure of a mobile Scrabble app called Words with Friends. This app replicates everything I remembered from playing Scrabble with my family that I instantly became hooked. Words with Friends has an amazing number of additions that truly define this powerhouse of entertainment.

For starters you are able to connect two of the most popular social profiles, Facebook and Twitter. This will not only announce your scores but also invite your friends to join you in a game. Furthermore the app has the built in ability to run more than one game at a time. When I started playing, it was not unusual for me to be playing four to five games at once. Definitely something you could not do with a Scrabble board.

You are capable of communicating with your competitor via an internal chat system within the game, and the push notifications make it useful for you to play your round and walk away. When your opponent makes their move, your are instantly notified and games continue when you have time. It’s not uncommon for players to carry on multiple games at the same time and all games are time stamped when the last play was made and by whom.

The app is FREE, but be warned, the game is highly addicting and may be responsible for a huge loss of time throughout the day.

• Raptr Is the Ultimate Gaming Service: Connects PSN, Xbox and More – May 16, 2011
• iPhone App Reviews for Social Media News – March 2, 2009
• NVIDIA Tegra 3: Next Generation in Games to Mobile Devices – November 10, 2011
• Microsoft Entering the Mobile Games Market – August 15, 2010
• Tweetdeck Evolves For Power Users – December 4, 2009

Get Your Word Fix with Word Free originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

There’s a lot of apps out there, both mobile and desktop, that use the Twitter API to make it more “functional” for power users. What’s a power user? Well if you’ve got more than one account on Twitter, have over 1000 friends, and like to have your posts link to other social networks where you have a community, then you are probably a power user.

In the race to be the most dominant desktop application for Twitter, TweetDeck is definitely one of the leading contenders. Having been around for about a year, TweetDeck has taken the Twitter experience to a whole new level. It’s integrating the use of multiple columns, and attaching itself to URL shorteners, photo posting apps like Twitpic, and the ability link to other network like Facebook, all under one app. But just recently TweetDeck has evolved again, and this time, making it even more useful for power users to extend their reach further into the social web.

Last week TweetDeck released an update that now allows you to link your messages to LinkedIn and MySpace, the option to Retweet the way you want, locating your friends, and the ability to integrate Twitter lists into your columns. If there ever was a center to the social universe, TweetDeck could very easily take that spot.

TweetDeck is an Adobe AIR desktop application compatible with several operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux. An Phone version was released on the 19th June 2009.

• Web Strategist Jeremiah Owyang’s Mobile App – December 1, 2009
• Web App Buffers Timely Online Communication – November 6, 2009
• Publish Your Content On Your Mobile – December 1, 2009
• Regator Tracks Blogosphere Social Mentions – November 30, 2009
• Raptr Is the Ultimate Gaming Service: Connects PSN, Xbox and More – May 16, 2011

Tweetdeck Evolves For Power Users originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

For many of us, December is a special month, and whether you celebrate Christmas, Kwanza, Hanukkah, or any variation of holiday celebration, it’s a time for us to connect. More often than not we look to build stronger relationships with co-workers, family, or neighbors, and nothing says that better than a personal message from the heart.

Online communities may use social media tools to mass message large numbers of people, but social media is not the only thing for us to consider. What about digital holiday cards? Well Crenk did a little work and found three sites you should consider for your cards and perhaps there’s something for you in one of these three.

1. Shutterfly is the budget option for those of us looking to send our large numbers of cards in a very short time. They offer a variety of card and postcard cuts and folds to ensure that your message is shared the right way. Customize your cards with personal photos in packages starting as low as $9.99 for a pack of 20.
2. Pear Tree is for the green enthusiast in all of us. Send a card, save the planet. Feel good yet? Well you should, these cards are made from recycled envelopes and still have an elegant appearance that your recipients can appreciate.
3. Paper Style is for those of us with bigger wallets. If you’ve got the dime and time to design, then you’ll be rewarded with high quality cuts and prints. Find matching envelopes, purchase matching address labels, or include folded note cards to insert into your holiday cards.

Sure there’s a lot out there, perhaps you’ve got some of your own favorites. Drop them in the comments section and let us know what you like best about them.

• Tweetdeck Evolves For Power Users – December 4, 2009
• Web Strategist Jeremiah Owyang’s Mobile App – December 1, 2009
• Publish Your Content On Your Mobile – December 1, 2009
• Regator Tracks Blogosphere Social Mentions – November 30, 2009
• Build Better Relationships with Zentact – January 7, 2009

3 Sites for Digital Holiday Cards originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

For those of us in the business of online marketing, brand building, or building web strategies for companies, Jeremiah Owyang is a familiar name. His innovative thought leadership has defined the world of online web strategies and how companies interact with audiences.

His blogs have been a ranked as one of the top sites in Technorati, and his career board has increased the number of visitors to his website simply because of his strong belief in connecting people. Jeremiah “strives to define and deliver user and community needs, business goals, and web technology to craft and deliver long term successful web programs for companies.”

Most recently the web strategy guru has released a mobile app that now allows fans and followers to keep up with what’s happening on the blog and career board via their iPhone or iTouch. MotherApp‘s creative innovation has brought to life a clean and intuitive application to life. Via the interface you get access to his thoughts via the blog, his Twitter stream, and the ability to favorite tweets or blogs posts you find interesting.

If you’re into online marketing or strategizing web initiatives, check this app out. I’ve found that the information on here is useful and applicable immediately for just about any brand you develop for.

• Tweetdeck Evolves For Power Users – December 4, 2009
• iPhone App Reviews for Social Media News – March 2, 2009
• Publish Your Content On Your Mobile – December 1, 2009
• Regator Tracks Blogosphere Social Mentions – November 30, 2009
• Web Design Ease with Axess.im – November 30, 2009

Web Strategist Jeremiah Owyang’s Mobile App originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

With content accessible on our mobile, it’s become more common for us to be productive with our mobile devices to get more work done. Cell phones and other mobile devices have become the digital leashes that collar us to work, but at the same time it also keeps us connected to life’s information flow. As we become a more connected community via social media tools, it’s always useful to hear how others have made it work for them.

Recently I was stuck on a prolonged trip where I could have done one of two things, sit and just let time pass, or find an effective way to keep what I do going. I opted for the latter and as a writer for various websites across the web, I found the magic combination that keeps what I do going even if I’m not on my laptop or desktop.

For starters I have a iPhone and I’ve set up my apps in such a way that I can now more easily stream line the writing process using apps that I’ve linked together because of how they work together. If there’s a Blackberry alternative out there, I’d love to hear how you keep your brand running even if you’re on the go.

Documents2: Is the app I use to write my article. I use this article specifically because when I write I can back up automatically to my Google Docs and send a copy via email if I choose, all without leaving the app. This makes backing up my work easy.

Safari: I use Safari to quickly grab a creative commons photo from Flickr or any other photo site. I save the photo to the device and make sure that I get all relevant information for attribution purposes.

PS Mobile: This free Photoshop tool is great for quick edits to photos like resizing or cropping on the go. I don’t look for this tool to do anything more than I know it’s capable of and save the photo and move on.

WordPress: Using the WordPress app I bring in my copy, insert photos, include attribution, and tag and label my post accordingly. With a press of the button my articles are posted and I move on to my next task.

The above process may seem like it take a lot of moving around from one app to another, and I admit at first it did take more time than I would have liked. But after making this part of your routine, you become faster at it, and grouping icons by purpose instead of type, like most people do, you can easily access your tools to ensure that your posts are published.

Photo Credit Christopher Chan

• Regator Tracks Blogosphere Social Mentions – November 30, 2009
• Tweetdeck Evolves For Power Users – December 4, 2009
• Web Strategist Jeremiah Owyang’s Mobile App – December 1, 2009
• Linkedin iPhone Update Offers More Functionality – December 29, 2009
• Audio Blog with Audio Boo on iPhone – December 15, 2009

Publish Your Content On Your Mobile originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

Tracking mentions online is a huge market that has yet to turn any profit. Still, there are a lot of sites out there that track mentions on Twitter, Facebook, various social sites, and a few blog sites as well. Knowing what trending topics are hot and when your name or brand is mentioned is important and becomes  a focal point of tracking your web presence.

Regator is both a web app and a mobile app that allows you to keep up with what is happening in the blogosphere without missing a beat. The unique addition of the mobile app ensures that you never miss a mention. They pay app ($1.99) is a functional addition to any mobile media person’s toolbox.

Regator does little to stop you from jumping right in. Search for keywords, browse the web from within Regator, search real time trends, and even set up a blog monitor for specific names and keywords for daily reports when those words are mentioned.

I also found the ability to favorite posts, entire blogs, and/or topics to be useful for when I needed to come back and read up more in depth later.

Regator definitely explores millions of posts thousands of the best sites out there. I found it an interesting tool for media, business, writing, and news professionals. But just about anyone can find a great use to keep up on their specific keyword choices or trending topics.

• Publish Your Content On Your Mobile – December 1, 2009
• Tweetdeck Evolves For Power Users – December 4, 2009
• Web Strategist Jeremiah Owyang’s Mobile App – December 1, 2009
• Audio Blog with Audio Boo on iPhone – December 15, 2009
• Zemanta Levels Blogger Playing Field – December 8, 2009

Regator Tracks Blogosphere Social Mentions originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

“The key takeaway there is that we’re thinking big and we’re in it for the long haul,”

Speaking at a conference recently, the services co-founder Biz Stone said that they have big plans for twitter including pitching the service to companies to help gain new customers and keep existing ones and also as a way of making the company more interactive with their customers.

He also mentioned that Twitter will improve their security such as adding authentication codes to help prevent identity theft and may also use data from user records for their own needs.

Again he stressed that Twitter could not be treated as though it were a Social network like Facebook or Bebo.

“We started out by creating this very simple status updating system. And that’s not what Twitter is. It evolved into something else,” he said.

• Twitter Introduces Hovercards to Make Twitter More Social – February 10, 2010
• Will AT&T’s Buzz Search be a Success? – January 29, 2010
• Get Your Word Fix with Word Free – December 7, 2009
• Tweetdeck Evolves For Power Users – December 4, 2009
• Washington Post Facebook Social Reader News Application – November 26, 2011

Twitter – In it for the long haul originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

There are a lot of bad websites out there. A lot.

Websites with 8-bit graphics seemingly ripped from Atari games, with laughable copy errors that immediately diminish credibility, and with such awful usability that you need a Dr. Phil intervention to calm down after surfing through the third-rate portals.

This is one reason I co-founded VOIS.com (pronounced VOICE), or Virtual Outsourcing is Social. Not only can VOIS’ collaborative approach to completing projects produce superior results – from slickly branded and intuitive websites to fun, traffic-churning widgets – but it can also make it more affordable for businesses.

Don’t get me wrong; this is not the business owners’ faults. As a blogger for a major food website, I can say first hand that these are good people with the best of intentions. But just because someone knows how to make donuts, pizza or surfboards, it doesn’t mean they should know how to create a compelling online storefront. And hiring expensive firms on retainer often isn’t a workable business model for small and medium-sized businesses, or even larger firms that don’t have the bandwidth to handle their current business needs.

That’s why VOIS seeks to connect clients with expert Web professionals – from designers to developers and copywriters – to work on a project basis. What separates us from other business match-making platforms is that we allow and encourage the clients and talent to get to know each other first by exploring robust online profiles and messaging back and forth.

Click-and-mortar, web-driven start-ups have also had to change their game plan, and VOIS was developed for these businesses, too. With start-up capital tougher and tougher to attract, it’s no longer feasible for someone to hire developer and a CTO, build an infrastructure from scratch, then roll out and ramp up a product. I’ve met many people who have burned through $500,000 before looking at a more cost-efficient way of doing things.

And I really feel VOIS is that new way of doing things. We’re keeping VOIS wide open in terms of the scope of projects we accommodate – no niche focus or specialized tunnel vision. This will help us attract more users and offer truly turnkey solutions for our users.

So as the VOIS community grows, fueled by this added interpersonal dimension, I look forward at seeing some truly amazing work forged through the power of online collaboration. In other words, no more bad websites, or half-completed start-ups that could have been the next big thing.

In fact, I think VOIS is the next big thing.

• iPhone App Reviews for Social Media News – March 2, 2009
• Build Better Relationships with Zentact – January 7, 2009
• Attack Of The Music Communities – April 8, 2008
• Washington Post Facebook Social Reader News Application – November 26, 2011
• Hong Kong Apple Store Tour – October 3, 2011

Stop Dreaming – Start Doing With VOIS originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

Reddit is currently leading with three apps to make the mobile experience much more enjoyable. One of theirs is an official app from the Reddit creators themselves. Will Digg be releasing an official app soon?

I’ve taken the liberty to do a review of the three Reddit apps and Digg app that are in the iTune App Store. I am in no way associated with any of these apps, know any of the owners, or am promoting any of them in any fashion. This is merely a review from an avid Reddit and Digg user with a love for social news and social media.

Shovel – Digg App

Author: Scott Fitzhugh

Price: Free

Ratings: 147 Reviews – (at the time of writing)

iTunes Download Link: http://tinyurl.com/d5yqhu

iTunes Description:

Shovel is an app that provides top stories from the social news website Digg.com in a native application. Browse the front page stories, or delve deeper into an array of topics and subtopics of interest.

Personal Review:

Shovel is a great application for viewing Digg.com content easily on the iPhone. Overall, the design and interface is pretty clean and simple. It gives you a variety of topics and listings to select to view so you can access all of the content on Digg.com. You can view:

• Popular Stories
• Top Stories
• Movers & Shakers
• Brand New Stories

All listings are applicable to any category or sub-category in Digg.com. If you select a Digg story you can then scroll down the commentary to see what people are saying, who’s replied, how many votes each comment has received, etc. After that, you can click further to view the story live on the Web. Which is nice about it is that it doesn’t load Safari as a separate app to view the content so there’s no back-and-forth between the apps.

Unfortunately, what you cannot participate in digging, burying, or commenting through this application. The developer disclaims, “Now we’ve gotten the message loud and clear that the one thing that would turn this 3.5 star app (currently 3 stars) into a 5 star one is the interactivity of the original Digg site. You guys (and gals) want to be able to Digg, comment, and bury, and who can blame you? Right now, however, there is no way to do this using the legitimate Digg APIs, and quite frankly, it makes us sad. I’ve been trying to court the help of Digg in making this app all that it can be, and if you want to help that along, you should drop them a line yourselves requesting the same!”

Another drawback is that you cannot personalize this application because there is no way to login. Therefore you can’t weed out content you don’t want to see, view your account profile, see your friend’s submissions, etc.

In doing some research the Shovel app used to be named “Diggerific”. Apparently, they have changed the name of it and redid the UI just a bit as you can tell from the video review of Diggerific below:

Overview

Pros

• Easy to use
• Clean interface
• Ability to access all Digg content

Cons

• Free of charge
• Can’t Digg, comment, or bury content
• No Digg account profile/community features or functionality

iReddit

Author: CondeNet

Price: $1.99

Ratings: 41 Reviews (at the time of writing)

Feedback Contact: http://getsatisfaction.com/reddit/products/reddit_ireddit

iTunes Download Link: http://tinyurl.com/ce6tt2

iTunes Description:

The official Reddit iPhone app. Never be bored again. With this app, you’ll only be a tap (or shake) away from the most interesting stuff on the web.

All of your favorite Reddit functionality is here: view the hottest, newest, top, and most controversial stories of the moment, explore, individual subreddits, vote, comment, share, and save links for later. The entire commenting system has been optimized for the iPhone app so you won’t have any trouble contributing to an epic pun thread.

Save time by never having to reload the Reddit homepage. You can even use handy next/previous navigation to move between websites without going back to the main list. And those sites work in portrait and widescreen modes too.

It’s never been easier to be entertained. Just shake your iPhone to enter “serendipity mode” where you’ll be served a random, interesting site. Pro-tip: Turn on “play sound on shake” for a special treat with every jostle — the iPhone is an elegant phone for a more sophisticated age.

And if you’re feeling the economic downturn (what are you doing with an iPhone?) there’s a tree, ad-supported version to come.

Personal Review:

The Official Reddit application is pretty cool. You can input your username and password so that you can vote and comment on stories. Initially, you come to the Reddit homepage. Along the top you can choose between “Hot”, “New”, “Top”, and “Controversial” stories. When selecting a story, there is an overlay on the footer that allows you to upvote/downvote the story, go to the comments section of the story, save the story, and email the link.

Three subreddits will fit on the bottom bar overlay that you can quickly navigate to. You can edit the subreddits with the ones you want to use the most, but you only have a small selection of subreddit’s to swap out with. Those subreddits are:

• Programming
• Funny
• Science
• Tech
• World News
• Entertainment
• Business
• Comics
• Gaming
• Best Of
• Economics
• Cappuccino

It is the most expensive application but I feel it’s the cleanest and easiest to use. Unfortunately, you can’t browse all subreddits and there’s no search function. Nor is there a function to view your account’s saves, karma points, submissions, comments, etc.

I would recommend this app to anyone looking to quickly and easily view Reddit news, vote, and participate in the more popular subreddits. The free Reddit app doesn’t allow for this.

Overview

Pros

• Easily vote on stories from the actual story page
• Save links to view/read later
• Comment participation
• Customization of footer subreddits

Cons

• Most expensive Reddit app
• Not a wide-range of subreddits to customize on your footer
• Can’t browse all subreddits
• No search functionality
• No personal account status functionality

Open Source Reddit

Author: Joseph Pintozzi

Price: Free

Ratings: 10 Reviews (at the time of writing)

Feedback Contact: reddit@pintozzi.com

iTunes Download Link: http://tinyurl.com/cpjzvj

iTunes Description:

The Reddit application allows users to view the stories from www.reddit.com without having to deal with loading massive webpages. It displays the stories in a nice table view, providing details about each submission, and allows the user to easily view the submitted content. The ability to vote on a submission is currently being added.

Personal Review:

This app is very bare bones with very limited functionality. If you’re looking to vote on stories or participate in the comments this app isn’t for you. If you’re just looking to read “Hot” news from a select few subreddits then this is a good app for the cost of nothing. The included subreddits to choose from are:

• reddit.com
• bacon
• politics
• pics
• WTF
• funny
• technology
• programming

The nice thing about it is that it’s open source and the developer leaves it open for people to add on what they want to it. Hopefully, in the future, this will be a great application for Reddit.

Overview

Pros

• Open Source
• Free

Cons

• No commenting
• No voting
• Can’t browse all subreddits
• No search functionality
• No personal account status functionality

Satellite Reddit

Author: 3Cube Technologies

Price: $0.99

Ratings: 8 Reviews – (at the time of writing)

Feedback Contact: satellite@3cubetechnologies.com or http://twitter.com/3cube

iTunes Download Link: http://tinyurl.com/cx8eec

iTunes Description:

Satellite 2.0 is now available and brings a host of improvement to the mobile Reddit experience.

Change in this version includes:

• Greatly improved performance
• New, Controversial, and Top views are available for all subreddits
• An overlay displaying the full article title and comments count shows while loading an article
• The subreddit list is reorderable
• A beautiful new icon and splash screen have been added
• New lower pricing.

Satellite is a full-featured client for Reddit.com, a social link aggregation site. With Satellite, you can browse links appearing on the front page or drill down into the Subreddits you are subscribed to. When viewing an article you can vote the link up or down, save it to your Reddit account, or share the link with others. With the click of a button, you can shift into commenting mode to browse comments or post your own back to the Reddit page about the link. The interface provides a substantially more streamlined experience over the mobile Reddit site and incorprates the unique capabilities of the iPhone to make your day to day Reddit’ing much more fun.

Additional Satellite features include:

• Shake the app at any time to explore random content from Reddit
• Next/previous buttons are available at the screen edges to move through content without returning to list view
• Full portrait/landscape modes, including upside down. Great for handing the phone across the dinner table to share your discoveries!
• Returns to the content you were browsing at start-up. Pick up right where you left off when that call came in.
• Highly addictive content discovery available anywhere, at any time!

Personal Review:

This app is definitely worth the 99 cents. After entering in your login information you can view ALL of your subscribed subreddits. It also gives you an option to edit your subreddits for your account. After selecting a subreddit you can choose between “Hot”, “New”, “Controversial”, and “Top” categories in the footer bar. Once selecting a story, it takes you to the story and overlays the story title, submitter, and point count. At the bottom footer you can choose to vote, go to comments, save the link, or email the link. Again though, there’s no search feature with this app either.

This app is a lot like the official iReddit app except it’s more personalized. You can also view your saved Reddits on your account to follow up on how your saves and submissions are doing.

Overview

Pros

• Personalized
• Nice User-Interface
• Good functionality for voting and commenting
• All Reddit content accessible through this app

Cons

• Isn’t free
• Can’t see your karma points
• No search functionality

• Web Strategist Jeremiah Owyang’s Mobile App – December 1, 2009
• 26 New And Awesome Web Apps You Probably Don’t Know About – March 3, 2009
• Crenk Interviews… Zentact – January 7, 2009
• AutoCAD for iPad, iPhone and Mac OS – September 27, 2010
• iTouch Acting as Gateway Drug to iPhone – December 8, 2009

iPhone App Reviews for Social Media News originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

What is the Zentact philosophy?
(Jared) We are creating a product that integrates into already existing work flows, helping our users build better relationships. We do this without any BS. (Eric would say the our product will make the baby jesus cry…)

Sharing information with your contacts is something that Mr. Marcoullier seems to be a fan of! What makes Zentact different to other content sharing websites?

(Jared) Social networks are a lot of work for traditionally very little payoff. CRM tools are worse.

(Eric) Zentact aims to flip that on its ear and provide loads of tangible results for little ongoing effort.

(Jared) Typical content sharing websites and apps have focused on the user always remembering whom to share with. We are trying, in effect, to whisper in the user’s ear and suggest whom they can share this with in a meaningful way – we make sure you share what matters. We will be adding more social aspects in the near future as well.

How has the web 2.0 landscape changed since the coneption and subsequent selling of MyBlogLog to now and the work you’re doing with Zentact?

(John) MyBlogLog allowed users to create profiles that traveled with them where they surfed, adding value to both the mybloglog member and website owner. More Web 2.0 apps today are leveraging this concept, be it scripts, widgets, and even in browsers. The value that is created by individual apps and even apps created mashing APIs together is significant.

Some commentators have said that they’d like Facebook integration, in particular to help when tagging – is this something you and the team are looking into?

(Jared) We will be integrating in with Facebook to help with both tagging, tracking last connection and posting to the wall.

Will you be looking to include integration with other social networking services – if so what is the liklihood of this happening before Zentact comes out of Beta?

(Jared) We are in a private beta now and working on launching our public beta. We will likely integrate with other social networking services and other communication platforms before leaving beta. We are also listening to our users – feedback will help lead the way.

What is really exciting you on the web (Zentact aside)?
(Jared) Gnip
(John) Apple app store

I would argue that 2008 has been the year of Twitter and that it will become more mainstream in 2009 – what do you think will be the big social media development in the next 12 months?

(Jared) We think that there will be a big movement towards information – instead of just data. More products will become contextual.

What has been the main challenge for Zentact since you founded the company?

(Jared) Our number one challenge has been to prioritize features since, as a team, we have many features we want to do quickly.

And what has been the achievement that has made you most happy?

(Jared) We have gotten feedback from users ranging for “wow” to “Zentact helped me close a deal”. This feedback is what makes us tick!

What are the next key milestones you’ll be looking to meet?

( Jared) Public beta and our IE version.

What can we expect from Zentact in 2009?

(Jared) A killer product that will seamlessly improve your life.

To try Zentact for yourself, we have a few private invites to test the private beta, which you lucky boys and girls can get here.

• iPhone App Reviews for Social Media News – March 2, 2009
• Web Strategist Jeremiah Owyang’s Mobile App – December 1, 2009
• Give Away Of The Day gives you free software everyday – May 5, 2011
• Tweetdeck Evolves For Power Users – December 4, 2009
• 26 New And Awesome Web Apps You Probably Don’t Know About – March 3, 2009

Crenk Interviews… Zentact originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

A solution, however, is afoot. Zentact, brought to us by among others, Eric Marcoullier of MyBlogLog fame, aims to collate your contacts into one place and allow you to share bits and pieces as you browse.

After signing up and adding in a few personal details, you can simply import your contacts from Hotmail, LinkedIn, Gmail and Outlook via a CSV address book and after a few seconds, they are on your system.

Next, and I highly recommend this, download the Firefox extension, all will be revealed shortly.

Now, the genius part. Each contact is taggable with their likes and dislikes and when a web page which has tags that match your contacts, if you installed the extension, a smart little box will flash up in the top right hand corner of your screen with the list of contacts who’s interests are relevant to the site. You can then send them a link and be merrily on your way. Remember, social.

Now the one down side to this is that if you have hundreds of contacts, it takes ages to go through them all tagging away. I’d recommend doing it bit by bit, adding tags as you go – this will take longer but does two things:

It lets you see who you will really be sharing with – there’s no point in having 300 contacts if you only ever talk to six of them regularly anyway, which means you can quickly identify those defunct e-mail addresses you’ve not used in years or people who don’t share common interests.

Secondly, it makes the whole process a lot smoother – you may like a tag binge, but frankly I’d rather be spending my time actually looking at what I came to see rather than typing in long lists of keywords, especially ones that are tricky to spell.

Now, it will take a while for you and Zentact to get to know each other, but the more contacts you tag and the more sites sites you send, the better Zentact becomes at recommending what is suitable for whom. This is a great service and especially suitable for anyone who is on a lot of social networks but can’t quite keep up with what is going on with who. Now you can build your relationships easily and stay in touch better.

We are lucky enough to have a handful of guest invites so you can try the private beta version of this site and tell all your friends about, which you can get by clicking here. Incidentally, you can tell your friends about it via Zentact and you can then invite them to join in this most social of networks.

• Crenk Interviews… Zentact – January 7, 2009
• Attack Of The Music Communities – April 8, 2008
• 3 Sites for Digital Holiday Cards – December 2, 2009
• Social Networking with 6rounds Expands Online Community – November 4, 2009
• Stop Dreaming – Start Doing With VOIS – March 12, 2009

Build Better Relationships with Zentact originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

Myspace – Myspace is the king of all social networks and is leading the way in the music space. Everyone knows how myspace works, you sign up for a profile and then your able to upload 4 songs to your profile. Simple yet effective, because of how many artists are on the system. Additionally, myspace will be launching a new music feature in the coming months.

Bebo – Bebo who just got acquired by AOL for $850 million, is a big player in the social networking space. Currently, they are 3rd in the USA but leading the way in UK. The has the ability for bands to customise their profiles, and can even add songs to their profiles. However, doesnt have a music player at all and is very limited in so many ways.

Last.fm – Last.fm is a service that is growing every day. It is a service that keeps track of what music you listen to, and then helps you discover new music based on your preferences. Last.fm can be used to find new music, listen to music you already like, and get in touch with people who have the same taste in music as you do, discover new gigs in your local area. Last.fm also allows artists and labels to upload their own music and videos and promote them for free. As far as im aware only selected artists can now actually receive royalties from Last.fm when their music is played via their site.

Purevolume – Purevolume is probably the oldest music social network of the lot in this article. It has a sleak design and it is tailored just for artists. Unlike most other social network there arent poor quality ads all over the place and Purevolume is actually still strong when it comes to traffic stats and user participation. The site itself is still missing several features that are need by artists, but the overall feel is still top notch.

Imeem – Imeem is a new social network which allows artists to upload their music and actually make royalties via plays on the Imeem site. Currently artists need to have an agreement with Snocap, so that Snocap can track the amount of plays done on Imeem and then Imeem pays artists a percentage of the advertising revenue they receive.

MOG – is a social network that helps you “discover people through music and discover music through people”. Basically MOG makes it easy for you to find new music to listen to by using custom filters and personalized suggestions. The site is very similar to Last.fm, but has a few twists in their algorhythm. MOG also provides users with reviews, news and streaming audio. MOG also features a music TV that continuously broadcasts videos taken from YouTube.

iLike – iLike is another service that is similar to Last.fm, but has a nice twist that allows you to also organise your music. It lets you share music libraries with your friends, browse and sample their most played songs, and compare your compatibility scores. iLike will also send you music recommendations directly in iTunes.

JamNow – is a social network aimed at musicians that allows them to create audio content online in real-time. JamNow isn’t a site that simply makes you “post and listen” to audio content: its platform enables real-time music collaboration and lets you schedule live jam sessions and listen to musicians that are playing right in that moment.

Haystack – is all about finding new music through your friends and the people you think are taste makers or cool. You can browse music, pictures, videos and reviews of artists as well as build your own profile and personalize it with images and videos. They encourage artists to sign up directly or even through their labels.

Sonific – is a social network that offers a great way to promote your music, if you are an artist. It lets users put a free music widgets with your music on their sites and promote it to their own audiences, for free. In exchange, Sonific users get free music to use and listen to (download is not permitted) and make their site look cooler – while you get free advertising for your music.

Sellaband – is a music social network that turns the fans and listeners of bands into their producers, asking them to invest in a band or artist they support so that they will be able to get a recording opportunity. Every single investor that supports a successful band will take home a small cut of the profits made by them. Artists not only get financial support but also share 50% of the ad revenue coming from the free downloads of their music.

iJigg – is a online community that lets you comment on music and share songs. You can rate music and influence what becomes popular, as well as upload your own music to share it with the community and make new fans. You will need to decide whether to open a “listener” or “artist” account, which will give you access to different features (e.g. listeners can download free mp3 of their favorite music, while artists can upload their own music).

Flotones – is a monetized social network for artists and their fans. The best features is the ability to promote and distribute content via mobile phones. For example a band can do ringtones and mobile wallpapers. After registration you will be able to promote your content at your gigs and even on your social network profiles. You’ll be asked to sign a contract before getting paid.

Overall:

Out of the list above i think the key sites to sign up to are Myspace (overall largest reach), Purevolume (music specific), Last.fm (but only if you have royalty agreement with them), Imeem (royalty collection on streams and growing in traffic) and Sellaband (potential to receive investment money).

• Build Better Relationships with Zentact – January 7, 2009
• Music Startups Musicians Should Use on a Daily Basis – March 19, 2011
• Soundcloud Growing Past One Million Users Globally – May 18, 2010
• Digital Music Distributor RouteNote Signs Three New Online Music Stores – Deezer, Napster, Thumbplay – January 29, 2010
• Personally Publish Self Works with Lulu – January 1, 2010

Attack Of The Music Communities originally appeared on: Crenk
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