
When it comes to social media sites, people talk about
Digg,
Reddit,
Del-icio-us,
Propeller and
StumbleUpon. These sites not only send good traffic, but also throw back links to the blogs and websites. However, growing competition and stringent rules made it tougher to crack these sites and make your articles front page stories.
Several social media sites have cropped up in the past two years. Today, there are hundreds of sites that accept numerous submissions and give a little exposure to the bloggers. However, at least five social media sites have begun making impact on the web. They have witnessed a significant growth in the past few months and a sharp rise in their user-base. They still accept good content and help you get more traffic, if not too many back links. Here you go:
Sphinn is considered as a gold mine by the bloggers. They don’t accept shit content. It definitely takes time to build a strong account on Sphinn, but once your article reaches the homepage, you get benefits in many ways. Sphinn sends both traffic and subscribers.
If top sphinners like your story, they bookmark the URL and themselves submit your high quality stories on a regular basis. Sphinn deals with the topics on SEO, Internet marketing, social media and many other relevant topics. There is no place for bad stories on Sphinn. Only high quality stories survive there.
Mixx is an upcoming social media site that has fast established itself as one of the popular social media sites on the web. It’s a perfect place for new users to start their social media career. Mixx is a great place for promoting interaction among the users. Unlike other social media sites, it does not ban users or sites frequently. It allows everyone to try their luck without any exception.
Mixx also rewards its users that submit good articles. A mixx badge really looks lucrative. It offers bades on various categories such as Top Ten, Thought Leader, Top Submitter, Enthusiastic, Hyperactive etc. etc. Mixx also allows users to share their stories with fellow mixxers in an easy way. People call this emerging social media site as “Mixx without Border”.
Sk*rt, which started its journey in 2007, have come a long way and has more than 15,000 active members. Sk*rt has very good features, thought not very extensive. If a story gets to the homepage on Sk*rt, it receives good traffic. Sk*rt has guest editors who regularly look at the content, vote for good stories, pick up the best and vote down bad stories. They have the power to push things up to the front page faster than others.
People, who use Sk*rt regularly, admit that nobody exploits the algorithm on Sk*rt. It is very simple and clear. If you get enough votes, you will be on front page and get good traffic. Some people say that Sk*rt is just for women, as it has many women-friendly features. However, it does not hold true. Sk*rt is used by more men than women. It all depends on the stories that are relevant to the topics covered by Sk*rt.
Fark has really surprised the social media users. Drew Curtis, the founder of Fark, has been running the website for the past five years. and, he has taken his site to a level where he can make real money while helping others to do the same. Fark features both weird and interesting news, which make it popular among the social media users. It has been acknowledged that Fark sends very good traffic when the stories make it to front page.
Unlike other social media sites, Tweako does not publicize itself too much. But see its front page and you will know the difference. They feature only high quality articles. Tweako is a user-generated social media site that focuses on technology, business, Internet and computing. If you have a good quality articles on any of these topics, then Tweako is the right place. And what more, it really sends very good trafic.
Permalink
No Comments
Over the past month or so there has been a distinct feeling of unease spreading across the web with bloggers appearing to be increasingly insecure about their position in it. This first became really noticeable with the discussions surrounding the problem of fractured conversations.
Having their posts spread across the web by aggregation services with no control over the conversation and the subsequent arguments over commoditisation of content caused a number of bloggers to question their worth.
Louis Gray played devils advocate by suggesting that blogs had no inherent value and deserved no advertising revenue - the backlash was hardly surprising. Michael at Remarkablogger questioned the term blog asking if it was unprofessional and holding us back and I asked a similar question of the term social media.
Louis has now rocked the boat again by asking if bloggers should be accountable and display their stats - a sensitive issue with bloggers at the best of times. Bloggers are renowned for being stat obsessed; it’s an element of vanity that goes with the territory of putting yourself out there but no-one likes to talk about it in public in case they are accused of bragging etc.
Finally, Steven Hodson posted yesterday echoing the sentiment that blogging needs to be called something else and his post was the catalyst for me to write this - the straw that broke the camels back so to speak.
What is happening?
Are the majority looking at the likes of Robert Scoble and Darren Rowse and becoming jealous of the success (and consequently the income) they have received from blogging and related Activities?
Is there a fear of becoming lost at sea amongst the myriad of new bloggers appearing all the time, many of which are perceived as adding no value to the conversation?
Is it a fear that other forms of media such as podcasting and video blogging as well as micro blogging are taking over? The two ends of the ‘new media’ spectrum are spreading further apart and there may be a concern that they are leaving a vacuum in the middle ground: the traditional blogging space. A number of bloggers seem to be increasingly precious over the format just as others are saying that this particular dog may have had its day.
Self preservation
Is the self preservation instinct kicking in now that blogging has gone mainstream and the elite are moving on to new things? Is this problem limited to just blogging? Look at the discussion recently around whether social media is going, or will go, mainstream - myself included.
Is this a cry for validation? A lot of people are investing a lot of time, money and effort in the web and perhaps the current financial climate has got a lot of people looking over their shoulder.
Where do we go from here?
If not bloggers then what? Self publishers, authors, writers, journalists, what? As Steven mentioned where is the line which means we have “outgrown the confines of the concept people have of blogging” - the old image of a personal ‘web log’. As I said before, the term blog has become a part of modern language and everyone knows what one is, if we try to move the goalposts are we making a rod for our own backs?
What do you think?
Share your Comments 
Permalink
No Comments