Social media has taken the digital world by storm in the last 10 years. Because of that, it is one of the most interesting technological areas to follow in regards to breakthroughs, innovations and overall news.
Changes also tend to happen very quickly in regards to social media. For example, in 2011 we’ve already seen the arrival of Google+, the implementation of video chat on Facebook and changes made to Twitter in regards to posting rich media content.
All of these major innovations have happened within the span of 6 months and will continue to happen as long there remains fierce competitors such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn within the social media industry.
How can you keep up to date with all of these social media innovations and changes?
As a blogger that features social media related content on a regular basis and as a person who holds a strong interest in the subject regardless of whether or not I’m writing about it, I’ve found a number of very useful and consistent resources that help me stay on top of the happenings within the social media world.
I would like to share some of the more beneficial resources that I’ve found.
AnsonAlex.com’s Top 5 Resources for Social Media Information and News:
If you keep up with the social media world then I’m sure you’ve heard of Mashable. I personally check this blog multiple times a day to make sure I’m up to date on the headline social media news.
Since its launch in 2005, Mashable has become the top social media blog on the web and posts over 10 articles daily. According to their site, they receive 50 million pageviews monthly and are ranked as the most influential media outlet by Klout.
If you’re looking for the newest updates and trends in the social media world then Mashable should be your first stop.
ZDNet is a website dedicated to technology news. It doesn’t specifically concentrate on Social Media but often publishes articles related to the industry.
I don’t actually visit the website on regular basis. Instead I subscribe to their daily newsletter which contains 20+ articles every day. I always find a few articles that catch my eye and am rarely disappointed when actually reading them.
ZDNet takes a more granular look at technology and social media so if you’re a techie and want more detailed information on system specifications, security concerns and similar topics, then the ZDNet newsletter is a great resource.
- SmartBlog on Social Media
SmartBlogs.com contains a number of different technology based blogs but I think that their blog concentrating on social media is especially useful. Like ZDNet, I also read the SmartBrief on Social Media Newsletter a lot more than I actually visit the site.
This is another daily newsletter completely dedicated to Social Media. Less detailed than the ZDNet newsletter, the SmartBrief on Social Media newsletter concentrates more heavily on social media’s impact on the end user.
It also features a lot of articles explaining out business and entreprenuers can leverage social media to benefit their business and brand.
This newsletter is especially great for those of you looking for tips and suggestions on social media marketing.
- Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+
Before writing this article I asked my followers on Google+ what system they used the most to keep up with social media news and the overwhelming response was Twitter and Google+. I actually expected to see Mashable mentioned a few times but it wasn’t.
That being said, I think it makes a lot of sense that one of the best ways to keep up on social media news and events is within social media. Try following some people on Google+ and Twitter that specialize in social media news. You may even want to follow me!
I have a circle specifically dedicated to social media within Google+ to help me stay up to date on what is going on.
When changes are made to a social media platform, the users of the platform tend to be very vocal on their excitement or disappointment with the new features so staying active within your different social networks is one of the top ways to stay up to date.
Social Media Today is another blog dedicated to social media information, updates and news. The blog tends to concentrate on using social media for SEO and using social media for small to medium size businesses.
This is another blog that I follow more regularly through their email newsletter. You can sign up for it on the website’s homepage.
The newsletter is very similar to SmartBrief on Social Media that I mentioned above but it is written by different writers so it is another great resource to use regularly.
