2009 March | Social @ Blogging Tracker

ReTweet ~ The Wild Thing In Twitter

Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Social Media Tool, Twitter | Posted on 27-03-2009

21

wild-thing-twitter

Sorry for the horrific drawing, but I think it presents well on what RT’s all about in Twitter. The wild thing that gets us all crazy and all hyped about. Sadly, it’s no where as adorable as the original characters. For those of you who loves the story, shame on me for taking the advantage. Oh well, it’s a one-go thing, I kinda followed my instinct. Just be thankful I gave you something to tease about. =P

I Have To Confess…

I had to follow the trend. I’ve been bombarded with various kinds of RT-related posts lately, can’t say that I’m not enjoying what the pros’ are saying about it. Just in case you’re new and wondering what the fuss is Retweet (RT) all about: it is an action to repeat/share another person’s tweet (=updates) in Twitter. More likely, to spread the link juice.

It’s impossible to miss a ‘RETWEET’ (RT) verb when you’re on Twitter. Whether or not they are repeated, the point is, people tend to Re-Tweet! Have you noticed? A lot of discussions going on about RT etiquettes, ways to RT, whether or not to RT… some even opined it’s pointless to do so! But regardless of all that, we can’t deny the influence of RT in Twitter.

Why Use ReTweet?
With the emerged of mass-following Twitter tools such as Tweepme, we really need to re-evaluate the true meaning of ‘authority’ in Twitter rankings. I don’t need to go deeper on the WHYs, since Kevin Gibbons (Director of Search at SEOptimise) has explained clearly about the Power of RT in his post of How To Find Twitter Twits to Retweet Your Tweet. If you’re still in between whether amount of followers or RT should best served as a measurement tool for tweeters’ rankings, I would suggest you to have a look at TechCrunch’s well-written article about It’s Not How Many Followers You Have That Counts, It’s How Many Times You Get Retweeted. Period.

We’re all hoping to be on top of the game, to provide the best references to the public & be liked. However before we go further to the brilliant RT-related tools, let’s not forgetting there are several etiquettes that are to be followed as well. You don’t want to end up blocked or nagged as inconsiderate for your mass-RTs, right?

1. Retweet Etiquette by Dan Zarrella.
2. Twit-equette Rules To Remember by Trish Lawrence

There are tons of reasons why people want to RT a topic, it could be an exclusive news, a funny pic/joke, even a blog post or a on-going contest. The good thing is, even mind-blocked bloggers or writers could have a good tip or two by knowing what people are actually cared about from the real time results, providing an alternative besides Google Trends, which sometimes, flooded with weird-looking enquiries.

Wanna check out what’s HOT in ReTweet?
Not that I encourage you to RT whatever is on the top ranks of these pages, you could, of course, but it’s still preferably to look for unique contents that really matters to you and your network buddies.

Popular Links/Tweets:

1.

– As I’ve introduced this tool in previous post of Killer Apps (pt2), not only it’s the most-used RT resources of all times, it also provides plugin for blogs to encourage post-tweets.

2.

– this is very similar to tweetmeme, yet not as popular. It also provides a listing of the most retweeted tweets in the time range of 30 min, 2 hrs & 24 hrs. Results are not realtime as Tweetmeme, which tracks the most popular links every 5 minutes. However, it does provide another good source for your RTs.

3.

– The collection of popular links on Twitter, again (they never fed up with these, don’t they?). Twitturls has them sourced out from twitter feed and displayed for your viewing pleasure. Fixed with a ‘Tweet This’ link each to bring you to the Twitter official page and get them ReTweeted, again. Good news for WP users as a plugin of Top Twitter Links by Twitturls is prepared for you at the side bar.

4.

– Showing the latest RTs from the last ‘hours/day/week/fortnight’. You can either Reply the tweet, or Retweet it. The times of retweet are displayed as below. In case you’re wondering what the ‘show‘ is about, it just brings you back to the header of ‘hours/day/week/fortnight’ options, no biggie.

Trend-Tracker:
5.
retweet-radar

– Tag Clouds. Locating Trends in the midst of all the RT information in Twitter, and sorted within the clouds. Click the tag you’re interested in to be directed to Twitter Search results. Time range? From yesterday, today till now. To search for past trends? The info stored up till 3 months by Archive, just in case you’re interested.

I’m not sure how many people would look for the ‘past trends’. However, it’ll direct you to Twitter Search as well. Kinda like, finding the past within the real time conversations. Hmm.. *rolling her eyes*

6.

Twist
– Look familiar? Yes, it’s the flaptor logo we came across in previous entry, only Better! Where you get to check on the trends and monitor your keyword based on a GRAPH! (Finally something slightly different, huh?) A simple Twist to rest your eyes from the numbers while having an overview on how the keyword processed through time.

A preferred choice of mine than radar. It’s obvious, American Idol only HOT during mid-weeks, don’t believe me? Check on it, that’s what Twist is made up for.

The Most Re-tweeted individuals:
Of course, it doesn’t mean that all the highly ranked @ with high amount of followers worth all the ‘following’; however they’re there for a reason. Whether or not you’d like to find out, here are some tools to measure their rankings according to their Tweets.

7.

– from the Top 100 Retweeted Links to the most ReTweeted individuals. You can discover who is being retweeted by whom while getting the latest links that are being RT the most. You could have an overall check of the tweeters’ retweetability from Retweet History as well.

Again, it serves as a reference. The Recent Tweet results displayed are not real time, so advisable to check on Twitter Search instead for a more accurate results on their recent conversations. Featured members @ self-promote twitter adds available for publicity on the front page. Another smart one, huh?

8.

- From his post The Science of Retweet, a calculation is made by Dan Zarrella to measure the ReTweetability of people’s tweets. How infectious are they, why is everybody RT-ing their tweets?

Obviously, I’m not in it… … LOL..

The best way to find out, is to have a look on their site or conversations. I would suggest you to not just follow blindly, unless you’re really interested in their topics.

That’s a whole lot of info to digest in 1 day. I’ll pause for awhile to let you get on to your tweets @ RTs. Next I’ll be sharing with you some RT tools that you could tryout to monitor your RTs while at the same time, gain some new followers/following individuals.

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The Reveal: Killer Apps for A Successful Twitter Network (Pt.2)

Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Social Media Tool, Social Networking, Twitter, Twitter Search Tools | Posted on 20-03-2009

15

I hope you’ve already embarked on a Twitter-search journey since the clickable chart. If not, then hopefully this post could prompt you to actually utilize some of them, as we’ll be digging a little deeper into these Killer Apps.

Let The FUN Begins!
Take a look at the overall structures of each application, what can you conclude from it?

**Click the image for Enlarged Version**

Obviously, there’s no such thing as the PERFECT Search App ! Sorry to disappoint you but that’s the truth. Each application is built up to meet certain demands from users. By understanding their features respectively, you’ll stand a better chance of MAXIMIZING their uses in finding the results you need, in conjunction of enhancing your Twitter network.

Up Close & Personal, With The Apps…
Let me pre-warn you, there is no ‘definite’ answer of which is the best app to be used. I’m only providing you A REFERENCE~ my personal experience after utilizing them for couple of weeks, the score given is more to own-preference, not to discourage you to try them though. The search results displayed would differ from one to another, depending on their capabilities of capturing real-time tweets.

Here’s another table that categorized the applications according to their abilities, and Yes, of course it’s clickable! Go ahead !

~Click here for enlarged image. Icons only worked within this blog post~

Cautions: You should always be careful whenever a site is requesting you to login via Twitter username/password. Frankly, I haven’t really log in to any of these twitter searching sites to change my Twitter settings except the main site itself. Whether or not to take the risk, it’s up to the users; but I would avoid to do so unless it’s really necessary.

Meet The Killer Apps! Introducing…

People & Keyword Search
1. Twitter Official Search

Score: 4/5

Specialty:
-Ease to use with (almost the best) real-time results. Refresh option available.

Lacking:
Simplicity? (Truth is, I can’t think of any)

2. Flaptor Twitter Search

Score:2/5

Specialty:
-Nice sky-blue background (for those who’s fed up with plain white backgrounds).
-Equipped with web plugin to be installed to browsers.

Lacking:
Results definitely NOT as updated as Twitter Search. No Refresh (for result) option provided.

3.

Score: 3/5

Specialty:
-Track conversations from a particular user based on keyword search in both Twitter @ Identi.ca.
-Auto @ manual refresh option available.
-Extra service: Provide Archive download & Email Alert (Login required)
-Web plugin for browser.

Lacking:
Require ‘search further’ to trace back old results, sometimes untraceable. Popular topics show better real time results but inconsistent for not-so-popular keywords.

Search People On Twitter

4. (Yellow Pages of Twitter)

Score: 4/5

Specialty:
-Categories search that uses keywords from user’s BIO.
-Search results including name, bio, website and location.
-By creating a login for Twellow, you get to edit your details such as excluding some of your categories listed; or add up to 10 personally verified categories.
-Search results sorted based on the amount of Followers. (top search = users with the most followers)
-Twellow Hood: Map available to locate twitter users around your region, limited to US & Canada currently.

Lacking:
The ranking (amount of followers displayed) is not up to date, so is the given ‘tweet’.

(Tips: To see the latest tweet of a particular user, click ‘View Latest’ to be updated from Twitter Search.)

5.

Score: 3/5

Specialty:
-Dedicated to people-search only (works for keyword/username/location search).
-Result displaying user’s Bio, Location, website URL.
-Followers-Tracking ability: by typing @username to have a complete list of your followers with personal details.

Lacking:
Not showing any tweet content.

Location Search
6.

Score: 2/5

Specialty:
-Shows up to 100 results for your input of location (for example: New York, US; Melbourne, AUS) & keyword.
-Refresh option available.

Lacking:
Region name needed for a better search result (narrow down the search) instead of a country name; sometimes return with ‘0’ results. Hashtags doesn’t affect much in keyword search.

Real Time Conversation
7.

Score: 4/5

Specialty:
-Real-Time Conversation based on Trends.
-Customization is available for trend, text & chat-board layouts, and the frequency of tweet updates according to your likings.
-You can pause the tweet, add a search/ local custom results by ‘Geolocation’ to display new results.
-RT control (whether or not to show up)
-Quick reply to the displayed members after login.

Lacking:
For low-bandwidth connection, it might drag down the speed for its multi-customized functions; also affecting the real time results.

8.

Score: 3/5

Specialty:
-To Explore Twitter Conversations & Sentiment.
(Sort of an analysis about how your keyword/search is performing in the tweets. Frankly, I’m not really aware of how the ‘sentiment’ is applicable in the context, but it has something to do with word-comparisons against a dictionary of words that are associated with positive/negative sentiment. From that, the word from your search receives a score that, when combining with other scored words, it makes a guess at the overall tone of a tweet. Pretty innovative, huh? But I do enjoy the real-time tweet, simpler to view than Twitterfall.)

Lacking:
I’m not sure whether I’m appreciating the score that much for now.

Trend-Tracker
9.

Score: 2/5

Specialty:
-Trend Cloud available & constantly updating
-Trend-tracking results on your keyword search using graph / time range.
-Refresh option available.

Lacking:
Inconsistency of displaying real time results.

10. (Popular Links on Twitter)

Score: 4/5

Specialty:
-Display the most Retweeted topic / links every 5 minutes; with convenient RT button.
-Multi-results in 4 Categories blog, image, audio and video; In different time range including Most recent, Top in 24 hrs & Incoming (newly retweeted)
-Widgets available for users to display ‘top tweets’ in their websites.

Lacking:
No search box provided.

11. Twopular

Score: 3/5

Specialty:
-Provide the list of most trendy keywords in different time range (1 hrs-8hrs-day-week-month-ever since.)
-Trend search on : twitter search; google news; yahoo news
-Connect to Twitter Official Search for users+tweets
-Search and compare Trends in graph
-Show the most RT twitterer.

Lacking:
Trend comparisons (>2) returned with error page; Unclear for some features yet no proper Q&A or Help page given.

Authority/High rank people search
12. Twidentify

Score: 3/5

Specialty:
- 3 search types: Influence Search (main) displays results sort by people who get RT the most;Conversation search, Trend search.

Lacking:
Inconsistency of displaying real time results. I did a check with some of the results with retweetrank, slight dissimilarities are found in part of the results, especially in the ranking wise. I’m not sure which provides the most recent updates but to me, they serve as a reference for users, just incase they’re interested to follow people with better RT ranking, which I’m not too crazy about.

13.

Score: 2/5

Specialty:
-Provide rank-tracking for keyword/user search results (sorting for Top 10,000 by rank/time).
-Multiple search results available for ‘Dynamix’ Search (web/blog/image/video).

Lacking:
No ranking available for newbies/little people, not even the original poster him/herself if he/she doesn’t make it to the Twitter authority, just those ranked individuals who RT the post.

Multi-search Results
14.

Score: 4/5

Specialty:
-Enable search results in Blogs/Web/Twitter/MySpace/News/Images individually.
-Choosing Big Buzz you’ll have all the recent results displayed for you in these categories: Blogs, Twitter, FreindFeed, Video, Images.
-Displaying search results up to 40 per pages (Advanced > Preference)
-Auto refresh available ff, 1 min, 3 min, or 5 min (only in Big Buzz)
-Web plugin available.

Lacking:
Refresh settings (real-time results) only available for Big Buzz (overall search results), not individual search.

15.

Score: 2/5
(basically the same thing with different names, no idea why)

Specialty:
-Search results covers Image/GoogleMap (location)/Text/ Video results

Lacking:
Google Map might slow down the speed for those using slow bandwidth. And the random Twitter users displayed on the map (based on your keyword search) keep repeating, not updated unless you refresh the page manually. Unless you’re fascinated with G
oogle map & where (part of) the users are scattered, otherwise I would suggest you to use Twitter Search for better results.

And my AWARDs Go To…
** The BEST basic search + real-time results:

Twitter Search

** The BEST user-search based on location/bio only:
TweepSearch

** The MOST Organized/Categorized Search :
Twellow

** The BEST Multi-Search:
Icerocket

** The BEST Real-Time Chatroom + Customized results:
Twitterfall

** The BEST Most-Tweeted Topics:
Tweetmeme

So there you have it, Killer Apps with respective uniqueness & tiny bit of shortcomings. Although you don’t always get the best results you need at times, they do serve as a reference for what’s hot & current on twitter. I don’t put the ‘Best User Ranked’ search engine as I’m not always that crazy about this issue; a little controversy between the amount of followers vs Retweeted content. I probably would go for the latter, as quality tweet means more in a network to me.

For the coming posts, I will be sharing with you some more Twitter-related tools that worth a mention, perhaps some comparisons as well. Do stick around if you plan to go ‘deeper’ in these fascinating social media tools. Also, do share if you have other great findings that I’ve missed out along the way.

Hope you’ll find this post resourceful ! Remember, they are only ‘Killer Apps’ if you start using them. I know I have. ^^

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Killer Apps for A Successful Twitter Network (Pt.1)

Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Social Media Tool, Social Networking, Twitter, Twitter Search Tools | Posted on 14-03-2009

20

If you’re a Twitter user, then I’m sure you’re familiar with the hot debate over the Twitterville lately, about how Twitter could be the no.1 Search Engine in near future. A scenario was created in this post by John Golby, although the assumption of Twitter outbeating Google Search has received mixed opinions from the public, but up till now, nobody can underestimate the power of Twitter as the next-best-thing in social networking (probably SEO too)! Even Google has a Twitter account now with more than 13,000 followers just as we speak! So, why not?

Key Element To A Successful Network ~
Mingle with The RIGHT people!
Imagine you’re at a gathering, in a room full of people you barely knew, how would you determine who you should talk to for starter? Somebody HAS to start the conversation right? But what to say? When to jump in the conversation? I wonder who loves music as much as I do ? I want to promote my business, who could be my potential customers? …

“I know NO ONE! How should I start?”

If that’s the case, you’ve came to the right place! (don’t panic. Cocktail, anyone?)

Image by Ian Britton

Let Me Guess…
The Twitter Search Applications??
BINGO! You’re smart! From my first impression about Twitter until today, my interest for this little gadget has grown significantly. As the hot topic enrolled in early March, when Loren Baker talked about the 9 Twitter Search Apps that are ‘Better Than Twitter & Google’, I immediately compared it with the 10 Best Places To Get Twitter Followers by Ronation in General Business. I’m not surprised for the similarities of the Apps introduced, they are indeed, very user-friendly. However, here we will be focusing more on the ‘Search’ tools as the discussion goes on.

So MANY of them!…
Just How Should I Know WHICH one to use??
That’s the GOOD news I’m about to share with you. After throwing massive time and energy in testing out these tools, including the ones suggested by the readers, I have this mind-mapping drafted: (Click the icon to be brought to the Search Engine Site that suits your need.)

Reminder:
The Clickable Chart only works within its own post:
http://www.wchingya.com/2009/03/killer-apps-for-successful-network-in.html

~Click Here for Enlarged Image. Clicking ability only works within its own post~

That seems easy enough!
But, why can’t I just Add People Randomly?

Of course you can! That’s exactly how I did it in the earlier stages. However, in my personal opinion, it had not been conducive to my social network. Even though I did enjoy the random chatting, but it actually ate up quite a lot of my time, which is something that I can’t afford to lose. After considerate thoughts, I decided to enhance my chances on finding the potential groups in much lesser time through analyzing the Twitter search engine instead. The hard work paid off, and it helped to balance up my followers/following. So far, I have enjoyed the bonding with like-minded people; while getting the best out of Twitter.

Next post, I’ll be giving some insights about the tools mentioned. I’m amazed on how well they worked, frankly speaking. And love to share with you my findings.

If you happen to like this post, why not subscribe here so you won’t miss the next one? Or add me @wchingya in Twitter? What’s the best way to save your time by letting a friend do the info-digging for you? ^^ See you in Twitter!

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Want To Know Your Welcoming Gift?

Tip Jar, Anyone?

Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Fun n Games | Posted on 10-03-2009

13

It’s a hard time for everyone, the recession, the job-layoffs.. we need some killer ideas to survive. And what did Google come up with? A gigantic Tip Jar.

They’re giving out money???
Nooooo… they’re collecting money saving TIPS for everyone to share/vote. Sort of like a mini forum, where you get to post threads, but the difference is, you only get to say ‘Agree’, ‘Disagree’, or Flag it as inappropriate.

Just what kind of ideas are there?
Comes in various topics: health, at home, at work, travel, shopping etc. For instance,

“Pay your bills online to save on postage”
“STOP smoking today!”
“Press Cltl+K to go directly to search box on the top right in Firefox”
… are some of the popular ones. (“Didn’t I know these already??” ok, move along)

Want to be a contributor? Easy:

1. Log in using your Google Account.
2. Pick the category you wish to view/ submit ideas.
3. Decide your displayed Nickname & Location (optional).

4. Ready to submit your tip.

5. There, it’s on the list.

Can’t find it? Probably at the far end of the list. Try ‘search’, and look for the last page, it should be there. Why? Ever heard of first come, first served? And you probably need to wait awhile for people to notice & vote enough for your idea to be on the front pages.

When will I get noticed? Your guess is just as good as mine. So you better putting down some brilliant ideas for trendy issues. Or try to be FAST on the ideas. Which reminds me on how the world works, even the blogosphere. =P

So, Idea-LESS? Or Overwhelmed with tons of tricks, you could all take a dive in the big Jar. Currently there are over 45,000 votes cast on 3200 tips by nearly 4200 people. As how the big G likes to put it ‘Take a Tip, Share A Tip’.

Wanna Try? Did it benefit you in anyways?

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Top 5 BRAINIAC Puzzle-Play!

Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Fun n Games | Posted on 08-03-2009

9

Happy International Women’s Day!

So it is said that on 8th March every year, we’re celebrating the contribution of women all over the world. If you’re a lady, bravo for being YOU. Today is YOUR day! Lay your burdens down for awhile and try to have some fun.

In case you’re not doing anything special, and waiting for any feed to drop in your inbox, today’s your lucky day! How about a little challenge @ brain-battles? ^^

1. Escape Game

I can never imagine my site without an escape game intro. Don’t we just love to escape from our office(s)? Here’s a game from Gamedesign. It looks simple enough, but as you go along you’ll need some puzzle-solving skills. How about a little hints, which I’m sure you’re gonna thank me later:

- 1 of the item in the room could be used twice to reveal a pattern.
- Sometimes when you play with a toy, it takes >5 seconds to respond with a clue.

Oh my gosh, am I being too obvious? I hope not. As always, drop me a message below if you stuck at somewhere. Beat my score to get out less than 31 minutes, I dare you!

… … … … yeah, like that’s gonna happen.

2. Bloxorz

I totally loved this. Toggle the music/sound off if you wish, but I, myself find it’s one of the attractions apart from the cool 3D graphics. The purpose of the game is easy:

Get a rectangular cube in the square hole without falling off! Use your arrow keys to control the brick. Read through the game instructions before the game starts, and watch out for the symbols.

Reminder: Since the game could not be saved, you need to jot down the passcode for each stage (top right corner) so you could go back to where you left off without starting all over. Go to Main Menu > Load Stage to enter your level code.

3. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

Talking about the hottest trend, especially after a movie just swept 8 oscars in favoured to this game show. No further explanation needed I suppose. See how smart you are to win $1mil. Over 1000 questions to play with, so, good luck!

4. Super Stacker 2

This is a funny one. It’s hard to get frustrated when you look at those silly faces that smile back, or worried they’re gonna fall after you made a dangerous (silly) move. Stack them, and make your way till the end of the levels. Great game for kids as well.

What? Too Easy??? In that case, I have an Ultimate Brainiac puzzle for you..

5. Kids Room

Try to escape from the Kid’s Room if you can. I’m out of luck with this piece. Anybody could share with me how to solve the panel puzzle on the table?? It must have something to do with the paintings on the wall.. ideas?

Which one is your favourite?

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How To: Add Social Bookmark links To Your Blogger Post

Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Blogger Tips, How To, Social Bookmark | Posted on 04-03-2009

6

Why it’s essential to add Social Bookmark links?

Those are the little icons that lead you to popular social bookmarking sites, where your readers could give you credits by bookmarking them, or introducing them to the rest of the world. Bloggers are constantly hoping for more recognitions and subscribers. By having the bookmarking links near at hand, it’s more likely for your readers to ‘digg’ or ‘stumbleupon’ your post comparing to those who’s not. Why? One reason — Convenience!

I don’t know how!

I had a long search on the web, without knowing the info was right in front of me all these times. Thanks to Rose from bloggertalk, I found an informative page regarding the social bookmarking link add-ons, amended by crankedmen while the idea originated by Amanda Fazani.

Here’s How:

1. (log on to blogger) Layout > Edit HTML

2. Tick the ‘Expand Widget Template’ checkbox.

3. Search for the text:

<p><data:post.body

(this could only be seen if step 2 is carried out correctly)

4. When you found it, copy & paste the codes below after it:

For Stumbleupon:

<a expr:href=’"http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit.php?url="
+ data:post.url + "&title=" +
data:post.title’ style=’background: url(http://www.stumbleupon.com/images/stumble.png)
left no-repeat; padding-left: 20px;’ target=’_blank’>Stumble This</a>

For Digg:

<a expr:href=’"http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url="
+ data:post.url + "&title=" +
data:post.title’ style=’background: url(http://digg.com/img/badges/16×16-digg-guy.gif)
left no-repeat; padding-left: 20px;’ target=’_blank’>Digg It!</a>

For Del.icio.us:

<a expr:href=’"http://del.icio.us/post?url=" +
data:post.url + "&title=" +
data:post.title’ style=’background: url(http://images.del.icio.us/static/img/delicious.small.gif)
left no-repeat; padding-left: 20px;’ target=’_blank’>Add to del.icio.us</a>

After you’re done, preview them to see whether they are well fixed underneath your post. It’s that simple!

That’s it? How about other Social Bookmarks??

I found quite a lot of them here, like Facebook, Google Bookmarks, Furl, Reddit etc. As for others, you may need to do a little digging on web to source them out yourself. Or you could drop me a message and I’ll see what I can do.

No shortcuts??

Ok, it’s troublesome and you do not wish to mess up your HTML codes. In that case, I have something else for ya:

1-Social Marker

A convenient way to submit your article to multiple social bookmarking sites in the matter of seconds/minutes (depending how many sites you’ve selected)! Just have your URL, descriptions & tags written earlier, click ‘submit’, then the page will generate on its own to direct you to the sites pre-selected. Copy and paste the required info, once done, click ‘next’ on top of the header, you’ll be off to the next site for submission.

Although I do sometimes worry about the submission being treated as among the SPAMS or being flagged due to certain reasons. Therefore it’s just an occassional usage for me.

2-Add This

A lifesaver out of the copy & paste marathon! Simply register yourself, then log in to get your button code. It could be either for your blog, or your blog post. If for the latter, simply copying the ‘AddThis’ button code and follow the sequence once you’ve log in to Blogger. Go to :

Template> Edit HTML> check the Expand Widget Template> locate and paste the codes right after

<div class=’post-footer’>

Save Template.

There it is! Click and go to the social bookmark site desired!

Please Retweet if You Find This Post Useful,thanks!

Followers Stop Following you in Blogger? Here's Why!

Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Blogger Tips, How To | Posted on 03-03-2009

7

A blogger friend emailed me, asking,

“Why aren’t you following my blog anymore?? “

From the face after the Q, clearly he was a little upset. Why did I stop following? The truth is… I didn’t!

Feeling puzzled, I explained that I did not UN-follow anyone recently. Suddenly, I remembered just few days ago, I found:

a drastic drop of my followers (of course, it’s still possible that they really DID stop following me).

I wasn’t a follower of a particular blogger, so I re-followed; Today I went, it shows no sign of my avatar, whatsoever.

So I snooped around my emails, hoping to find any clues that could explain this extraordinary phenomenon… and there it is!– an email from Blogger Help.

What’s the story??
“Blogger updates Following feature and how it affects the blogs you follow”, that’s the title, also quoted,

“You are receiving this e-mail because you’ve used both Blogger’s Following feature and Google Friend Connect. So that sites you’ve joined via Friend Connect do not automatically show up on your Blogger profile without your explicit approval, we have changed your following status to “private” on all Blogger blogs. If you would like to have these sites shared publicly on your Blogger profile, here are some instructions for becoming a public follower again.”

So THAT’s what has been causing the havoc around bloggersville lately.

Obviously there is a link directing us to How to become Public Followers again. Unfortunately, I didn’t find enough information on how I could resolve my Private —>

Public Follow issue instantly. Time to take things into my own hands!

Solution of Re-Publicize yourself as Followers again!

After exploring through the ‘new’ features, I found a faster way:

Recommended:
1. Log into your Blogger Account

2. Scroll down and Locate ‘Reading List’> Manage (the blogs you follow)

Notice a bunch of blogs which you are following ‘Anonymous’-ly a.k.a privately. I know you didn’t do anything with it. It’s time to set the records right:

3. Click Settings> Fewer Options

4. You’ll be directed to this page, which I’m sure you know what to do — Yes, Change to Follow Publicly

5. Done. You’re back in their Following list again.

2nd Alternative:

Another way is to change the settings from the blogger’s site:
1. Noticing you’re not following them publicly? Click ‘Follow/Sign in’.

2. After logging in, your avatar appears, but don’t stop here! Go to Setting > Fewer Options > Change to Follow Publicly.

3. Now you’re done!

The Lesson?
Always check your settings, especially when a new ‘feature’ is implemented by your hosting site. Although some may not concern that much to the Follow
ers list, but I myself, find it’s important for bloggers to connect, while show supports for each other. I’m glad I got the email asking why I stop following, otherwise I wouldn’t have known. Hope the mis-understandings will stop from here.

So, did you encounter any unintentional Stop/Private Follow issue like I did? How did you handle it?

CHSF, Can You Help?

Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Events, Personal | Posted on 01-03-2009

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Today I’d like to highlight a post from a blogger friend of mine, Luci, in Helping Hearts Pound By Pound. I myself, have been a supporter of this charity, therefore I decided to create a post in response to Luci’s thoughtfulness while explaining the widget that’s being installed at my sidebar for several weeks now.

What is this fund all about?
Children’s Heart Surgery Fund is about helping children with heart defects by funding valuable equipments, resources and research needed in treatments; while providing a happy and relaxed atmosphere within the hospital for both the children and their families.

The Target of the fund?
10,000 British Pound Sterling. You could see the progress of this funding at the sidebar widget.

Who else is supporting this fund-raising?
There are several individuals who have been very supportive for this fund raising. I personally was inspired. Take a visit at Luci’s site, and also the motivator who brought us the attention of helping out. Visit Chris Garett’s funding site for further informations.

How Can I Help?
A donation could be made to Chris’ Fund Drive, through a donation service called Justgiving. A little bit from everyone means a big deal for the fund. However, if you’re not capable of funding, you could help by spread the words through tag-blogging, or twit about it, link or have the widget installed for awareness.

Do your part by lending a helping hand, create awareness for a good deed.

ReTweet ~ The Wild Thing In Twitter

Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Social Media Tool, Twitter | Posted on 27-03-2009

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The Reveal: Killer Apps for A Successful Twitter Network (Pt.2)

Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Social Media Tool, Social Networking, Twitter, Twitter Search Tools | Posted on 20-03-2009

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Killer Apps for A Successful Twitter Network (Pt.1)

Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Social Media Tool, Social Networking, Twitter, Twitter Search Tools | Posted on 14-03-2009

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Tip Jar, Anyone?

Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Fun n Games | Posted on 10-03-2009

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Top 5 BRAINIAC Puzzle-Play!

Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Fun n Games | Posted on 08-03-2009

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How To: Add Social Bookmark links To Your Blogger Post

Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Blogger Tips, How To, Social Bookmark | Posted on 04-03-2009

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Followers Stop Following you in Blogger? Here's Why!

Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Blogger Tips, How To | Posted on 03-03-2009

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CHSF, Can You Help?

Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Events, Personal | Posted on 01-03-2009

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