YouTube is a site that I visit semi-regularly but I’m not terrifically active on it. I think that’s because the site has its benefits but I haven’t really been maximizing my use of those benefits.

Some of the things that I do use YouTube for include:

• Watching funny clips. I admit it, I’ll sometimes watch whatever links I’m sent just for entertainment.
• Watching shows I missed during the week. I don’t follow too many TV shows. The ones that I do, I can usually see online elsewhere if I miss an episode (either on Hulu or on the network’s channel). However, there have been times when I couldn’t find an episode online anywhere else except on YouTube so I watched it there.
• Researching information. There are things that I have researched which are much easier to understand through a video than through text (like how to blow smoke rings) so sometimes I research through the site.

What I think I should start using the site for more is:

• Promoting my work. You can definitely use YouTube to promote your business but I haven’t done it much myself.
• Networking. YouTube is a social networking site but I’ve never really taken advantage of that aspect of it.
• Learning about new shows that I might like. As far as entertainment goes, I could probably find clips of shows I might like on the site but I’ve never bothered.

What do you use YouTube for?

Tags: kathryn vercillo, Social Networking, videos, watch videos online, web 2.0, youtube

I’ve mentioned here a few times that I’m trying to stay active on Twitter. This can be hard sometimes because there are so many people on Twitter who are there just to spam you. (I can’t even count the number of posts I see about how to get more Twitter followers – more people who will just keep posting those same posts about getting more followers!)

However, there are some people on Twitter that I really enjoy conversing with. These people bring great thoughts to the Twitter table and I enjoy hearing what they have to say. They also offer good links that I actually want to follow.

Here’s a few of those people to check out if you want some good conversation on Twitter:

• @dragonblogger – I mentioned this Twitter user here not too long ago because he does a really cool thing where he gets random words from fellow Twitter users and writes Twitter poems with them.
• @Scout66com – This is the only music blogger or music site that I’ve seen so far that doesn’t just promote music but also engages in intelligent discussino on a range of topics!
• @kashicat – Check out the blog Confessions of a Cultural Idiot to learn more about this cool Twitterer.
• @marcandangel – They share life advice on their blog and through their Twitter account.
• @spreadingjoy – The name says it all but there’s a corporation to go along with this Twitter account.

Who do you recommend following on Twitter?

Another link that might be of interest to people on Twitter is this article with links to over 100 different Twitter tools including tools for analysis, information gathering, networking building and sharing.

Tags: great twitterers, kathryn vercillo, people to follow on twitter, Social Networking, twitter, twitterers

I used to have a love/hate relationship with Twitter. Over time, that has changed. I lean a lot more towards the love side now. I suppose that’s because I’ve learned how to use Twitter in ways that make it fun for me. I meet people and share information there.

I actually do a lot of my research through Twitter, using it as a starting point to find news and articles about the topics that interest me. For example, I stay on top of the latest information and thoughts about mobile phones by following people on Twitter who write about these things.

There are so many people writing about this topic that it would be impossible to follow them all. I’ve found about 20 mobile phone Twitterers that really interest me a lot. These are what I would suggest as a starting place for people interested in researching that topic on Twitter.

Of course, you can make a list like this for any interest that you may have. I also follow people on Twitter who are interested in personal finance, simple living and creativity since those are topics that also interest me a lot. I think it’s worthwhile to take the time to find the people who are networking on these topics and to follow their activities online.

My Twitter account is at http://twitter.com/KathrynVercillo.

Tags: kathryn vercillo, mobile phones, research, Social Networking, twitter, Wireless

I was one of the early members of MySpace. My account lay dormant for years since nobody I knew was active on the site. Then, all of a sudden, everyone that I knew was signing up for a MySpace account. For about a year, I communicated actively there. I even had multiple accounts – for work and for personal use. Then a couple of years ago Facebook seemed to take the place of MySpace and my activity on MySpace slowly dwindled down to almost nothing.

I’ve kept my account active just in case MySpace suddenly becomes big again but these days I mostly use Facebook and Twitter for social networking. Thinking about this got me wondering whether any businesses are using MySpace for marketing anymore? I did some research into this question and found that there are a few types of businesses that are still active on the site.

Music businesses are the main business that still seems to do okay here as compared to Facebook or Twitter. Other entertainment businesses, like comedians, are active on the site to some degree as well. And then there are the businesses that market specifically to the tween/teen demographic that is still regularly using MySpace to communicate. Other than that, most businesses seem to be focusing their social networking promotion elsewhere.

Does this mean that businesses who choose to reactive their attention on MySpace could potentially corner the market on users still regularly active on the site?

Tags: business, kathryn vercillo, marketing, myspace, promotion, Social Networking

I have been doing a lot of shopping in the past couple of weeks. I hadn’t purchased anything new for awhile because I was focused on frugal living but then it got to the point where there were quite a few things that I really needed (or wanted). Luckily, I’ve been able to find a lot of hot deals so I haven’t spent too much money even though I’ve gotten most of the things that were on the wish list I’d built up when I was in my no-spending phase.

Most people who know me know that I look for good deals when I shop. I love purchasing used items. And I also love buying things online using discounts and promo codes to reduce the cost of the purchase. Because of that, I’m loving a new site that I’ve found recently called Buxr.com. It’s a discount codes site but it has many of the features of a social networking site which makes it unique from a lot of the other promo code sites available.

Some of the key reasons that I like this site include:

• Every member of the site is able to submit coupon deals. One of the best things about online coupons that you don’t get with printed coupons is the ability to share deals with others. This site really takes that to a new level by allowing all users to share deals.

• The members of the site can rate the deals that are submitted. The online discussion and rating of each deal helps me as a shopper to see which deals are worth my time. One of the things that always annoys me a bit about using online coupons is that you sometimes have to try out four or five different coupon codes to find one that works. The conversation about the online coupons on Buxr.com makes it so that this problem can be avoided.

• There are some neat organizational tools on the site. You can create online shopping wishlists on Buxr.com which allows you to stay organized about what you want to buy. This would’ve been really nice for me when I was in my no-spending phase and racking up a big mental list of the things that I wanted.

• The site itself is organized well. You can easily see the latest deals, the about-to-expire deals, the popular coupons and the most recent blog news all on the home page of the site.

• The site has a decent money-saving blog. It’s always good to read about different methods of saving money (something that I read and write about frequently myself) so it’s good to see another blog offering that information as a part of this site.

• You can actually earn money by using the site. There are a variety of different prizes available for being active on the site which means that you don’t just save money with it but also have the opportunity to make money from it. There’s also a Buxr.com widget that online publishers can use to earn money from for promoting the site.

There are a lot of really good sites out there that offer coupon codes. This one just happens to offer a few extra perks and benefits that may make it a better choice than many of the other sites that are available.

Tags: buxr, buxr.com, online shopping, shopping, Social Networking, websites

It’s been awhile since I participated in a blog carnival but I saw a good one that I wanted to be a part of. It’s the Social Networking Tips and Tricks blog carnival. The post I included was a post on how to streamline social networking to increase productivity in the office which I wrote for the productivity blog over at Cyclope Series.

Other posts of interest in this carnival were on related topics including:

• Small business social media questions
• Twitter stuff like getting targeted followers
• Bum marketing (an interesting topic)
• Making online beats
• Dumb businesses that did well

Lots of good social media information there. Happy reading!

Tags: blog carnival, blogging, blogs, links, Social Networking

We’re all using the major social networks today to stay in touch with people. Many of us are even meeting new people through these sites. However, it’s hard to form true friendships with strangers when you’re communicating on a huge network like Facebook or Twitter. People who are interested in really connecting with others online may find that the key to doing this is to work on niche social networks that really link you to people who share your interests.

For example, let’s say that you really enjoy shopping and saving money with online coupons. You can join the niche social networks on Internet coupon sites which allow you to connect with a community of people who all share these same interests. You’ll converse with them about this specific topic which allows you to really form a bond with these people. Your online conversations will be much more meaningful because you’re linked through something that you are truly interested in.

If you don’t want to spend a lot of time on niche social networks but you do like the idea of having these improved online connections then your best bet is to work with the groups that are available through sites like Facebook. By joining and participating in groups that reflect your interests, you can improve the quality of your Internet conversations and start to make long-lasting friends.

Tags: internet, kathryn vercillo, online friends, Social Networking

I recently answered a question on Yahoo! Answers that had to do with Twitter. I’m interested by Twitter despite the fact that I have something of a love/hate relationship with the social networking site. I’m intrigued by how it is being used by different types of people.

Recently I’ve been reading a lot of articles online by people who believe that Twitter can improve their writing. It’s an interesting idea and goes to show that technology tools can be used in different ways to achieve different ends by different people.

The question that I answered on Yahoo! Answers was a simple question about the difference between ReTweets and Replies. Most Twitter users can easily tell you that a ReTweet is a re-post of someone else’s Twitter information whereas a reply is a response to what someone has written.

Only a couple of us bothered to respond to this Yahoo! Answer and my response, being thorough, was chosen as the best answer there.

Tags: answer question, kathryn vercillo, q&a, questions, reply, retweet, Social Networking, twitter, Yahoo Answers

I am active on Twitter. I post to Twitter daily. I have four different RSS feeds that add my blog content to Twitter throughout the day. I have about 400 Twitter followers and follow about that many people. I am starting to make use of Twitter clients and Twitter tools like TweetDeck. I link my Twitter account in various ways to other social networking sites that I’m on.

And yet, the fact of the matter is that I don’t love Twitter. Or maybe I do.

For the most part, I don’t enjoy Twitter. I don’t like the format that it’s in because it seems messy and complicated and overwhelming. Even with the use of Twitter clients, I don’t find Twitter to be friendly on the eyes (or the brain). I also don’t like that Twitter seems to be most effective as a tool for blog traffic if you’re following tons of people but that means that you’ve got to look at Twitter updates every few seconds because there are so many people posting all of the time.

But there’s definitely something that draws me to Twitter. It’s addictive. It’s interesting. I can see what people are thinking about all of the time. I get links to information that I wouldn’t otherwise have seen. I feel connected to the world around me by virtue of the fact that we’re chatting online even though I see a level of superficiality to all of that online communication.

You know, come to think of it, my love/hate relationship with Twitter is a lot like my love/hate relationship with the city of Las Vegas. I don’t like Las Vegas much. It’s overstimulating and overwhelming and superficial in so many ways. But I go to Vegas fairly often because it’s a convenient vacation, most of what I want from a trip can be found there and the benefits of traveling there sometimes outweigh the negatives of the experience. Now if only Twitter had showgirls and slots … you know, I bet if I looked around, it might.

Tags: hubpages, internet, kathryn vercillo, online networking, Social Networking, Technology, twitter, twitter tips, web, web 2.0

I wrote an article earlier today over at my Real Words blog all about how I’ve seen a recent shift in the way that my online social networking communication is taking place. In the past, I’ve had two types of connections online. First, there were my friends in real life who I chatted about normal stuff with on sites like MySpace, Facebook and Twitter. And then there were people who I know only from online who would add me to those sites just to send me links to their online work.

What I’ve noticed recently is that more and more people on these sites are truly interested in starting real conversations. The line between my real life friends and my online friends is starting to blur. People I don’t know are asking me how my day is going and responding to my general status updates. They are inviting me to meet them in the real world or at least expressing an interest in knowing what my real world is like.

At the same time, my real world friendships are getting closer as a result of staying more frequently updated with everyone’s activities online. I know that this revelation isn’t new – many people have experienced this with online social networking. But I still sense an even greater shift in this going on right now, at least in my own life, and I’m excited to see how it develops.

Tags: communication, friendship, kathryn vercillo, online networking, real words, Social Networking, writing