My Social Media Toolkit

There are so many tools out there right now for communicating and building community. Some folks use one set, and others use something different. Each have their strengths and weaknesses. I thought I’d share my personal set of tools for building and nurturing a community:

Blogging Software: WordPress

I use the distributed version of WordPress as my blogging software, because it’s so flexible, and because the hosted version lets me customize all aspects of the code. You can also use the free version of Wordpress by going to Wordpress.com. It works swell, and it’s easier to set up. You can’t customize it as much, but maybe to start, it’s just fine for you.

Podcasting Software: Audacity and GarageBand

For cleaning up audio, I use Audacity (which works for Windows, Mac, and Linux). And then for editing into a final podcast product, I use Apple’s GarageBand (free and built right into your Mac software). I host the final products on my website, and then I use PodPress to play it inline on the site.

Video Editing Software: iMovie

I use Apple’s built-in iMovie software for most of my videoblog work. It does what I want it to do, though if I got good at Final Cut, I probably would want to switch to that eventually. Maybe. Who knows? Windows Movie Maker isn’t that bad a product either, I’m told.

Video Hosting Software: Blip.tv

There are TONS of places to host files, but I like Blip.tv, New York’s own quality team. What I like most about Blip are the people, but they make a killer product, too. Mike Hudack is one of the most personable business leaders I’ve ever met, and responsive to no end. Sure, you can use YouTube, but will their President call you up if you’ve got a compression problem?

Messaging Platform: Twitter

In the age of Pownce and Jaiku and several other competing platforms, I think Twitter is the best. Why? Partly because the crowd is there. Partly because it’s simple, with no bells or whistles. And I think also because it’s got an easy SMS interface, meaning I can take it mobile with me, too.

Social Network Platform: Ning or Facebook

There’s a tie here in my heart. I love Ning for being much more open-faced, for letting me use technology my way to build my community, for allowing 3rd party apps, RSS, and all kinds of great technologies that make the platform better for me.

But the people are definitely still on Facebook, and there are multiple ways to interact with people there. For that reason, I keep my feet in both pools at present. I’m in love with Ning, but I haven’t been able to stop using Facebook for what it’s allowing me. If I were a business, I’d consider the same thing: a dual strategy.

Email: Gmail

I use Gmail for my primary email platform because it’s easy, lightweight, manages to block lots of spam, and makes searching for messages easy. I keep a backup version of my mail by loading Gmail to my computer via the Thunderbird email application by Mozilla. It’s free, open, and easy to configure.

Calendaring Software: Google Calendar

What I like about Google Calendar is that it just works. Simple. It’s easy to throw something in there. It’s especially easy to move things back and forth between days, switch hours, add more data, invite others, etc. I can do LOTS with Google Calendar.

Event Calendar: Upcoming

Slightly differently, I use Upcoming.org to keep track of events I’m visiting, and to find events I *should* attend, by following friends to see where they’re going next. It’s a great tool, complete with a widget for my blog and my Facebook.

IM Client: Adium

If you’re on a PC, I guess I’d use Trillian, or Meebo from the web apps side of the house. Adium is a great way to allow me to span multiple platforms for instant messaging, though I don’t use this form of communication often. It’s just easy to use. Easier still might be Meebo as it’s online.

News Reader: Google Reader

I much prefer Google Reader to any web-based or app-based software for reading multiple blogs and RSS feeds. It’s easy, fast, lightweight, and has lots of features (except, uh, search. WTF, Google?). I love the app and use it to read through hundreds of posts quickly, until I find the ones I want to take a deep dive into.

Listening to the Web: Technorati and Google BlogSearch

I use both Technorati and Google BlogSearch to determine who’s talking about me. I’ve baked all the searches I want about the things that matter to me into RSS feeds, and then dumped them into Google Reader, so that I can know quickly who’s talking about things I might want to jump in and talk back about.

Wiki: PBWiki

There are times when I need a place to store static data, but that I can edit as I might wish, or share with others. I use PBWiki for my wiki of choice. You could probably go through life without needing a wiki, but if you want a lightweight, simple, editable web page, that’s my vote.

Online Document Sharing: Google Docs

I just think that Google Docs has cornered the market on easy-to-use online document sharing. They have spreadsheets and text documents covered. Rumor has it they will be doing presentations online very soon as well. This makes for easy remote working.

Photo Sharing: Flickr

I love Flickr for sharing photos, because it’s got a lot of built-in community tools right there. I think Flickr is horribly underrated, and could be used for much more than simple photo sharing. It’s a fascinating product worth more of your attention.

Presentation Sharing: SlideShare

To see completed presentations online, check out SlideShare. I think it’s a swell application and allows people to interact with slideshows, and makes for a fun way to embed some different content on your blog.

Your Adds

What would you add to this list? What replacements do you offer? Where have I steered you wrong? I’d love your thoughts.

Up next, HOW I use these all to build a platform out of it all, for branding, for building community, etc.

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