Open Networkers

"There seems to be no end to companies saying they offer real time search these days. And no end to people quoting how Google itself says it wants to improve in the area. But what does real time search really mean? This article offers some definitions and focuses on players in the space." - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"Back in March, I talked about how you can cleanly separate personal and work social media personalities, and suggested a list of tools that I use to make sure I don't blur the two. But as I talk with companies getting started in the big world of social media, one thing that keeps becoming clear to me is that they need to be using Gmail as the communication hub for their strategy. By using Gmail, companies can centralize all social media-related communication, make it available to third-party vendors who may be participating, and easily integrate with other Google tools." - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"It's been an exciting nine months since we launched the Google Chrome browser. Already, over 30 million people use it regularly. We designed Google Chrome for people who live on the web — searching for information, checking email, catching up on the news, shopping or just staying in touch with friends. However, the operating systems that browsers run on were designed in an era where there was no web. So today, we're announcing a new project that's a natural extension of Google Chrome — the Google Chrome Operating System. It's our attempt to re-think what operating systems should be. Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. Because we're already talking to partners about the project, and we'll soon be working with the open source community, we wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve." - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"A little over five years ago, sites like Typepad, Blogger and WordPress dazzled by empowering anyone to instantaneously share his or her thoughts with the world; My how times change. Today, however, in a world where thousands of status updates and tweets whiz by our screens every hour, blogging arguably feels slow. So is blogging dead? It depends on who you ask. After all, TMZ and Mashable are blogs and they’re doing quite well. However, it’s definitely time for a closer examination of the blog – where it sits today and where it’s going." - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"While I believe that for many people today learning is work, and work is learning, I have edited this version to reflect the Enterprise 2.0 context as opposed to a learning context. "Today’s networked era requires a new way to make investment decisions that incorporates intangible assets and more accurately depicts how value is created." - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"The mounting buzz around short-form blogging sites Posterous and Tumblr puts a new spin on the blogs v twitter debate; a third way. It's got me thinking that rather than killing each other, or even co-existing, social networking sites and blogs are actually coming together and making mid-length social blog babies. Metaphorically I mean, there's no business deal or sex involved anywhere." - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"Scott Berkun just posted a great rant titled, Calling Bullshit on Social Media. I suggest everyone read it. Berkun raises good points - and I agree the hype around social media warrants taking a critical look. Despite being in general agreement, there are a few areas I can't abide, starting with this statement: social media is a stupid term. Is there any anti-social media out there? Of course not. All media, by definition, is social in some way." - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"It was a comment from Zoë and a title of a blog post from Chris Brogan that made me ask the question. Twitter can be tiring and pointless noise, and social media can be a bunch of chores, if the intent does not match the intention. If your involvement is not engagement, then what happens to the outcomes?" - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"My good friend, Aaron Kahlow, posed an interesting question during the Online Marketing Summit yesterday afternoon in Portland, OR. Aaron asked: If a client came to you with $1 million to invest in a single Internet marketing channel, which one would you choose?" - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"Spending too much time reading friends’ Tweets? Only got 5 mins and you’d need an hour to get through em all? No worries: you can now speed-read your way through your Tweet reading with Twitter For Busy People, a new interface for Twitter created by the team at Bluejava. The idea is that you can skim all the people you’re following and see the latest tweet from each." - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"While Web 2.0 and social media tools provide great opportunities for businesses from a branding and marketing point of view, there are also a raft of other opportunities which are easily overlooked. The very same benefits that can be achieved through your social media efforts can also be applied across your enterprise – from employees to partners, vendors and even shareholders. Sounds great, right? But let me tell you a little secret. This sort of social media (and almost every aspect of social media) is just not sexy. It doesn’t have the glitz and glamour or even the spotlights of advertising; and there’s not the breathtaking scale of large format outdoor advertising. But if you can get past this, you will find that your social media efforts really will transform your business." - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"Aardvark’s social search service has been allowing beta users to invite friends since March. But if you don’t already know someone on the service, you’ve had to wait in line. That wait ends today, though, at least for Facebook users. You can now create an account via Facebook Connect and start using the service." - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"Social media marketing is making strong inroads in the corporate world, but understanding how to do it properly without making painful mistakes, remains, for most companies out there, one of the greatest marketing challenges to overcome. What is it that corporate institutions must do or avoid to overcome the typical hurdles, fears and mistakes that are met when they first try to adopt a social media marketing strategy?" - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"Most users have no time to browse through thousands of resources, read (often obscure) forums, and search for best tools to accomplish a certain task. That’s why here at Mashable (Mashable reviews) we’ve long held the belief that collections of various online resources are real time-savers for our readers. The folks at Firefox (Firefox reviews) seem to be on the same page, and thus they introduced a new feature: Firefox Add-on collections. Let’s say you want to interact with the various social networks directly from Firefox. You can try out the different plugins one by one, but now you can also install an entire Firefox collection of add-ons called the Social Circuit, which contains 16 social add-ons." - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"Social media has changed the paradigm of how people consume online media. But how do you measure social media effectiveness, when social media becomes an instrument for marketing, PR and promotion? Are there advertising metrics for social media marketing and promotion?" - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"Greetter helps you to share Photos,Videos and Texts to Twitter. You can tag people in these photos and link to their twitter page. You can view and comment on other photos and Videos. You don't have to create a new account with Greetter. You can login with your existing Twitter account." - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"In this article, web strategist George Benckenstein explains in very simple, non-technical words, what marketing experts and businessmen have failed to understand about the real value of social media for companies and institutions. Social media is NOT a mean to deliver a superior experience to customers. That's the wrong way to look at it. Social media is simply a mean to get things done. The essence of social media is in the group, the network of people which lies behind it. Well, these people are the best and most effective marketing agents you will ever find. You have made a great new product? Give it out. Let people test it, give you feedback, criticism. That's what social media are for." - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"If you're anything like me, you are constantly creating social data. From your blog posts and your tweets, your photos and videos, bookmarks and status updates, you are creating new information, big and small. You might do so in spurts, or you might be creating new content throughout the day. But with so many different social networks out there, and friends scattered here, there and everywhere, there's always the potential you're not sending the right data to the right place. But if you start by knowing where your data is flowing now, you can make minor adjustments along the way to get the recipe right." - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"Making the world's knowledge computable Today's Wolfram|Alpha is the first step in an ambitious, long-term project to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable by anyone." - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"These days, the job search is happening 24/7, and it’s important to arm yourself with tools that can help provide you with an advantage. You can create a social media resume, connect with recruiters on Twitter, and if you have an iPhone, there are several useful applications you can use to track job listings and networking opportunities on the go." - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"While the social web has been a fantastic place for nonprofits to harness the long tail of giving with movements like Twestival and the Case Foundation’s Giving Challenge, high dollar donor cultivation has not been prevalent. The goal of our Community Philanthropy 2.0 survey one month ago was to determine whether there is potential for nonprofits to cultivate significant donors online (defined as someone who gives $1,000 or more), and how that can be accomplished." - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"How to use Twitter and other networks to get ahead" - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"What was once a Mashable exclusive feature may now be available to every blog using the Disqus commenting system. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Social Media Reactions! (See Mashable’s post for an in-depth review: Mashable, Disqus, and UberVU Launch Social Media Comments.) Hat tip to Wayne Sutton for the tip off!" - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"Thanks to its extensibility, Firefox quickly became the favorite browser for most power users. But while extensions are a great way to make Firefox more functional, Mozilla's designers are also currently thinking about a complete redesign of the way the browser looks and feels, in order to keep up with changing usage patterns. The most radical proposal we have seen so far would do away with the standard browser tabs, and replace them with an interface that looks more like iTunes than Firefox." - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"Now more than ever, company marketers are charged with improving performance with fewer resources and shifting marketing budgets from traditional to digital tactics like SEO and social media. There are significant benefits from combining search engine optimization and social media marketing tactics ranging from increased social network discovery via search to the ability to attract links for improved SEO. Making the most out of combining SEO insights with social media marketing tactics can be accomplished with a roadmap that identifies the audience you’re after, the goals you’re trying to reach (and can measure) as well as a strategy that sets the stage for the tactics you’ll use to execute your game plan. Read on to get a better understanding of how SEO and social media complement each other and a step by step guide for creating a social media roadmap." - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"Tara Hunt is a name that means a lot to Social Media experts but enterprise marketers should be familiar with her earlier attempts at promoting a new form of marketing philosophy entitled Pinko Marketing, the aim of which was to prolong the work that had been initiated by the cluetrain manifesto team at the end of the 1990’s. Beside her involvement in Barcamp and the coworking project, the San Francisco-based Canadian online marketer has got back to writing a new book The Whuffie Factor," - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"Inside this Media Literacy Digest: * Community Information Hubs - Finding relevant information about a local community is challenging in a sea of global information. * How Social Media Is Changing College Admission - Instead of marketing to 100,000 students at once (mainstream media model) they now focus on connecting to groups of 10-20. * Visualization and Search - Searching and finding useful information really shouldn’t be as difficult as it is today. * Technology as Philosophy - Technology is a philosophy and we MUST understand what it embodies, discuss its future impact, and explore what we are becoming. * LearnTrends - Jay Cross hosted a 24-hour learn-a-thon this week. * Pay Attention! - ...attention is a skill that must be learned, shaped, practiced; this skill must evolve if we are to evolve. * Rough Week for Higher Education - Established institutions like higher education are increasingly targeted as bloated, inefficient, and thoroughly corrupt." - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"If you are an Internet user and are concerned about future control and regulation of your ability to freely access your preferred content and services online, no matter where you live it is now the time for you to stop and understand what the European Parliament is about to pass in the coming days unless you and I do something about it." - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet

"Growing your social network. So many are obsessed with it. It’s fun to watch our numbers grow and to get all that attention. But for those of us that rely on it for business, we must be constructive, targeted, and effective about how we approach social networking. That’s because a well built social network becomes a fantastic channel for personal and business promotions. I delved into more than 80 stories of people who have effectively grown their social network either in great numbers or strategically within their industry. What follows are ten successful network growing techniques and the 12 inspiring stories of the people who made them happen." - Evgeni Leshtanski from Bookmarklet