Share socially across the Web
Sharing content across the Internet isn't so simple. Usually, people upload the same content to multiple pages. But that doesn't mean you're required to do it that way. There are some great tools on the Web that will help you either keep all your social content in one place or syndicate it to all your social-networking profiles. Let's take a look.
Share your content
FriendFeed FriendFeed is one of the best ways to share your social life on the Web. The service allows you to add a slew of social network profiles to your FriendFeed account. Whenever a person starts following your feed on the site, he or she will see all updates you make across those social networks.
From updates to your Netflix queue to a look at what you're up to on Facebook, FriendFeed will allow you to share anything with all your friends. FriendFeed is the site for you if you want keep people abreast of what's going on in your life. And since they can comment on your updates, you can have a real dialog about all sorts of interesting topics.
FriendFeed is a great site for sharing your social life.
(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)Genwi Genwi uses what it calls "newspapers" to help you stay connected with friends. You won't be able to send content to your social networks, but you can put all your social network information into one place, making it easier for folks to find what you're up to.
Genwi lists several social networks that you can get content from, including Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr. You can also add content from your blog and YouTube. Overall, there are more than 20 ways to add content to your Genwi newspaper.
Genwi lets you add content from your favorite social networks.
(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)HelloTxt HelloTxt is a great service that will allow you to update your social network status from the site. Simply sign up, input your message, and you can pick which social networks you want to update. You can update your status on Twitter, Facebook, Bebo, Plurk, and others. Even better, you can do that from the site, via e-mail, or through SMS.
HelloTxt lets you pick which site to update.
(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)Lifestream Like FriendFeed, Lifestream helps you put all your social content into one place for friends to check out. It works well.
After you sign up for Lifestream, you can add social content from sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Netflix. The service then displays all the updates you've made in the social networks you've added to your profile. It should make you happy if you're looking for an alternative to FriendFeed. But beware that FriendFeed is the superior service, we think.
Lifestream will help you share content from your social networks with friends.
(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)Multiply Multiply shares content in two ways. You'll not only have the opportunity to add content from Flickr, Picasa, and other services, but you can post that content both on your Multiply profile, as well as your Facebook and Twitter spaces.
Multiply lets you upload content from your computer or add it from other sites on the Web. You also have the option of syndicating those items to Facebook and Twitter. It would have been nice to have other options, but since I use those two social networks the most, it wasn't too much of a problem. Overall, I liked Multiply. It worked well and it was convenient.
Mutliply lets you add content to Facebook and Twitter.
(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)Ping.fm Ping.fm is a great site. Instead of simply bringing all your content into one place, the site lets you add all your social networks and update them directly from Ping.fm.
After you sign up, you can add a bevy of services to your Ping profile. You can add your Twitter stream, your FriendFeed, and updates from Facebook. You can even add your Bebo profile. I was really impressed by the selection Ping.fm provided. When you're ready to update your status, you can simply input a message and choose which social network you want to update. It's a great service.
Ping.fm has several social networks to include in your profile.
(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)ShoZu ShoZu is a service that allows you to share content from your phone or desktop with your friends on Facebook, your followers on Twitter, or your friends on YouTube. Simply record a video or snap a photo on your phone and you can easily upload it to ShoZu and syndicate it to your social network profiles. ShoZu lets you upload content via SMS, e-mail, or an app that you can download onto supported phones. It works on the iPhone and a variety of other devices, but unfortunately, ShoZu is only available on the BlackBerry Curve and the BlackBerry Pearl.
ShoZu needs better phone support.
(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)My top 3
1. Multiply: If you're really looking to share social content across the Web, Multiply is a great place to start.
2. FriendFeed: FriendFeed is a great site. With so much content at your fingertips, it's worth using.
3. Ping.fm With so many options, Ping.fm is worth considering.
Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
Might be slightly less user-friendly than Ping.fm, but also slightly more powerful.
- by barefootmeg July 30, 2009 5:32 PM PDT
- I prefer Multiply to Friendfeed because, while my friends might prefer spreading their content out throughout the internet (using blogger, flickr, youtube, etc. -- each for a different kind of content), I don't. With Multiply all of my stuff is located in one place. And since many of my friends use Facebook as their content aggregater, I can push my posts in front of their faces without my ever having to step foot in Facebook if I don't want to.
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