Aggregation sites are extremely valuable when it comes to managing social media, and this is not shocking news. The development of these sites is actually just common sense. ¹According to The Social Skinny, in 2012, 62% of adults worldwide use social media. (source: http://thesocialskinny.com/99-new-social-media-stats-for-2012/). So, basically, 6 out of 10 adults who have access to the internet use social media site regularly.
Someone, somewhere observed that out of the people who do use social media, typically, manage more than one social media site, and therefore could benefit from managing them all in one place. I am one of those people who has several different platforms that I check into regularly. It was absolutely apparent after clicking back and forth and back and forth that posting the same things in different places was not very efficient. That is when I discovered HootSuite.
HootSuite is a productive way to manage different social media sites in a simple easy to use way. The sites that can be utilized on HootSuite are; Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ Pages, FourSquare, Myspace, WordPress, Mixi, plus several apps. My favorite HootSuite feature is the timed posts. This allows me to be away from my computer all day and still keep my pages active!
I am an avid HootSuite user, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other options… Curious to see what else was out there I went on a search for what else was out there.
Flavors.Me is a new to me aggregator that allows you to create a social website to build upon your digital identity. It ultimately acts as a place where people can find all of you in one place online. This site offers Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr, Vimeo, LinkedIn and more. Personally, I like aggregators that are one-sided, keeping me in one place but dispersing my content for others to choose which platform to view it on. However, my views may change once I get more accustomed to the tool.
RebelMouse was highly suggested by classmates, so I didn’t want to leave this one out. I had never heard of RebelMouse before, and quickly signed up after reading all the hype. Rebel mouse includes Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, Flickr and Google+ on your “Social Front Page.” RebelMouse is set up in a Pin Board type fashion, yet I feel slightly less organized in this site. I will say that it showcases visual posts in a very modern fashion.
I am still on the hunt for the best aggregator, but for my purposes, the simple HootSuite interface is all I need.
1. Pring C. 99 New Social Media Stats for 2012 [Internet]. 2012 May. [Cited 2013 March 12] Available from: http://thesocialskinny.com/99-new-social-media-stats-for-2012/
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What is your favorite aggregation site?