Top Social Media Sites

Top Social Media Sites

Everyone has their own personal favorites — sites they turn to to say up-to-date on what’s new, what’s working, and data about how social media is being used.  Here are my favorites, but you’re welcome to add a few of your own:

• Social Media Examiner
• Problogger
• Mashable Social Media
• Social Media Today
• Chris Brogan
• Guy Kawasaki (Alltop)
• Brian Solis
• Convince and Convert
• Marketing Pilgram
• Mari Smith
• AllFacebook
• B2B
• Constant Contact
• The Next Web
• RazorFish
• ReadWriteWeb
• Hubspot
• MarketingProfs
• MarketingSherpa
• DuckTape Marketing
• Maxblog Press

A caveat, these are NOT in any particular order and my apologies if I’ve missed any of my favorites.  I’ve provided this list to help others out there trying to learn or stay up-to-date on social media marketing developments — there are SO many sites out there, it helps to have a friend to guide you to the ones that provide consistent value. 

Some of these sites are specialized, focused on Facebook, for instance, while others are broader.  Some are only focused on marketing in social media, others, like this blog, are positioned at the intersection of marketing and social media.  Some, like Brian Solis, focus on a particular aspect of marketing, while others are broader, such as Marketing Profs.  Its nice to have some diversity.

My advice is to become a Fan of these sites or Follow them on Twitter, since most will push their posts to their Facebook fanpage and Tweet them.  I also use them in the right sidebar of RockMelt (which I absolutely adore — if you need an invitation to RockMelt, the social media browser, let me know).  This saves a lot of time and allows you to easily scan new posts and read those you think might be valuable.  Rockmelt even lets you tag a URL to go back and read the post later.

I also recommend bookmarking posts you find important and be sure to tag them so you can find them later when you need information on a particular topic.  This is so much more efficient than doing a Google search every time you need some advice and reduces the time wasted going to sites that have little value.

What top social media sites have I forgotten?

Would anyone like to take a stab at categorizing my list?

What are your top social media sites?

How do you stay current on social media strategies?