How to Use Social Networking Sites

Digg-ing the social life - A Stone Age Guide to Online Social Networking

If you've been wondering what this icon is:

then this post is for you.

Six months ago I thought “social networking” referred to what happens when you make friends with your friends’ friends. Or when your mom embarassingly introduces you to someone you’ve never met as if you should know them because they’re next-door neighbors to Soandso. Networking, right?

As I’ve been getting all geeked up on online social networks like Digg, Delicious and Squidoo, most of my family and friends have remained in the Dark Ages of email and Facebook.

There are a plethora of social networking applications out there, they're hip, they're ADD, and they're here to stay. Let's just say we've never had the attention span of our parents or grandparents, and we're never going to. So you might as well tap into the world of shared videos of post-dentist children and articles on anything from Obama's latest policy to proper zombie-lypse preparation.
These applications make it easy to do the kind of schtick we love to do on Facebook - share pictures, chat, watch conversations...you know, networking. Turns out Facebook even has its own sharing button - you can see it below.


Different social networks specialize in different areas. My favorites are the following:

Digg
If you want to read an article on current events, killer robots or the latest craze in iPhone apps, Digg is the place to go. Posts are reviewed by peers, so if you don't want to sort through a lot of search results, just take a look at what others are saying.

Delicious!
With a weird, inexplicable food twist, this network is similar to Digg but a little bit zanier. Try killer ZOMBIE robots, and Obama playing craps.

StumbleUpon
Great title describing exactly what you do here - see something while cybersurfing that you like? i.e., did you stumble up-on it? Let everyone else know how awesome it is, and check out what awesome things others have found. Videos, blogs, articles, news, you name it.

Technorati
For the slightly more serious surfer, this network is packed with current events, political updates, business articles and popular blog posts. Don't be afraid - nerdiness is SO hot right now.

Reddit
Glip, hip, bizarre and surprising. On any given hour, Reddit's newsfeed might feature posts on gay marriage legislature in Iowa, a Monty Python sketch script and fabulous, angry blog posts like this one: If the pope is right about condoms causing more AIDS by encouraging promiscuity, then I propose that seatbelts cause more deaths by encouraging risky driving.

Facebook
Seriously, I don't have to fill you in on this one, do I? Click on the button, bookmark my site, then do it with a bunch more sites. Voila!

For the uninitiated, here's how it works: each site asks you to create an account to keep track of the bookmarks you post - they accumulate, you develop a "portfolio" which you can reference anytime you want to. Others can see what you've tagged and vice versa. Digg does this thing where it compares your "likeness" to other Diggers by comparing your bookmarks'. Make friends. Watch news. Read silly stories. All available now, 100% digital.

So go on. Do it. Try them out, and bookmark my site first!