Social Media Tools

There are numerous social media tools available today for all audiences across the board.  There are so many tools out there with such a variety of capabilities that can make different impacts on its users, it can be hard to pick just a few favorites.  Below are my three choices of social media tools that effectively impacts users and enhances information sharing in different ways.

When it comes to online photo sharing sites, Instagram is probably the newest and most popular one out there, and it also happens to be one of my favorites.  Instagram, just like many other photo sharing sites, allows you to upload, edit, and share photos where you can post them either publically or privately for all of your followers to view, like, or comment on.  You start by choosing a photo you want to upload.  Then you can crop, edit, and pick the perfect filter for your photo.  Next, you can write something about the photo using hashtags, followed by tagging anyone else in the photo and the location the photo was taken.  After that, you even have the option to share this photo with other social media sites, including Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter.  Once you have uploaded the picture, every single one of your followers will have access to it.  This makes not only viewing, but sharing information about what you are doing, what you are interested in, or anything else that is important to you a lot faster and easier.  Photos can be shared with not only your followers, but anyone else in the world who has similar interests as you by simply by using the same hashtags as what are used in your photo.  Below is the link to Oprah Winfrey’s Instagram where you get an inside look into not only what she has been up to but also the things she likes, the people she is close to, and all of the places she has been with one simply click of the mouse!

http://instagram.com/oprah  (Link to Oprah Winfrey’s Instagram)

Another great social media tool I recently become interested in is webcasts.  One great webcast source I have found to be really informative and enjoyable to watch is the Ted Talks.  Ted Talks is a community that covers all topics and worldwide issues from across the globe, where they exchange ideas and knowledge to viewers of all beliefs, cultures, and communities.  Ted Talks is available to stream live conferences, but also always viewers to go back and view new and old Talks on their own time after they originally air on the webcast.  Ted Talks allows audiences easy and convenient access to their videos that cover a variety of current events, important topics, and global issues.  Below is a link to one of my favorite, and definitely entertaining, videos from Ted Talks which shows how effective and important social media sources are to our daily lives and how it can have so much control on everything we do.

http://www.ted.com/talks/gel_gotta_share  (Ted Talks video – Gotta Share! The Musical)

 Pocket, another social media tool that I recently discovered, is a tool that allows social bookmarking.  By using Pocket you can save the link directly to the app or even email the link directly to your Pocket account, and it is then saved in the app for later viewing any time at your convenience.  I really have come to enjoy using this app, because it allows me to bookmark many different sites, like Twitter or Facebook, without having to take up any extra space on my phone.  With Pocket you can save articles, images and videos directly to your account.  You also have the ability to share and send Pocket bookmarks to others, as well as receive bookmarks that have been shared to you.  Below is the link to the Pocket website, where you can easily learn how to bookmark links and share them to others users in a few simple steps!

https://getpocket.com/  (Link to Pocket)