My interview with Twylah Co-Founder Kelly Kim

There’s no shortage of services that take content from the Twitter firehose and present it in a different way. But one caught my eye recently, because it’s doing something I’d always hoped a really good RSS aggregator would do: track topics. Nobody ever built the RSS topic tracker that I’d dreamed about. It’s not a technical problem, more of a demand one. As you all know, the Web has evolved over the past 5-10 years into a very social tool. People prefer to follow (= track) people, more so than follow topics.

However, perhaps the time for topic trackers has come – given the ever growing problem of information overload in the Social Web. Twylah is thinking along those lines and has served up a pretty good (beta) solution. (via Read, Write, Web)

Last week, I participated in my first #fiercechat, through which I “met” some very smart, interesting people.

The focus of last week’s chat was Twylah – a site that offers magazine-style Twitter branding pages to showcase the topics you’re most interested in.

The site’s founders, husband and wife Eric and Kelly Kim,  participated in the chat to offer advice on how to use the site to increase engagement while showcasing one’s personal brand.

“Everyone has Klout, but influence has Kred” – @jkcallas

“We need to raise the bar on what we accept as online influence.”

This seemed to be the overall sentiment on both Twitter and by the developers of Kred, a new site rolling out next week, which seeks to measure influence in “a more realistic way.”

“Kred is the latest product from social data mining startup PeopleBrowsr. “We have been receiving the firehose since 2008,” says CEO Jodee Rich, referring to the full Twitter firehose, “indexing it since then. We have sorted it by community and topic. We look for small close networks of people and look for how they can be just as influential as rockstars.” (via TechCrunch)

I was able to watch the site’s launch live on UStream last night (what I could hear of it) and it sounds very promising.

Creating Community for the Cause: Katie Midgley (originally from @36Memphis)

This post originally appeared in my 36 Percent blog, however, since that blog is currently “under construction,” I thought I would post it here as well because it is about nonprofits and social media. 

---

Many researchers have referred to social media as a community building tool (see end of post for reference list).

For non-profits, this affords them with an economical and effective way to advocate their cause, while engaging those interested in their cause in meaningful conversation and producing tangible changes throughout society.

In a series of posts entitled “Creating Community for the Cause,” the 36 Percent Project will be highlighting those who use social media to, simply put, do good.

The purpose is to educate activists, non-profits, groups, and organizations who are looking to get social on how to be an influential voice within the new media ecosystem. I also want to know from those who read 36 Percent what type of content they would like to see.

First up is Katie Midgley from the Urban Child Institute in Memphis, Tennessee.

How to be a social media strategist [Infographic]

Mashable created this amazing infographic for those looking to make social media a part of their careers.

“Looking to break into a social media career? Here’s pretty much everything you need to know about the job and the people who do it every day. Nearly 80% of corporations use social media, so there’s plenty of opportunity for aspiring strategists — especially as the other 20% get on board …

Want to know if you’re cut out for it? In the infographic below, you’ll see the personality traits, education, career paths and responsibilities of today’s successful social media strategists. Statistics were pulled from LinkedIn data, job listings for positions in the field, and a report by Jeremiah Owyang of Altimeter Group.”

My top 5 public awareness spots

Public awareness campaigns can be difficult, but if done properly can have a major impact.

With so many distractions in the web 2.0 age, it is important to keep them short and to-the-point, but still include the emotionally gripping elements that make for good campaign spots.

Here are a few that I think mastered this feat.

10 reasons why you should be on Klout (now)

We believe that every person who creates content online has influence. Our goal is to understand what they are influential about and who they are influencing. (via Klout)

---

Many of my Twitter friends have not yet joined Klout, so I thought I would present a case for why those who have not joined the site should do so today.

Joining the nonprofit community (for newbies like me)

Since I am going to be working in the nonprofit field, I want to start becoming more engaged with the nonprofit community online.

I have to admit, I feel a little bit like the new kid at school. But, the best way to engage is to just jump right in.

So that is what I’m doing. Whether you are going into the nonprofit industry or into another field, there are bits here that you can apply to your own strategy.

Here’s mine.