Mashable – The Social Media Guide
The real question is, what isn’t interesting about Mashable? As a Social Media addict, this blog quenches my never ending desire to read and learn about social media and technology.
Mashable’s main strength, in my opinion, is its variety of subjects. Whether it is Twitter or Facebook, to Technology and business news, Mashable has an entire 360 degree coverage of the Social Media realm.
Mashable appears to be updated on the minute and on the hour. As news pops up, it is instantly updated. That is another one of the blog’s strengths: timeliness. No one wants stories that 39203920 other blogs have already posted. Two-thumbs up to you, Mashable, for always being on the ball.
Most Mashable articles are overwhelmed with comments. I use the term overwhelmed in a positive sense because it is always good to see different perspectives on the same topic. Everyone have a different outlook, and sometimes reading someone else’s opinion will flip the switch in your own brain.
For a long time I did not know about Mashable. Simply through typing in, “social media blogs” on Google did I end up finding it. However, Mashable is very active on Twitter and Facebook. This allows it’s readers to spread to other social media networks and share news to others.
Gizmodo – The Gadget Guide
Despite loving social media news, I also have a love for technology (since it is the medium we acquire most of our social media news through.) Gizmodo covers all sorts of stories. When the unreleased iPhone 4 was mysteriously found in a bar this past summer, Gizmodo was the first news source on it. I like being up to date on what type of gadgets and gizmos will be coming out, and how they can help me in the future. I find myself emotionally attached to my MacBookPro. Gizmodo covers so many different stories in relation to Apple that it always spark an interest in my Apple-addicted head.
One of Gizmodo’s strengths is the depth of some of the articles. I cannot find any other blog that has such a deep focus on technology and gadgets. I also think the simplicity of Gizmodo (ironic, eh?) is something that makes its website appealing. The articles are easy to read and are not overwhelmed with too much technology jargon.
In terms of updating, Gizmodo is on spot. Like Mashable, it is updated as news comes in and is never behind. As I mentioned earlier about the iPhone 4, this is a perfect demonstration of Gizmodo’s active awareness and timeliness.
I consider Gizmodo the “sister blog” of Mashable. It also attracts lots of viewers and readers. With almost 200,000 Twitter followers, it is bringing in a wide-variety of comments and opinions. This is very important in keeping news updated and circulating.
Like I said about Twitter, Gizmodo reaches a wide audience. On Facebook, the blog is nearing 200,000 “fans.” Again, this open communication through different social networks is important when it comes to acquiring news, information, and stories.
Leave it to the technology/gadget blog to have all these categories covered.
The Anti-Social Media – Satirical Blog
The final blog I chose is a little bit out of my element. While I thouroughly enjoy all the social media news, my sarcastic side loves making fun of it. Listed as one of the top social media blogs of 2011, The Anti-Social Media takes a satirical approach to the ever-growing social media networks.
This blog definitely plays to its strength through the use of funny videos, comments, pictures, and other art forms that mock social media. A lot of the videos and pictures I saw instantly cracked me up, thus hooking me as an active reader.
Unlike the first two, this blog is not updated as frequenty. While it has new posts almost every single day, they are simple, minimal, and usually only once a day. Mashable and Gizmodo has hundreds of articles released daily. However, for this type of “small scale” blog, the minimal updates work well.
In terms of community interaction and circulation, activity for this blog seems average. The stories are retweeted and posted on Facebook a decent amount of times. It does not compare to the mass-sharing of Mashable or Gizmodo, but again, it is fitting for this blog.
Community interaction is definitely great on a site like this because people enjoy the dry, sarcastic humor. A lot of times this leads to sharing with friends and family because of the laughter it brings.
