An Bui, Spelled An With 1 N

I say this because I’ve added yet another social media application - Tumblr. Do I really need another? No, not really. But do I love me some Tumblr? Yes, yes really. Why?

I can send pictures from my phone to a special Tumblr email and get the pictures online easily. I can import tweets from Twitter. I can quickly post little quotes, and even regular blog posts.

Lately, social networking applications seem to be moving towards cross-posting functionality. I can Jott to my Twitter and have the tweet sent to my Tumblr. I’ve already written about Twhirl’s auto updates to Jaiku and Pownce. I’ve also used TwitterSync to sync my Facebook status messages and Twitter.

As I let myself get so super obnoxiously busy, this functionality is becoming more important for effectively managing social media use. Of course, much of the fun of social media is the social aspect. Join Whrrl, become part of my friend network, and let’s meet up for coffee, at one of the top shops in Seattle.

Imagining the plethora of information available on the internets and my inability to know what’s out there coupled with my desire to surface new ideas and information can lead me to ask myself: “So An, where to start?”

One of my favorite things about the web is the element of discovery, of stumbling upon an interesting or helpful website that I didn’t even know existed relevant to a topic that intrigues me. So while I’m a little late to the party (StumbleUpon’s been around for a few years), I find StumbleUpon keeps the online interesting for me.

StumbleUpon differs from most other search engines is a people-driven technology. It gives you a more personalized web browsing experience and takes you directly to websites that are relevant to your personal interests and preferences. By providing a community-based surfing experience, StumbleUpon provides you with interaction opportunities with other like-minded users that share your same interests. Now I’ve joined 4.5 million others in discovering new sites.

StumbleUpon takes you to new places and new adventures, something you’d appreciate if you were tired of the same old sites you frequent when procrastinating. StumbleUpon “predicts” what you’d be interested in and takes your browsing data to eventually lead you to discover killer new sites.

In addition to the discovery aspect of StumbleUpon, another benefit includes web site submission to allow others to rate your site. This could possible increase your site’s visibility on the web, and StumbleUpon can also be used as a medium for building traffic on your website. It’s a social media tool that allows you to receive feedback from the community. Put the “social” in social media, even when you’re randomly browsing.

Tonight I left the office earlier than I normally would have - my best friend with whom I haven’t spoken in ages called me. Maintaining a bi-coastal relationship is a challenging proposition, even though it’s of the non-romantic variety. She called right at 5pm, Pacific time, since theoretically I’d be on my way out the door and it’s a reasonable time in the Eastern time zone for a worknight.

Long story short, I didn’t get to talk with her as long as I wanted and during my walk home, I remembered quite a few things I’d like to accomplish before the end of the week. What’s a girl to do without pen and paper?

Call Jott.

I dialed, I used Jott to send myself a reminder, and I felt no anxiety about my ability to remember the action items on which I placed importance. Quite the opposite, actually.

In today’s crazy busy world, I appreciate having social media tools such as Jott that buy me a moment’s sense of calm accomplishment.

Today I received a message from Doug Haslam that made me do a double take:

My yelp of excitement at the news (as well as the salivating all over my laptop) prompted a friend of mine (let’s call him Social Media Stupid, or SMS) to ask “What’s Jaiku? Pownce? Are those new things?”

As I tripped all over myself to try and explain those microblogging applications as well as Twitter, he asked me “Don’t you have a blogroll or a homepage or something that links all of your online social media activities?”

An blushed.

SMS said: “You know you could make one really quickly and it’ll take you 2 seconds.”

Well, maybe more like 4 seconds because I need to get all of my accounts together and organized – hence the loving on Blist.

I may be young, hip, and social media savvy, but I can always learn something from someone.

Thanks Social Media Stupid - You’re not stupid at all.