Social Software: Applications & Sites that Make Me Giddy

While social software is usually associated with web technologies, I personally don’t know why any collaborative software, social technology or conversational technology would not be included in the definition. In any case, a handful of these technologies have become necessities in my daily activities.

Because networking and organizing take up so much of my time, the tools that help me best accomplish those tasks are some of my favorite tools. After doing the assessment of my favorite tools, it struck me how I liked desktop applications for their stability & speed in particular for managing all of the information others are sharing with me. Web applications, conversely, were preferred when I either wanted to access new information outside of my local environment and when I wanted to publish information out for the consumption by others. Here’s my quick list of 5 favorite social software applications/sites:

#5 Xobni

It doesn’t do a lot that Microsoft or Google search doesn’t do for me, but I love the interface layers, it’s got fast search functionality, and it makes me look like a collectible card. Xobni (’inbox’ spelled backwards) recently turned down a $20MM bid by Microsoft, afraid they’d be just a function in Outlook - which is probably correct. Upside: helps me manage my email, especially finding file attachments, so it has a big impact on my productivity. Downside: it’s another network that needs to be managed, initial analytics are surface level and do I really care to socialize around my email communications? Some, I guess.

#4 LinkedIn

When business is about relationships, LinkedIn is a must. There’s definitely room to improve search functionality and help identify degrees of separation faster. I really like www.theyrule.net. Go ‘open’ and offer LinkedIn developer tools and let the community build it? Profile building capabilities could use improvement as well, by the by. Although LinkedIn is #4 on my list, I think something like Xobni, because it sits in the inbox, could have some advantages in business social networking.

#3 WordPress

Anyone should be able to figure out how to publish information to the web via a one of the major personal publishing platforms. I like WordPress, obviously. Faster than you can google Wikipedia - if you have basic web knowledge you can publish information to the web. I’m curious to see how extensible existing platforms become and what offering Microsoft makes in the category.

#2 Microsoft Outlook

I’ve never gotten into web-based mail. I get too nervous about losing emails that I always build in word when using something like WordPress or Email. I recognize this as an unfounded fear, since new versions of Gmail autosave and provide great mobile capabilities. I also recognize the advantages and disadvantages of desktop versus web based applications.

Gmail automatically saves drafts while you work.

#1 Microsoft OneNote

This was a tough one. But right now I’m going to have to go with Microsoft OneNote. For what I do, organization is key and it helps me organize better than anything else I’ve tried. I just wish it didn’t have so many problems with formatting and data dragging. One might argue against OneNote being a social software application - but with click to email capabilities and sharing, I think it makes the grade.

OneNote gives me the flexibility I need but needs to be more interoperable with other core Office products, not to mention with itself.

Honorable Mentions:

Other applications that would make my Top 10 List:

• Microsoft Visio
• Facebook
• Yelp!
• Twitter
• FeedBurner