Get Busy Sharing, Or Get Busy Dyin'

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 06 May 2008 21:32:00 GMT

So you've got page after page of amazing products/content, right? You probably also have a few of those widgets to help users share that content with their friends and colleagues, be it through email or across social networks. It is your responsibility (the Web professionals) to help users share information with others. The benefits are that your message, product, etc. gets additional reach into an audience that by all accounts is qualified as it comes from a trusted counterpart - their friends.

There are many services which facilitate this sharing - ShareThis being perhaps the most popular currently. Another which is making the rounds of the Web this week is Siphs - a Web-based service which enables its users to share and tag any and all Web pages at your site. It's perfect for template-driven websites such as WordPress but it can work with pretty much anything if you don't mind some tweaking.

Siphs works very well - I've tried a few similar services which always seem to be buggy at best. When a visitor clicks the Siphs "Share" link, they are directed to an intermediary page with different sharing options (email, social networks such as Digg, Facebook, Twitter, Stumbleupon, etc.). For the Feedburner folks in the house, there is also a FeedFlare - you can see it on action on the Website Magazine Feedburner XML page (just look for the 'Email this' link at the end of each post).

So what's all this sharing going to cost you? There is a free version of Siphs (which is what Website Magazine is using) that enables you to do some decent branding and receive some helpful reports. If you want to take it up a notch, the upgraded plans (between $100 and $200) are very reasonable for the functionality you'll get.

Time to Start Mixxing

Mike Phillips — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:51:00 GMT

Social news aggregator and Digg competitor Mixx.com has announced the launch of their API, allowing developers to get their hands dirty creating new applications. And that means more attention and more traffic for Mixx and those who leverage the site to their advantage.

The API will allow items to be viewed, submitted and commented on from any other site across the Web. Already, The New York Times and Los Angeles Times includes buttons on stories to submit to Mixx and many other large media sites are beginning to follow suit.

Mixx does not see anywhere near the traffic as Digg, but a look at some data shows they are playing a mean game of catch-up. Compete shows traffic booming - soon after launch, in September 2007 Mixx saw about 30,000 unique visitors, compared to over 180,000 in March 2008. In short, quick innovation, fast uptake and the attention of top developers should be enough to convince anyone to start using Mixx in their marketing plans.

'Net Features : sociall

Get Busy Sharing, Or Get Busy Dyin'

Time to Start Mixxing