'Net Features : tumblr

Flickr Gives Users Space

Allison Howen — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:21:00 GMT

Although Yahoo has been in the news this week because of its billion dollar acquisition of Tumblr, the company has also revealed some big changes to its photo-sharing service Flickr.

The most noteworthy update is that Flickr is now offering its users a free terabyte of space. This is huge, as the Flickr blog states, “We believe you should share all your images in full resolution, so life’s moments can be relived in their original quality. No limited pixels, no cramped formats, no memories that fall flat. We’re giving your photos room to breathe, and you the space to upload a dizzying number of photos and videos, for free. Just how big is a terabyte? Well, you could take a photo every hour for forty years without filling one.”

In addition to a free terabyte of space, Flickr has unveiled a redesigned platform. The new interactive design features an Activity Feed that displays a combination of the recent activity on a user’s photos with their friends’ updates. Plus, users can add a customizable cover photo and high-resolution profile picture to their Photostream, as well as leverage the platform’s new Slideshare mode to view a showcase of photos.

It is also important to mention that users can now upload 1080p HD quality videos that are up to three minutes in length. Moreover, the photo-sharing site has added to its mobile application offering, which already includes an iOS app, by launching an Android app that allows users to interact, share and view photos.

That being said, only time will tell if a terabyte of space and new design will be enough to attract more photographers to the site – and along with the aquisition of Tumblr, more people back to Yahoo in the long run.

Yahoo! Acquires Tumblr in Billion Dollar Data Play

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:45:00 GMT

News broke over the weekend that Yahoo! would acquire blogging platform Tumblr for approximately $1.1 billion.

Many in the business and technology industry believe the acquisition is a smart one for Yahoo! (but it has its detractors too). Tumblr now has more than 300 million monthly unique visitors and 120,000 signups every day. It's not just those raw numbers however, but likely the engagement metrics that Yahoo! was most interested in tapping into.

Tumblr sees in excess of 900 posts per second and 24 billion minutes are spent on the site each month. But it gets even better from the perspective of Yahoo, who has its sights set clearly on mobile, as more than half of Tumblr’s users are using the platform's mobile app and do an average of 7 sessions per day.

The deal offers interesting opportunities for both companies. Tumblr will be able to deploy Yahoo!’s personalization technology and search infrastructure to help users discover creators, curators, and content and Tumblr in turn will bring 50 billion blog posts (and 75 million more arriving each day) to Yahoo!’s media network and search experiences. Expect the two companies to start working on creating advertising opportunities immediately.

Reports from early this morning indicate that Yahoo-Tumblr will have advertising on the network as early as 2014. Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer revealed that she doesn't care if Tumblr visitors don't visit Yahoo!, which indicates (at least to me) that, thanks to Yahoo's aggressive behavioral marketing and personalization efforts, this may be more about acquiring an audience (advertising inventory) to leverage its relatively robust advertising technology.

If you're not on Tumblr yet, you may want to check out Website Magazine's 5 Tips for Taking Over Tumblr.

5 Tips for Taking Over Tumblr

Michael Garrity — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 19:30:00 GMT

While Facebook and Twitter were racking up hundreds of millions of users apiece, many of whom are largely inactive on the social networks, the microblogging site Tumblr was slowly accumulating its own large and much more dedicated user base.

Smart companies, particularly content providers looking for another channel on which they can share their work, are already jumping onboard the Tumblr bandwagon and trying to leverage the site’s inherent shareability and young, tech-savvy users to help organically expand their audience and generate some viral buzz.

Of course, Tumblr can be just as useful for online merchants, as well, giving them a chance to show off their products on the site and introduce them to interested users who may not have heard of them otherwise. Since Tumblr is such an image-heavy site, merchants can display their products, include descriptions on their blogs (and automatically on their followers’ dashboards) and then link back to their online stores or specific product pages to continue the sale.

If you’re not on Tumblr yet, you should be. But just starting a blog isn’t enough to guarantee success (just ask, uh, thousands of people); so, here are five important tips that will help you master Tumblr from the get-go.

Find Followers
The first thing you have to do on Tumblr is find followers. These are the users who will automatically see your posts appear on their dashboards without having to search tags or go directly to your blog. Also, in theory, these are people who follow your blog because they’re interested in your content (or products), meaning they represent an outline of your target audience on the website.

Normally, the best way to build a list of followers is to search for and start following blogs in your niche that look interesting. You can find them by clicking on the “Find blog” tab on the right-hand side of your dashboard, and then filtering by category to look at “Spotlight” blogs. Or, you can search for specific tags or blog names in the search bar at the top of the dashboard to look for people posting content related to your industry, and then follow the blogs that appear in the results.

Tag Like a Fiend
There is absolutely no better way to get your content found on Tumblr than by just tagging posts with appropriate tags (e.g. descriptors), so that when other users search for those keywords, your posts will appear in the results. This will help people find your content and, consequently, your Tumblr blog, as well. Once people find your posts on the site, they will be able to like them, reblog them to show their own followers, click any links included in the post or visit and even follow your blog. The more tags you use, the more likely it is that a variety of different users will find your posts.

Reblog, But Be Smart
Reblogging the posts of other users is a great way to add more content to your own blog (especially when you’re just starting out) and capture the attention of the user’s your reblogging from, which is a great way to network on the site. However, just be sure that you don’t reblog so much that it overshadows your own original content or posts.

Ask and Answer
The golden rule of social media is to be social, and that remains true on Tumblr just as much as it does Facebook, Twitter and Google+. To do this, don’t be afraid to interact with blogs you’re interested in by just going to their “Ask Box” and submitting a question, comment or compliment. In addition, try your best to respond to any Ask Box or “fan mail” messages that you may receive, to ensure that you keep in contact with your followers, and anyone else who reads your blog.

Another fun trick is to ask a question in a text post or the caption section of an image or video post. Ending the post with a question mark brings up a box on the bottom left-hand side of the post editor that asks if you want to let people answer it. Checking the box enables comments, and anyone who reads your post on their dashboard will be able to respond.

Queue It Up
If you’re posting a lot of content over a few days, you can set up the posts in your queue to publish automatically, whether you’re online, at a baseball game or fast asleep. Simply create the post like you normally would, and then in the drop-down menu next to the “Publish” button, select “Publish on…” and set the exact date and time that you want the post to go up. Once you have some future posts set, a “Queue” tab will appear on your dashboard (under the “Followers” tab), and in there you can see your upcoming posts, and rearrange them using the up and down arrows on the upper-left-hand corner of each post.

Bonus: Add Text to Image Posts
Yes, people love pictures on Tumblr, and images are far more likely to go viral than text posts probably 99 percent of the time (not a scientifically verified number). But just posting a picture, while potentially viral on Tumblr, limits the chances of other people finding it on the Internet, such as through search engines. So, get a little meta and add a brief description that summarizes the contents of the picture in the caption area. Even if it’s just one or two words, it will still give the search engines an idea of what they’re looking at.

4 Creative Ways to Use Tumblr for Business

Administrator — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 16:15:00 GMT

By Amie Marse, Content Equals Money

Tumblr is becoming an increasingly important space for getting your brand noticed. Although you may have built a social media presence on influential sites like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, Tumblr is still a valuable addition to your social media strategy. Particularly for small businesses, Tumblr offers an inexpensive way to build a custom domain.

Why is Tumblr different from other social sites? While Facebook may act as a place to keep up with friends and LinkedIn connects you to colleagues, Tumblr is completely focused on public self-expression. Tumblr pages include an amalgam of photographs, videos, songs, cartoons, jokes, quotes and questions. Businesses can use these tools to express the ideas that drive the brand on a deeper level.

Making your brand stand out on Tumblr is a tough marketing issue. With more than 86 million pages, visitors to Tumblr are bombarded with a never-ending stream of possibilities, so making your page immediately memorable is crucial. Attitude and edginess are key qualities on the Tumblr pages that enjoy raging success. In order to achieve popularity on Tumblr, your company must develop a strategic plan that is entirely focused on reaching your Tumblr goals.

As a part of this plan, you must consider what kind of site you wish to present. Choosing a niche as well as a creative philosophy is an enormous part of developing your company’s reputation on Tumblr. Businesses employ a number of fascinating strategies to make their Tumblr pages stand out. Four of the creative blog styles that seem to be favored by businesses are offering instruction, focusing on multimedia, engaging visually and presenting customer discounts.

Instructional Posts

Although much of Tumblr is devoted to visual imagery, many businesses have developed ways to engage the intellect of viewers. Tumblr creates a space where businesses can blend images and text to present helpful information.

One example of a company that effectively incorporates instructional posts into their Tumblr page is Dark Rye, which is the online magazine run by Whole Foods Market. Although a grocery store seems like a strange business to have a presence on Tumblr, Dark Rye proves that Tumblr is a highly efficient way to communicate with consumers and offer practical tips on how to use the goods they purchase at Whole Foods. Dark Rye’s Tumblr is a blend of recipes, posts about organic foods, inspirational photos, and instructions on practical skills like starting a campfire.

Multimedia Blogs

Many businesses expand on the visual focus of Tumblr by incorporating elements of audio and video. These components form an extra level of engagement with viewers. One company that is especially successful in converting its brand to Tumblr-form through multimedia is Fresh Air, one of NPR’s popular radio shows. Since Tumblr is such a visual medium, it seems counter-intuitive that a purely audio form of communication could transform into a Tumblr page, but Fresh Air delivers a refreshingly intellectual form of Tumblr. Fresh Air offers visitors a collection of images, videos, and short text to illustrate recent shows, as well as short teaser audio clips.

Visually Oriented Pages

Since images are the prime currency of Tumblr, fashion brands tend to do particularly well in Tumblr format. However, simply posting photos is not enough to get attention on Tumblr. Fashion companies that present a creative twist along with their images are remarkably popular. For instance, ModCloth utilizes a Tumblr theme that allows visitors to customize the page they are viewing. Another example comes from Elle Magazine. Elle uses stunning photos and insightful captions to present the latest trends and fashion moments. A notably unusual page is that of the Oscar PR Girl, which features the behind-the-scenes musings and inspiration of a young woman working in the PR department of the famous fashion house.

Discount Sites

Certain companies have begun to utilize the potential of Tumblr as a source for spreading the news of their discounts and coupons. The most successful example of this tactic is Kmart. Its Tumblr page is solely devoted to sharing current coupons and discounts, allowing visitors to the site a quick way to assess the current offerings.

Whatever strategy you choose for your company, the most important aspect is to develop a plan that demonstrates why your brand is unique.

About the Author

Amie Marse, is the founder and managing partner of Content Equals Money, a content writing service for agencies and Web-based clients.

Pinfluencer Gets a New Name and Social E-Commerce Product

Michael Garrity — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 17:15:00 GMT

Pinfluencer literally made a name for itself by providing marketing and return-on-investment (ROI) analytics to brand’s using the Pinterest social network. However, as the company begins to move away from only using information from Pinterest and Facebook to incorporating image-based sites like Twitter, Tumblr and Polyvore into its platform, it felt like maybe a name-change was in order.

From now on, Pinfluencer will be known as Piqora, a marketing suite that will include analytics, promotions, content management and even social e-commerce.

“We have changed our name to Piqora, because it is an elegant blend of piquing one’s curiosity and inquiry about products,” explained the company’s CEO, Sharad Verma. “The new name also implies pictures and the IQ lends itself to deep analysis. This encompasses the essence of what we do.”

As mentioned, the new moniker isn’t the only big news to come from Piqora; the company is also launching a new social e-commerce product for brands on Pinterest and Facebook known as Gallery, a tablet-optimized and automated visual feed of a company’s current stock and top trending products on social media. Not only will this establish a social commerce experience for consumers, but (more importantly), it helps marketers turn their social traffic into conversions.

Since Pinterest is such a visual discovery experience that promotes browsing, pinning and purchases, it seemed like a natural choice to the folks at Piqora that they should find a way to turn these users into customers. Naturally, the best way to do that is by offering visually compelling product options on channels like Pinterest and Facebook. The Gallery landing pages for Pinterest-driven traffic promote on-site product browsing, pinning and purchases.

“Our new Gallery product gives brands a way to nurture their discovery traffic from social networks and tablet users,” said Verma, adding that it can also “showcase what is most popular and offer customers a rich, boutique-type browsing experience.”

In addition, Piqora will also monitor the social “pinning” activity on Facebook and Pinterst and examine search queries, traffic and purchase data from Google Analytics, Omniture and Coremetrics.

12 Effective Corporate Blog Designs

Michael Garrity — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:35:00 GMT

In the age of likes, retweets and shares, content marketing has suddenly become the best way to spread the word about your brand to bring in new customers and rack up conversions.

However, since social media has its limitations, in terms of both branding and the type of content that companies can offer, many businesses have taken to blogging to provide insightful and valuable information to their customers, while also producing likeable and sharable content that can benefit their SEO efforts.

Look, plenty has already been written about how blogs can improve a brand’s content marketing campaigns or increase leads, but we’re here to be a little more superficial than that. While content is undoubtedly and absolutely the most important aspect of a valuable, successful blog, it’s not the only thing that matters. After all, we’ve all heard about the effect that a good (or bad) first impression can have on new consumers. That’s why all of that great content on your blog should look nice, as well.

If you’re in need of some inspiration, we’ve compiled this list of 12 of the most effective corporate blog designs on the Web. Each of them takes a different approach; some are design-heavy and visually striking (e.g. Whole Foods, Southwest), while others take a simpler, less bold approach that is more in line with what the brand offers (e.g. LinkedIn, Bigelow Tea).

Which designs are your favorites? Let us know in the comments section, or share some other great corporate blogs that you know about!

Bigelow Tea Blog

The Official LinkedIn Blog

7Gen Blog by Seventh Generation

eBay inc. Ink

Disney Parks Blog

Whole Story by Whole Foods

The Cleanest Line by Patagonia

Nuts About Southwest

The Dropbox Blog

All Songs Considered by NPR

TOMS

Ice Cream Journal by Turkey Hill Dairy

Tumblr Tumbles into Top U.S. Sites

Allison Howen — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 17:30:00 GMT

Tumblr isn’t just for teens anymore.

In fact, Tumblr recently announced in a blog post that an audience of 168 million people has pushed the social network into the ninth spot of Quantcast’s top ten U.S. Websites.

The social blogging site, which was launched in 2007, is most popular amongst the 18-24-year-old demographic. However, many top brands have already taken advantage of this network’s popularity and solidified a presence on the site, including apparel retailers Macy’s and Urban Outfitters and content publishers Time Magazine and The Onion.

Obsessed with Klout?

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 30 May 2012 18:00:00 GMT

Over the past few weeks, I have been obsessed with Klout. No, not clout, but Klout — the Web-based measurement service that gauges just how influential a person really is in the social sphere of the ’Net.

My interest in Klout, by all accounts, had been mild up until now. But my score has gone through the virtual roof in recent weeks, fueling this obsession. That rise was not caused by my incredibly witty tweets, nor was it due to my numerous and strangely compelling Facebook updates. Neither was it because I’ve quickly managed to build an inordinate number of new connections through LinkedIn, Tumblr or Google+.

No, the real reason that my Klout has increased is a simple one. I actually — finally — connected my social accounts to the system. For several months or longer, I had lingered around a wildly depressing and uninspired Klout score of 12. Okay, it was actually 11 — but who’s counting?

Knowing in my virtual heart of hearts that I was, in fact, more influential than that forced me to submit myself fully and completely to the Klout system, throwing my digital hat in the ring to see how I truly measured up. As you might imagine, connecting all your accounts — revealing all of your connections to the world — can do wonders in terms of boosting your credibility with Klout.

My number jumped to a far more respectable score of 56. And there was another benefit — a far more important one.

Editor's note: you can follow Website Magazine Editor-in-Chief Pete Prestipino on Twitter, Facebook and even Google+.

In the few weeks since my raging Klout obsession began, I have posted more frequently to Facebook (doing so at both peak and off times — hint, hint) and now I engage with the status updates of others more often, liking and, more importantly, commenting on what is shared by my friends and followers. Even though some of them, by the way, have ridiculously low Klout scores.

I have reintroduced myself to Twitter (although, I must admit, my hectic schedule is not always tweetfriendly), and now I make a genuine effort to retweet what I believe my own followers would find interesting or entertaining. I try to balance that with a few interesting highlights from my own life — both personal and professional, of course — along with my newfound commitment to using the platform as a way to complain or congratulate other people and companies for a job well done.

But that’s not all. Google+, the social network I once thought was good only for shoring up search results positions, has also seen an influx of activity from me — as have both my LinkedIn and Tumblr profiles. I have to admit, I’ve gained more from these networks than I ever thought possible in the form of new friendships as well as exposure to ideas and information.

Needless to say, my increased participation has been well worth the investment of time. But I’m not done yet — not by a long shot.

As I have become more focused on engaging in activities that I likely should have been doing all along, my Klout score has slowly — very slowly, actually — inched upward. Who would have thought that by committing to more and deeper social connections you can develop and increase your Klout (and clout)?

Make no mistake; I know that true “reach” and “influence” is nearly impossible to measure. I have seen firsthand where those with incredibly high Klout scores in the 70- and 80-point range couldn’t influence me to drink a glass of lemonade on a hot day. But for me, my Klout score is less about others and more about me — what I can become, what I want to become, what I will become.

I check my Klout score every morning — sometimes even before I get out of bed. It is now a constant reminder for me that what we are is not what we will become.

It requires a commitment to increase your Klout score as much as it does to improve you life. But in the end, the commitment is worth it.

If only for the perks.

Tumblr Reaching Out with Chat Widget

Michael Garrity — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:00:00 GMT

It just got easier to communicate with users on the Tumblr microblogging platform, thanks to a new integration with Chatwing.

Tumblr's recent surge in popularity is often referenced in conjunction with its supposed limitations, namely that it appeals to a younger audience and that only its visual content is likely to go viral. The latter assumption leads many marketers to believe that the site is lacking when compared to other social networks such as Google+, Facebook and Twitter in terms of fan engagement.

While that may not necessarily be true, it has caused some established brands to hesitate before migrating to Tumblr. But the new Chatwing partnership will introduce a website chat widget to Tumblr that adds an element of communication that never existed before.

Chatwing has been integrated with Facebook for some time now, and has greatly improved the communication experience for many global companies. Now Tumblr users will also be able to add the chat box to their blogs and quickly share and receive information from their followers to expand their social horizons.

The latest version of the Chatwing tool is available to Tumblr users, including a filter for “indecent” words and a greater selection of emoticons and avatar displays.

Microblogging Site Tumbling into Ad Sales

Allison Howen — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 18:00:00 GMT

The popular microblogging site Tumblr will start selling advertising space next month.

The blogging site’s CEO David Karp made the announcement at the Ad Age Digital Conference in New York. The announcement was somewhat surprising because back in 2010 Karp had very publicly said that the company was “Pretty opposed to advertising.”

Although there are still uncertainties about how these ads will work, they will reportedly be featured on Tumblr’s radar service and advertisers will be able to start purchasing ad space starting on May 2nd.

With social media proven to be a valuable advertising option for marketers, opening up Tumblr as an advertising platform may just be what the company needs to take it to the next level.

Analyze Tumblr's 50 Million New Posts Per Day

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:00:00 GMT

Social data provider Gnip has announced a partnership with Tumblr where they will have full access to the publishing platform's firehose - the full feed of Tumblr's 50 million new posts each day - and making the information available for business analysis.

Tumblr, which is growing rapidly and a company that I believe is the next major acquisition target (we're looking at you Facebook now that Twitter snapped up Posterous), currently receives over 15 billion monthly pageviews - that's a lot of data. Couple that with other data that reveals that Tumblr is only second to Facebook is social engagement and we start to see the value in this partnership.

"Our goal is to be the single source of record for all public conversations online," said Chris Moody, President and COO of Gnip. "As one of the most vibrant online communities in the world, there's an enormous amount of public conversation taking place on Tumblr. We're thrilled to be able to make this available for the first time."

Tumblr join several other noteworthy Web and technology companies including Twitter, WordPress, Disqus, IntenseDebate, StockTwits and Newsgator in partnering with Gnip to make their public data available for analysis.

Tumblr Second Only to Facebook in Social Engagement

Linc Wonham — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Is your brand on Tumblr yet? If not, maybe it should be.

A recent comScore report shows that Tumblr's incredible growth during 2011 has given it a strong foothold in the world of social media. It turns out that the microblogging site ranks second among all social networks in terms of user engagement and how much time is spent on site. Only Facebook keeps its users on site longer.

Social media is all about networking and shared interests, which plays directly into the strengths of the Tumblr format. Tumblr promotes and allows for anonymous content-sharing and doesn't require users to divulge any personal information on their profiles.

Tumblr seems to be positioning itself as a very distinct alternative to Facebook, and this could greatly benefit the social network in the future, as evidenced by the fact that its numbers continue to grow at a steady pace.

While brand adoption of the platform has been lukewarm to say the least, it would seem that if users are starting to spend more time on Tumblr than other social networks – most notably Twitter and Google Plus – then we may start seeing more brands establishing their presence on the site.

Social Sharing in 2011 via AddThis

Pete Prestipino — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:30:00 GMT

Who is the winner of the social sharing wars? Well, Facebook of course. That's what indicated in data released today by ClearSpring Technologies, makers of the popular AddThis sharing platform.

AddThis is really the perfect platform to help understand social sharing trends. The tool is currently used on 11 million domains and see 1.2 billion uniques a month. So who are the top sharing services?

Facebook makes up 52.1 percent of sharing on the Web, followed by Twitter at 13.5 percent. Both Twitter and Tumblr are growing however with 576 percent and nearly 1300 percent growth for the two social sites respectively.

Some other highlights from the study:

- Stumbleupon creates a "viral lift" of 320 percent
- Google +1 grew 373 percent by has platuead
- Sharing on Digg and MySpace declined by 47 percent and 56 percent respectively

SEO: The International Language of Success

Mike Phillips — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 19:00:00 GMT

If there's one characteristic that all cultures share it's the quest for information. So, it should come as no surprise that the most heavily trafficked websites across the world are search engines. Whether your business is one of providing information (such as a news site or blog), a service provider (software or app developer) or e-commerce (selling tangible products), it is important to appeal to searchers and the search engines by capitalizing on the information that people want. This means finding trending topics and searching for the right keywords -- whether for use in blog post titles, social media updates, or marketing and advertising copy.

As Web professionals we have great opportunities in international markets, as the Web has few borders. In addition to standard keyword research as it applies to your industry, addressing those topics of interest to audiences worldwide can place your brand in front of potential consumers across the world. With that in mind, below you will find a few websites where the world goes for information. These are valuable resources for finding what's buzzing on the Web and the information people care about. With this information, we can craft our content and products to relate to anyone, anywhere.

Use these resources to find possible keywords, content ideas and inspiration for expanding your business across borders. Each of these websites provides information relating to world news and politics, finance, entertainment and sports, and more. When crafting content, remember that searchers are not just looking for text -- videos and photos are among the most visited sources of content online, worldwide.

Twitter.com: Alexa Rank 9

Twitter is one of the most popular websites in the world and provides an excellent opportunity to find the most current worldwide trends. Take advantage of the "Trends" option that can be sorted by country and region.

Percent of site traffic
US 36.8%
Japan 10.4%
India 6.1%
China 5.1%
UK 4.2%

Regional Alexa Traffic Ranks
Nigeria (80)
US (98)
Canada (110)
Japan (131)
UK (145)
South Africa (151)
Egypt (161)
Venezuela (171)
Australia (196)
Italy (222)

BBC.co.uk: Alexa Rank 40

The BBC does an outstanding job of covering world news. Of course, most of the traffic comes from the UK but the BBC also attracts audiences from all over the world.

Percent of site traffic
UK 34.1%
US 15.7%
India 4.7%
Canada 2.5%
Japan 2.3%

Regional Alexa Traffic Ranks
UK (5)
Ireland (12)
Nigeria (13)
Pakistan (16)
United Arab Emirates (18)
South Africa (20)
Finland (22)
Canada (33)
Australia (34)
Sweden (36)

CNN.com: Alexa Rank 48

CNN is most widely used in the United States and Canada but spans across other countries as well. The CNN International edition is handy. CNN's Facebook integration can show what those in your network find interesting.

Percent of site traffic
US 61%
Canada 3.8%
India 3.0%
Japan 2.3%
UK 2.1%

Regional Alexa Traffic Ranks
US (16)
Canada (22)
Nigeria (35)
South Africa (36)
Philippines (39)
Malaysia (56)
Netherlands (65)
South Korea (67)
Thailand (68)
Australia (71)

Reddit.com: Alexa Rank 143

While Reddit is decidedly bent toward the offbeat and humorous side of the Web, it does provide many sortable categories (such as world news, politics and technology) that can be useful for finding trending topics. Reddit also has a sizable international audience.

Percent of site traffic
US 46.2%
India 12.2%
UK 5.0%
Canada 4.8%
Pakistan 3.1%

Regional Alexa Traffic Ranks
Pakistan (51)
US (54)
Canada (54)
UK (94)
Philippines (102)
India (103)
Australia (113)
Romania (129)
South Africa (158)
Bangladesh (184)

Reuters.com: Alexa Rank 220

Reuters is another news site that provides many different editions, accessible through an easy-to-use drop-down menu. Choose a section then use a translation tool to discover what's trending in that particular part of the world.

Percent of site traffic
US 36.8%
Japan 10.4%
India 6.1%
China 5.1%
UK 4.2%

Regional Alexa Traffic Ranks
Nigeria (80)
US (98)
Canada (110)
Japan (131)
UK (145)
South Africa (151)
Egypt (161)
Venezuela (171)
Australia (196)
Italy (222)

Finally, if you have time for some browsing and/or blogging, don't forget about Blogger.com (Alexa Rank 7) and Tumblr.com (Alexa Rank 59). It can be difficult to drill down to find what you want in these sites but they are both extremely popular with the international community. Also, while not yet as respected as sources of content by search engines, they provide some opportunities to network and to get content in front of a very large and diverse audience. Setting up blogs through either of these sites is very easy and practiced by some very large media properties, including The Economist.

Blogger.com: Alexa Rank 7

Percent of site traffic
US 19.5%
India 10.0%
Brazil 5.6%
Indonesia 5.1%
Spain 3.6%

Regional Alexa Traffic Ranks
Indonesia (4)
Malaysia (4)
Bangladesh (4)
Greece (5)
Nigeria (5)
India (6)
Spain (6)
Pakistan (6)
Philippines (6)
Venezuela (6)

Tumblr.com: Alexa Rank 59

Percent of site traffic
US 36.1%
Japan 6.0%
UK 5.0%
Brazil 4.4%
India 4.0%

Regional Alexa Traffic Ranks
Philippines (13)
Singapore (26)
US (32)
UK (37)
Canada (37)
Brazil (41)
Chile (42)
Mexico (45)
Australia (45)
Venezuela (49)

ShareThis Social Tool Gets Big Update

Mike Phillips — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 14:59:00 GMT

ShareThis, the popular social sharing widget, has released an update that is currently in beta. The biggest upgrade is the ability for users to share a page's content to more than one destination simultaneously. With a single click, users can share your content via email, Facebook, Twitter, Stumbleupon, Tumblr, LinkedIn and more. This added convenience for the user could be significant - anything that makes content sharing easier should also be on publishers' radars.

Also included in the update is the ability for users to share content without ever leaving your website and the incorporation of custom themes and colors. In the works are updated plugins for Wordpress, Blogger and Typepad. ShareThis claims nearly one million websites use the tool.

You can see an example of the new widget functionality below, and vist the ShareThis website for more details and to test it out.