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I’m not an early adopter of the latest tool. I’ll happily  sit back and wait for the dust to settle before I consider using any new application.

It has been my experience that this is a good practice. Most of what hits the social web usually putters and falls into obscurity.

So when Google Buzz was announced, I didn’t give it much thought.

With any tool that I use, my main objective is:

1. To determine if it provides me value when it comes to sharing and communicating on the social web.
2. To determine if it’s just another way to broadcast my voice. If that’s the case, I probably won’t use it.
3. To be sure it provides value to the people who like what I share and listen to what I have to say. (most important to me)

Recently I’ve been trying to think of a way to share just the articles and resources I come across. I know some people set up a separate Twitter profile for this, but I was curious if there was another way to do this. So I thought about using Buzz. That way my friends who are already connected to me via Gmail can easily grab the information useful to them without having to dig through all my bookmarks or tweets.

I found a Firefox add-on called Buzz it! that works and is useful. It allows you to update your Buzz timeline through your Gmail. The update will include the title and the URL of the page you’re sharing. It also provides the option to edit the update and utilize Bit.ly to shorten your URLs, which I like.

I’ve just started playing with Buzz, so it remains to be seen if this will work.  Like all tools, it’s going to take some investment of time to determine if I’ll want to continue using it. I wrote off Twitter when I first  used it only to find its value the second time around.

Regardless, it’s probably not a good idea to constrain all my engagement to only one tool. Twitter has provided me tons of value and opportunities, but if it disappeared… well, then I’d better be sure I could find an adequate substitute.

Have you found any value using Google Buzz?

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Charity: Water is a great organization, and as an online communicator I’m constantly impressed with the innovative ways they have built a movement in support of clean drinking water for everyone.

In particular, non-profits and charities should pay close attention to their web videos, which are the gold standard in my opinion.  After you watch the video above, it is hard not to be left with an overwhelming desire to walk through a wall for Charity:Water.  Lots of people make great videos, but what makes this one so special is that it almost compels you to take action.

Chat Roulette is a fascinating and bizarre new website that enables visitors to randomly chat with strangers around the world via webcam.  The concept for the site is dead simple – you visit the homepage, click Play, and all of sudden you are dumped into a one on one conversation with a random stranger.  If you are horrified by or bored with your chat partner, you simply click Stop and move on to the next person.

Recently, Chat Roulette has hit the big time, with usage skyrocketing and mainstream media outlets like the Washington Post devoting ink to the site, which launched in November.  I’ve used Chat Roulette a few times now myself, mostly as an experiment, and like everyone else I’m equal parts fascinated and horrified.  While Chat Roulette supposedly bans pornography, you will undoubtedly come across some nudity if you use the site long enough.  You’ll also run into some fringe societal elements, and have great conversations with some interesting people you would never come across otherwise.

The power here is in the randomness of it, and in the connections you can make.  Every time you switch to a new chat partner it is like opening a present.  It may be a horrible present, but it’s still fun to open and see what is there.  In a world where sites like Facebook and LinkedIn force us to build networks and define our relationships, there is a real power in a site like Chat Roulette that allows you to experience life outside your sphere.

I also think it is inevitable that the chat roulette concept will be appropriated.  Why not start a Chat Roulette that connects people around common interests instead of being entirely random?  Maybe cat lovers?   Why not build functionality into your website that allows visitors to enter into random chats with other people visiting the same site at the same time?  There seem to be lots of possibilities to me, and it seems like the concept, if not the Chat Roulette site itself, could be one of the Internet’s next big things.

I could be wrong.  Chat Roulette could be a one hit wonder that fades away after the novelty wears off.  But to me it looks like the creators have happened on a very powerful and useful way for people to connect with each other, which is ultimately what the Internet is all about.

While the Vancouver Olympic games have the attention of TV audiences across the globe, the Twitter-verse’s attention seems to have followed.

As these athletes compete for Olympic gold, competition is also on for sponsorship deals and marketability, and the number of followers for each athlete’s Twitter account is a strong indicator of the athlete’s public popularity. Here are Twitter’s top 10 followed athletes competing for team USA this Olympic season.

1. Shaun White, Snowboarding
    Twitter stream: http://twitter.com/Shaun_White
    Followers: 101,521

    I almost hesitate to include Shaun White, since his latest tweet was in September, but the man has quite a following.

2. Apolo Ohno,  Short Track Speed Skating
    Twitter stream: http://twitter.com/ApoloOhno
    Followers: 79, 618

    Best update: “Next up? 1000m. Imagine the 1500m but more intense, more aggresive tactics, faster speeds, and dare I say it? Crazier? I can't wait. ”

3. Lindsey Vonn, Alpine Skiing
    Twitter stream:  http://twitter.com/lindseyvonn
    Followers:  45,439

    Best update: “I just found out about the Georgian luger who died today my heart goes out to his family and friends. http://bit.ly/9v7ljh”

4. Angela Ruggiero, Ice Hockey
    Twitter stream: http://twitter.com/AngelaRuggiero
    Followers: 37,013

    Best update: ”Just finished practice at UBC arena. Great to have a light skate the day before Russia. Back to the village for some chow.”

5. Steve Mesler, Bobsled
    Twitter stream: http://twitter.com/SteveMesler
    Followers: 27,582

    Best update: “Some free time at the sport peformance center outside the Athletes Village in Whistler yields praise of good http://tweetphoto.com/11407443”

6. Louie Vito, Snowboarding
    Twitter stream: http://twitter.com/louievito
    Followers: 16,749

    Best update: “This is Ridic!!! RT @TelegraphNews Winter Olympics 2010: Japanese snowboarder punished for wearing low-slung trousers http://bit.ly/ciNDFq”

7. Johnny Weir, Figure Skating
    Twitter stream: http://twitter.com/JohnnyGWeir
    Followers: 10,717

    The bio really says it all:  “Figure Skater Fashionista Movie Star”

8. Gretchen Bleiler, Snowboarding
    Twitter stream: http://twitter.com/GretchenBleiler
    Followers: 6,870

    Best update: “Let the Games Begin! Last night's opening ceremonies were amazing! Thanks for all the support tweeps!!“

9. Tanith Belbin, Pairs Figure Skating
    Twitter stream: http://twitter.com/TanithJLB
    Followers: 5,006

    Best update: “Just thought of a plan B to get to B.C. in time!Now, does anyone know where they keep Falkor the dragon from Neverending Story?”

10. Evan Lysacek, Figure Skating
    Twitter stream: http://twitter.com/EvanLysacek
    Followers: 4,680

    Best update: “All of our thoughts and prayers are with Team Georgia and the family of Nodar Kumaritashvili tonight. He'll be marching in spirit.”

Click here for a full list of U.S. athletes on Twitter.

When we last talked about Social Action Networks,  we identified the specific characteristics that define a SAN and what how they differ from an online community.  Today we are going to share the steps you should take before you even start planning what you SAN will look like and what it will do.

So grab a note pad, roll up your sleeves, and get ready to work:

• Think up of a name – This may seem an obvious choice, but take some time to consider the options. Do you want your SAN to have the same name as your main website? Do you want it to stand out on it’s own?
• Grab a few domain names – You might have the best name for your SAN only to find out that domain name has been taken.
• Write up a mission statement – Probably one of the most important elements to your SAN. This should be quick, concise, and sum up what your mission and SAN is about in one or  two sentences.
• Start drafting your SAN guidelines – What about the rules? How will you deal with abusive members? What will you allow and not allow on your community?
• Research – The first step in any social media endeavor is listening, and this holds true with SANs. Take the time to see what people are already talking about. Where are they talking? What are they sharing? What portals are they using? Are they more active on Facebook than anywhere else?
• Engage with active communities – The social web is vast and it should come as no surprise that people are already going to be talking about the very subjects you plan to include in your SAN.  That’s fine. Become part and build relationships with these communities. Taking the time to do this will help when it comes to inviting people to join your SAN.
• Start outlining what your Moderator’s responsibilities will be – if you think you can launch a SAN without some sort of moderation, you’re fooling yourself. It will be imperative to write out the Moderator’s responsibilities and their needs. These can always change, but don’t launch your SAN without doing this vital leg work.
• What promotional plans do you have in the pipeline? – It will be bad to launch you SAN and then start thinking promotion. Do you already have a newsletter? If not start one now, and update readers on the status of your SAN. You might want to consider having just a splash page announcing your SAN with a projected date. Maybe even offer email newsletter sign up to anyone who wants to be invited to a private beta launch.

Come at your Social Action Network from a member’s perspective.

If you were a potential member of your SAN, what would you want to have on it? What content would you like to see? More importantly what would you need to keep you coming back?

It’s great if you SAN has over 500,000 members but if only one third of them are returning, then that isn’t really successful. You need to provide them the opportunity to express their opinions, and be part of the building process. 

Remember, the ultimate goal is to transform your member’s passions into obtainable action.

If you are not in a hurry to launch, then by all means, take your time. If you are up against a deadline , I would suggest do as much homework as you can before launch. It could make all the difference between a SAN that is successful, and one that fails.

In the next post we’ll talk about what solutions are available you can use to actually build your Social Action Network. Stay tuned.

5 Tips for Creating Non-Profit Online Communities

Good article from Mashable that mentions two TBG clients, the Pickens Plan and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, as examples of organizations that are building online communities the right way.

Google’s Tuesday release of Buzz, a new social networking component to its ever-growing suite of web tools, has kept the internet busy with debate over how Buzz will compete with major social network players Twitter and Facebook for users’ correspondence with friends and contacts.

While central discussion surrounds speculation over whether Buzz’s privacy flaws will scare away users or the new product  will cut Facebook’s revenue in half, businesses have also been caught up in the conversation in trying to decide how to make Buzz work for them.

Hours after the tool’s launch, electronic giant Samsung had its Buzz account up and running, promoting trends like “#BUZZwednesday” and pouring out postings of product images. The company quickly reached out to “favorite BUZZers” to try and increase their follower list.

While the corporate world was slow to capitalize on Facebook and Twitter, more recent products such as Foursquare have been quicker to catch corporate attention. Thanks to its functional similarity to existing social networks, Techcrunch anticipates businesses will jump at the chance to build a following on Buzz.

Google’s main advantage – reaching people where they already are – does create a problem for companies, however. First, company’s must create public-facing Google accounts. Second, while anyone can access a company’s public Buzz account, they must have a also Google account to follow your feed, and there is still a significant faction of the U.S. public holding out against creating one.

Another setback is Buzz’s mobile exclusivity – the great location-based mobile platform Buzz has developed is only available on Google’s Adroid smartphone, which isn’t in wide use.

On the positive side, Buzz could have major plusses for general marketing and business to business communications, one critical benefit being Google’s built-in Costumer/Constituent Relations Management (CRM) capabilities.

“Because Google Buzz is a part of Gmail and Google profiles it helps to fill out an individual’s online social graph, including who they communicate on online and what they post,” Social Media B2B reports. “As social graph get more complete it will be easier to integrate data from the social web into CRM systems to provide a new level of relevancy and context for sales teams.”

As for internal use of Google Buzz, the company is reportedly developing a paid-for corporate version of  making use of “higher-end email services,” according to the New York Times. Google is reportedly testing this service in its own corporate structure.

“As an executive, I am able to peer down and see conversations that I could never see before,” said Vic Gundotra, a vice president of engineering at Google, the Times reported. “You find engineers who are sometimes reluctant to copying senior people on e-mails talking in a more relaxed manner.”

If this use of Google Buzz is successful, it could compete with Outlook and Basecamp for internal corporate communication.

Absolute Beginners Guide to Media Monitoring

Hannah Del Porto from our ImpactWatch team provides a great introduction for those looking to set up their own monitoring/measurement programs.