thehustletownchronicle.com » social networking

Google Buzz: Love It or Leave It?

DaVaun Sanders — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 10:50:38 +0000

Google caught many GMail users by surprise this week with the launch of Buzz, a social networking component that claims a right hand link in Gmail under your inbox. Buzz allows users to follow friends and email contacts. It also links to blogs, Twitter, Flickr, and other sites.

At first impression it feels similar to Facebook’s newsfeed, right in your inbox. The concept has potential, but one aggravating aspect we noticed right off is how Buzz will send you emails from itself whenever updates are posted. Check out the link to Lifehacker for a great tutorial on how to remove or hide Buzz.

Hustletown readers: What is your take on Buzz, Love it or Leave it? Let us know in the comments section below!

1stFriday.com Inc. Provides New Networking Site for African Americans

DaVaun Sanders — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:47:33 +0000

1stFriday.com, Inc. announces the launch of “Connections,” touted as “a social and professional networking site spun off the national offline First Fridays phenomenon.” The intention of the site is to create strong online Black communities in local markets across the United States. The Connections platform is driven by technology from Leverage Software Inc.

“We believe that African Americans have unique social and professional information needs – our issues and problems are very area-specific. Connections is the only social and professional networking platform that serves the needs of African Americans at the local level,” said 1stFriday.com CEO Jay Ward.

Connections boasts Geo Social networking tools

Connections is open to everyone, regardless of whether their city hosts an active 1st Friday chapter. According to 1st Friday.com there are now 29 U.S. cities with First Fridays chapters, where African Americans gather to connect. A Connections profile will allow visitors to search for other African Americans with similar personal or professional goals, join groups, or send and receive messages from other Connections members.

“The more people who join and use the Connections network, the more useful it will become for the Black community. That’s our goal,” said Ward.

Hustletown readers: Is Connections poised to become the new Blackplanet.com? If you use this site or plan to, tell us about your experience below!

Five Reasons Not to Abandon Your Blog for Facebook

DaVaun Sanders — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:00:01 +0000

As Facebook continues to dominate social networking, entrepreneurs are relying more and more heavily on Fan Pages to promote their business. According to Entrepreneur columnist Mikal Belicove, it may not be time to drop your blog just yet.

Branding. A Facebook Page poses limitations to attaching your company logo throughout, while a blog gives you more opportunity to leave a lasting impression.
Blog Entries Beat Facebook Notes. Belicove believes notes do not attract as much attention, while blog’s allow for categories, thread post commenting, and SEO.
3rd Party Analytic Tools Run on Blogs. Business owners need to know everything possible about what is driving traffic to their content. Facebook offers “limited visibility” into these key metrics.
Search Engine Optimization. The ability to customize meta data will help your blog achieve higher rankings for search engines, which leads to more website traffic.
Ownership of Content. Your blog content is a business asset. Even though Facebook reversed a decision in its terms of service (the decision allowed the site to keep account info even after a user deletes it) do you really want to have anything less than complete control?

Read Belicove’s full article here.

Hustletown readers, how is Facebook increasing your business? Share your insight.