5 Really Useful Sites for Social Media Newbies

The great thing about Social Media is that so much of what you need to know can be had for free.

Here are five websites that should be on your list of favorites, bookmarked or saved anyway you know how:

1. Mashable
Without a doubt Mashable is the best place to go every day to see what’s happening in Social Media. But for beginners the site, subtitled "The Social Media Guide," it’s also a storehouse of knowledge on everything from individual platforms to trends in SoMedia. The Mashable Lists and News Channels navigation bars make finding the right stuff a snap.

2. Alltop
Alltop, as it’s About section explains, tries to answer the question "What’s happening?" in "all the topics." And it does this by aggregating content from blogs and other sites. The Social Media collection is exhaustive. The coolest part? Let your cursor hover over a headline for a snippet of the story to pop up before you decide to click.

3. SocialMediaToday
The SocialMediaToday accurately claims to collect "the Web’s best thinkers on Social Media and Web. 2.0." The site features the blogged musings of Social Media, marketing, PR, and media mavens. You’ll also find some of the smartest people in Social Media commenting on the blog posts here. When you’re ready, you too should jump into the conversation.

4. The 'In Plain English' YouTube videos
Le LeFever’s wonderful CommonCraft video channel has countless videos that use simple illustrations, word balloons and a pair of hands to explain almost any Web 2.0 platform or tool "in Plain English." If these wonderfully informative and entertaining videos can’t get through to the most resistant boss or staffer … go work somewhere else!

5. inSocialMedia
The inSocialMedia site is an eclectic series of viewpoints on all things Social Media. The site sums it up: "inSocialMedia is a content mashup of Social Media professionals from experts to enthusiasts. We encourage, educate and have fun building online connections and networking for business." There are blogs, forums and groups for all tastes and needs.

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10 Things To Watch Out For In Social Media
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5 Reasons Social Media Can Be Like Lingerie

Let us count the ways:

1. It is revealing: Whatever you say or show in the social world is out there for all to see. You may feel partially covered (hidden) in Social Media, but just like wearing lingerie that is mostly illusion.

2. Its cut says something about you: Show too little or too much and the world will judge. In Social Media are you fully covered and yet very revealing? Or are you barely covered and still impossible to see through?

3. The way you use it speaks volumes: Do you only get into it (Social Media) once in a while? Does it sometimes make you feel uncomfortable? Perhaps more frequent use can overcome these issues.

4. You probably have a combination of pieces: Social Media offers multiple ways to have “fun” while getting into “trouble” Your challenge is to just “wear” what feels comfortable.

5. It can get you into real trouble: Use Social Media inappropriately and you will get in trouble.

And in a sense the best similarity is that in Social Media (as in lingerie) transparency is a very good thing.

Related posts:
10 Commandments for Social Media
10 Things To Watch Out For In Social Media
10 Social Media No-Nos
5 Steps Before Jumping Into Social Media