Social Widgets have been popular for a long time.
We have many that track our cookies from one end of cyber space to the next.
New people just tuning into social media may wonder how and where to start. I know it took me ages to figure things out.
First there's the social MyBlogLog widget. It tracks your digital footprints and show your picture when you visit blogs that subscribe to it. Cheeky you say? Maybe. But then sometimes it's nice to let people know you stopped by even though you didn't have any valuable comment to post. I know I appreciate the visit!
Next are what the Active Boys call "outside blogs". Tee hee, we all know Active Rain is the center of the universe yes? Well anyway the outside blogs are those like Wordpress. Ever notice the avatars there sometimes have an actual photo while others are blank?
How's Come They Have a Photo and I Don't?
Well if you want to show up with your picture, all you need to do is register with Wordpress. That would be at 
Wordpress.com (not .org!) When you register here, fill out your profile and upload the photo you would like for your avatar and you are all set!
Email Espionage
That's enough of tracking you, what about tracking people who contact you via email?
OK, admit it. We all know we Google ourselves. Yes, it's true. We will even admit to Googling others, particularly the people who want to do business with us. Well maybe not from the git-go, but eventually a thought crosses our mind and we just have to know!
Well now collecting data from others has just gotten easier!
Chrome users who also use Gmail for their mail client (and why not it's FREE!) will be happy to know about Rapportive. It's a plugin for Gmail users on Chrome
Here's an example of an email I received tonight. I choose it because the person sending it has done an excellent job with her online profiles. OK so she's the "Senior Marketing Direcctor at Metrolist" might have something to do with the fact her profile is not only good, but complete! She sets a very good example for us, so let's copy shall we?
Note how all her information comes across nice and neat.
- Job description
- Twitter @ and her stream of Tweets
- Flickr
- MySpace
If I didn't know Melissa, I could easily investigate her and see what's on her mind of late. What a great way to strike up common ground with a person you want to affiliate with correct?
Now some will say this is an invasion of privacy or spooky or whatever. Take note, all of this information is out there, all Rapportive did was aggregate it for our convenience.
Look it over and let me know what you think. The program was only released just recently and of course like everything new it has a few bugs.
What it's making me think about doing is revamping & updating all my profiles. If I'm going let it all hang out there it might as well look good!
Broker Associate, ABR, CRS, GRI, ePRO, PMN, PNG
The Berkshire Group, REALTORS
3801 E. Florida Ave., Suite 400
Denver, Colorado 80210
720-279-4599 ~ direct 303-953-5362 ~ fax
Selling Colorado Since 1984, Serving the Following Areas:
Oh my -- widgets and gadgets -- it goes on and on -- while some are very good -- some pages load sooo slow because of all the "stuff".
There are an awful lot of widgets and some are pretty awful but most are great tools for business or just having fun. I have to admit I am a widget knid of guy.
It's a jungle out there, and there are a lot of scary creatures, and a lot of fantastic creatures in the jungle. New species of gizmos are being discovered every day.
Great stuff, Kristal - - as always! I've got to check out Mybloglog and Rapportive. They look especially useful.
Thanks for the tips and have a great day!
Mike
Awesome, this is the 3rd time in 3 days folks are talking about Google Chrome.
I am assuming they pull from the Google Profile and all the social networks we have set up there.
I think someone might be telling me to try Google Chrome.
Can I be first to comment on the visually beautiful blog post? A+!
Julie
Hi KK - "Revamping & updating all my profiles" is something we should all be doing quarterly. Rapportive is similar to Xobni for Outlook, correct?
I've been using Google Chrome since the day it came out, and all I can say is that I love every bit of it. The only thing I didn't like was the plugins from Firefox weren't compatible with Chrome. Now, with the new plugin update, I don't see why anyone would use another browser if you have anything to do with online marketing. Great post, I'm going to check out the plugin right now. :)
Thanks for the info on that gmail plugin! I'm definitely going to check that out!
I love Chrome. It seems to function better the IE. Thanks for the tips. Not sure if I can keep up with all the wigdets out there.
Thanks for this information. I have been widget challenged. You've given me a push up the hill!
Thanks Kristal for bringing me into the 21st century!
Thanks for the update in the Rapportive plug in. I use gmail for some of my business and this will help.
Kristal, I knew about Blog Log but hadn't heard about Rapportive. I am off to check it out - thanks!
Thanks Kristal for this post. You just helped me registering for Wordpress and get it off my do-to-list!
Thanks for posting this. I wasn't aware.
What's a widget? :-))
Kristal has the gift of making what seems to be complex easily understandable to the average bear - me included. Thanks!
So much new stuff is still coming out! Wow! It never stops. Glad to hear about Chrome. I have a Wordpress site, but have been stuck at a dead end with it. Can't figure how everybody else puts all that neat stuff on it. Your post was lots of help.
Sarah
My husband was just talking last night about how Google has invaded our online presence and our life. I can't function without Google at this point.
I've got to check this out. Thanks for another great post chocked full of useful information.
Cracking up at Brad's (King of all Widgets) comment!
;-)
Something else for my to do list this weekend. Thanks for posting!
Hi Krystal~ There is no getting around google! Big Brother really is watching! George Orwell was onto something in 1984 .....
Kristal-never met a gadget I didn't like! Been thinking of trying Chrome; so now may have to actually give it a try.
Hi Krystal~ I have been hearing about chrome but have never tried it yet....
Thanks for the info. I can all be overwhelming when there's so much out there!
Thanks for the review. I was unfamiliar with the google/gmail related stuff. Also, I like your social media links. Thery are very original!
the gmail email stalker tool is cool - had no idea - thanks for sharing:)
I may have to go back to Google Chrome. At first I wasn't impressed, so I uninstalled it and moved on. I think it's going to be something I can't avoid...great post!
Hi Kristal -- Thanks, I'm off to check it out. The only thing that remains the same is change at warp speed!
I agree this looks a little spooky, but it also looks very helpful in knowing who's contacting us.
Kristal, thanks for sharing about Rapporative. I confess to not having used Google Chrome, but will give a try! Already on Wordpress and BlogLog...
Kristal, thanks for sharing about Rapportive. I confess to not having used Google Chrome, but will give a try! Already on Wordpress and BlogLog...
OK Kristal - This is just so cool ! Great information indeed. Thanks for sharing
Hello Kristal - thanks for the great post! I was unaware that of the number of resources and tolls available to us. Will need to check it out!
Great post! you nail it on almost everything. keep in mind that Google and Chrome is free but not without a price. they keep track of everything you do and it never goes away. there are other features you can use and they will track it too.
Just a thought. I like the way you think and great posting.
Some cool tips here Kristal.. Thanks very much. I'll look into these shortly.
Big brother is watching!
Jan
Kristal - Another great blog.... Been using mybloglog for quite some time now...I guess I gotta go in and spruce it up a bit... You know spring cleaning and all... Now is a good time to do that if I wasn't so busy with the spring market... thanks for the reminder about all of my digital footprints I have out there... Hi from New Joisey....
Super cool, one more thing I need to add to my "to do" list.
Thank so you much - I am going to download googe chrome now and get an email with them as well :)
Kristal - I guess it's time to get chrome, gmail and rapportive. It's just so hard to keep up with everything, you know. Thanks for sharing.
Kristal,
Hmm, interesting. Something to look into pronto. It is sort of spooky on first read, but then again ...? Maybe?
KK - THis is awesome. You are so good at making things so easy to understand. I have some work to do in this regard.
Jeff
I have been using Chrome on my laptop for quite awhile. Thanks for the tips.
Thanks Kristal! I'll get that set up right now! It's not just about who you know, but who knows or knows of you.
Kristal, I still have issues with MyBlogLog working properly for me. I gave up and resigned myself to being a shadow.
Nice job with your tutorial Krystal. My blog log has to be one of my favorite blogging tools:)
Thank you for the psot today.
Patricia
Very interesting. I have to look into mybloglog.
That is amazing...it begs the question that Facebook has addressed recently about internet privacy...but if you know you are putting that information out there for everyone to see, then I guess the benefits outweigh the possible consequences. Great post.
-Brad-
I have been slow to add the widgets onto my site so I am researching how to do it and came across your blog. Thanks for sharing some options. It sounds like mybloglog was discountinued by Yahoo recently.