Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a Twitter tool. But it’s not just for Twitter. You can link Hootsuite with Facebook, LinkedIn, and other sites as well. It allows you to pre-schedule your Tweets or updates hours, days, or months ahead of time. There is a team collaboration aspect of Hootsuite; it allows multiple people to use the Dashboard without sharing user names and passwords of all the different sites. Don’t forget your mobile devices! Hootsuite is also available in mobile applications and schedule updates from anywhere. You can create reports in over 30 different formats for clients using Google Analytics and Facebook Insights. Hootsuite is also linked with Ow.ly. Ow.ly allows for shortened links to be displayed that track click-thrus. Hootsuite is RSS capable as well. Hootsuite is also very customizable and provides a very secure profile so companies can feel safe using it.

When I interned at a radio station over the summer they used Hootsuite every day. It was useful because the Facebook and Twitter accounts can still be updated even if the person on the air doesn’t have time to do it or doesn’t really know how. Even as we were on location airing live the Facebook account was kept up. Daily Tweets or updates could be done in advanced and you could monitor people who mention you in their Tweets and you can also see what the people you follow Tweet. It is all your social media sites on one site and saves you from bouncing from site to site.

Internet safety and your digital footprint

Whether you know it, want it, or like it people are searching for you via the web. People try to track down family heritages or people looking for old classmates may be looking for you. If you "Google" yourself and track your digital footprint you may be surprised of the information that is out there about you. What can you do about it? Well you can use false and/or different identities. Use privacy restrictions that websites have to offer. Limit what you put out there, sometimes if you know someone is watching you (like your boss) you may be more conscience of what you post. Create a "public personae" that you feel comfortable sharing with the world. If you think someone is sharing your information you can "un-friend" or block them from seeing your profile. When you search yourself you may find that some information you didn't post or control. Some personal information can also be available for purchase from certain sites. What can you do about that? Well, you can request that the site take down the information. The more you track your digital footprint the more you can control it.