This week’s tip goes beyond mere blogging and into the world of online social networking. You know…Facebook, MySpace, StumbleUpon, Ning, Twitter (a personal favorite), Plurk, etc.

Coming from one of our own, Jenn’s Other Blog tells you - in four easy steps - how to get popular in the Web 2.0 world:

1. Choose a name.

This is the name you’re going to use everywhere online, so choose wisely. You can use your own name, of course, but if you have safety and privacy concerns, you may want to choose a pseudonym. I recommend choosing a name that sounds like a real name (i.e., has a first and last name, like “Jenn Sierra”), so that you’ll also be able to use it on sites like Facebook and Linked-In. Alternatively, some social networkers choose a name that reflects their online interests or political stance (e.g., Foeammer, or bamapachyderm)…

2. Get a free e-mail account using your new name.

This can be done through a plethora of e-mail services like g-mail, yahoo, hotmail, etc.. Don’t use your internet service provider (like AOL, or Cox), because if you change providers, you’ll lose your e-mail address. Begin developing a list of contacts and networking with those contacts by e-mail whenever possible.

3. Choose an avatar.

This is the little picture that will be beside your username nearly everywhere. Choose one you like…it should be a square, and save it to your harddrive or photosharing site in a few different sizes, from 50×50 pixels to about 400×400 pixels.


4. Join social networking sites, using your new e-mail address, avatar, and name.

On the more established networks like Facebook and StumblUpon, use the friend-finder feature which checks your e-mail address books for friends that are already using the social networking sites. This helps you develop a friends-list quickly…

Join networks as you discover them. You will be more active on some networks than others. On some, you’ll simply be reserving your username, but on a few, you’ll be actively developing online networking relationships by participating in voting on articles and especially in the discussions.

As Jenn states, “there you go - you have a Web 2.0 presence. Take care of it.” Firstly though, USE IT! Hopefully, for liberty. To see the post in its entirety, click here.