Managing friendships is complicated, right? Relationships on Twitter are just like dating because if you don't write, call, meet in real life or interact in one way or another then the relationship dies. This article will talk about backing up your social networks, managing a database of your relationships, and a wish-list for a database software as a service.
The Problem: Social Networks like Facebook and Twitter Crash and Fail... A Lot.
Currently our friendships are managed online by social networks in a delicate web of confusion. We all know these networks, like Twitter, are more then prone to fail wails and major crashes.
The Solution: Back up your Social Media Data BEFORE the Network Crashes.
How to Back up Facebook...
So what if Twitter went out of service, was hacked or some how lost all your data? This is where a back up comes in handy. Backupify is a service that will allow you to backup multiple networks like Twitter, Wordpress, Facebook, Delicious, Basecamp, Google Docs, GMail, Zoho, Flickr, Photobucket and more.
How to Backup for Twitter...
If you are not interested in Backupify.com you may also want to check out the following Twitter Backup services:
Social Networks may come and go but how do you keep your friends and data forever?
Social networks are like interactive phone books with photos and extensive details of your friends' lives that are updated in real time. Unfortunately some of these phone books end up being unsuccessful, when that happens they go the way of Pownce. Pownce was a social network created by Kevin Rose that acted like a micro-blog, aggregator and so much more. Unfortunately Pownce didn't get the type of traction Kevin Rose and the team had hoped for so they warned Pownce's loyal followers and then one day took the site down. The point is any social network could one day disappear along with any data you saved on it.
How to Organize your Social Media Data.
Backing up your online data is only one step in managing your online and offline information or friendships. The next step is to start a database that properly organizes your data so that you can search through it quickly, take notes, and even quantify your social media usage.
You can do so many things with a database and the right CRM, but it takes man hours. I'm going to start this by showing you a list of resources I've already experimented with and then tell you what I want.
A list of CRMs, resources and social databases:
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The Problem: Social Networks like Facebook and Twitter Crash and Fail... A Lot.
Currently our friendships are managed online by social networks in a delicate web of confusion. We all know these networks, like Twitter, are more then prone to fail wails and major crashes.
The Solution: Back up your Social Media Data BEFORE the Network Crashes.
How to Back up Facebook...
So what if Twitter went out of service, was hacked or some how lost all your data? This is where a back up comes in handy. Backupify is a service that will allow you to backup multiple networks like Twitter, Wordpress, Facebook, Delicious, Basecamp, Google Docs, GMail, Zoho, Flickr, Photobucket and more.
How to Backup for Twitter...
If you are not interested in Backupify.com you may also want to check out the following Twitter Backup services:
- TweetBackup.com
- Tweetake.com
- TwitterBackup.com
- FriendBackup.com
- TwitterSafe.com
- OR TweetCrunch's handy XML Twitter backup method:
- Found this handy tip to backup your friends and followers if you are worried about the whale stealing them again.
- Put http://twitter.com/statuses/followers.xml in your address bar of your browser
- Save this page in your browser and read it as an XML file, with for example excel. If you have a lot of followers then use http://twitter.com/statuses/followers.xml?page=2 and so on.
- For your friends use the same process with this link http://twitter.com/statuses/friends.xml
Social Networks may come and go but how do you keep your friends and data forever?
Social networks are like interactive phone books with photos and extensive details of your friends' lives that are updated in real time. Unfortunately some of these phone books end up being unsuccessful, when that happens they go the way of Pownce. Pownce was a social network created by Kevin Rose that acted like a micro-blog, aggregator and so much more. Unfortunately Pownce didn't get the type of traction Kevin Rose and the team had hoped for so they warned Pownce's loyal followers and then one day took the site down. The point is any social network could one day disappear along with any data you saved on it.
How to Organize your Social Media Data.
Backing up your online data is only one step in managing your online and offline information or friendships. The next step is to start a database that properly organizes your data so that you can search through it quickly, take notes, and even quantify your social media usage.
- Step one is to pull all that information offline. Store it and back it up (again). Remember you should back up everything three times:
- Online, on your desk top, a hard drive, server, and/or dropbox {full disclosure my dropbox link is a friend referral link: drob box'll give you and me 250 MB of bonus space (up to a limit of 3 GB) just for using this link instead of signing up on your own! I'm not getting paid for you clicking on it, and frankly I've already capped out at the grandfathered in max of 5 GBs.} .
- More on backing up in these articles:
- A spreadsheet can be a great start, but if you are not very tech savvy consider using the free tools already available to you. If you are a Mac user you can also import this data into your Address Book and sync with an iPhone + GMail. PC users can use their Outlook Address Book and sync with their Blackberry or iPhone.
- Dealing with duplicate data can always be a problem, but excel and Mac Address Book will let you search and merge this type of information fairly easily. This article will teach you how to do that: How to Merge Duplicate Data in Mac Address Book: A 5 Step Process.
- You may also want to check out BatchBook for managing your relationships. "BatchBook allows you to keep track of your business, personal, and social networking contacts and share them with the rest of your team. You can create a flexible, easy-to-use contact database from scratch, or import your contacts from an existing system. In addition to standard contact information, you can use SuperTags to create custom fields you’ve added yourself to capture the information that’s important to you (such as customer information, personal details, or social networking profiles)."
You can do so many things with a database and the right CRM, but it takes man hours. I'm going to start this by showing you a list of resources I've already experimented with and then tell you what I want.
A list of CRMs, resources and social databases:
- Freshbooks.com is actually invoicing software, but their API and integration with other tools is what makes them unique.
- 37 Signals offers basecamp (manage your projects), backpack (organize your business), highrise (track your contacts), to-do list, and camp fire (chat).
- BlinkSale.com
- Active Collab
- Cultured Code
- Project Pier.org
- Zen Desk
- Right Signature
- Javelin
- Liquid Planner
- Google Calendar
- Google Wave
- Setster
- Google Apps
- The OmniGroup- Omni Focus
- Sales Force
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1 comment:
Backing up is so underused. Fortunately, my background in IT taught me the value of backups.
On your wishlist diagrams, they show just how detailed and varied are the process that business people use continually.
Two questions:
First, which diagram/mind mapping tool did you use to draw it? We use several diagramming products (Inspiration, SmartDraw, Comapping, MindVisualizer, etc.) depending on the need.
Second, have you looked at using TheBrain (www.thebrain.com)? It’s good for capturing and managing large processes like you’ve drawn. As you click on a node, it puts that node in the center so it’s easy to focus on.
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