Social Tools and Sites Worth a Review

My daily reading includes informative blogs such as TechCrunch, GigaOm, Engadget, Gizmodo and Mashable. 

In addition to sharing perspective on the news, trends and issues that influence the business of technology, these connected blog sites also point me to interesting Web 2.0 applications and social-oriented sites that could be of value to Strategic Communications Group's (Strategic) clients.

Here is my take on a few I reviewed this weekend:

Storify: an easy-to-use (and free) application that allows a user to create a chronological "story" from content published on different social media platforms.  It's an effective way to provide context in support of a timely news announcement or thought leadership position.  Here's an example of a story I created in 10 minutes:

Relationship Building, Twitter Style

Awesomize.me: another way of presenting yourself professionally or personally in an online environment by integrating your social participation in a profile .  This company was started by a Washington, DC-based entrepreneur (which I like), yet I don't get a sense that there has been much in the way of adoption.  My "Strategic Guy" Awesomize.me profile can be found here.

About.me offers similar functionality for individual online promotion.  Here's my profile.

StackExchange:  my initial reaction upon visiting this social question and answer site was that it's merely a Quora knock-off.  However, a deeper dive uncovered a rich source of insight and information in a rather diverse set of topics, including technical subject matter such as SharePoint and Drupal to lifestyle issues like Jewish learning and personal finance.