Going Social: MyRagan, RecruitingBlogs, BlogCatalog

Social networks and online communities deserve consideration for just about anyone hoping to have a presence on the Internet. They come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from headline roundups and forums to search directories and profile pages.

Although there are hundreds to choose from, I'm mentioning just three today because they demonstrate very distinct approaches. For lack of a better definition, let’s call them a closed niche membership, open niche membership, and open general membership.

MyRagan.com. MyRagan.com has corporate communication and related professionals, especially public relations practitioners, buzzing with excitement. It uses the Me.Com platform, which allows people to “rapidly deploy, customize and administer a social network specific to their interests.” Maybe.

I call it a closed niche membership because MyRagan.com does not really allow for easy navigation throughout the Me.com network. So, in many ways, it’s self-contained. It’s also extremely niche specific, so much so I that I’m not sure if a non-communicator would get it.

Stand Outs: MyRagan has a built-in audio-visual chat and IM features. It also has a direct link to the Ragan Career Center. Mark Ragan and his team are working very, very hard to make this work, recently asking for five or six volunteers to provide ideas for improving the network. The members, the ones who aren’t lost, are very helpful. I was also able to add my widget to my in-progress profile page. Cool.

Stand Offs: MyRagan is a navigational nightmare, especially because it toggles back and forth between MyRagan and other Ragan Communications sites. One also has to wonder how much is too much. There are forums, bulletins, discussions, groups, community blogs, personal blogs, and ... yeesh! To quote Geoff Livingston at The Buzz Bin: “It’s not the most aesthetic site, but it’s very, very functional.” (It is functional if you narrow your focus to a few features.) Now, if we can only teach social media newcomers what to blog about so the community blog doesn’t die off as a “promo post” board.

RecruitingBlogs.com. RecruitingBlogs.com was created by Jason Davis after he, um, retired from Recruiting.com. It’s everything a niche social network should be and opens to the Ning platform. Bouncing around Ning helps you connect with people in many fields and industries.

Thus, in many ways, RecruitingBlogs.com is an open niche network. It’s laid out extremely well as everything is on the front page, including scrolling RSS feeds from every recruiting blog on the planet (that’s worth reading) and then some. Keep in mind though, not all Ning networks are created equal; Davis really knows his stuff.

Stand Outs: RecruitingBlogs.com not only benefits from an expert network creator, but also an experienced group of recruiters who blog. Many of them have had blogs for two years or more. They also make up some of the best read blogs on the Web, which means most content is razor sharp. It is a niche model to be followed, pure and simple. To check out the greater Ning network, click one button. Done.

Stand Offs: Not much, unless you just don’t like recruiters (I do). While I know Davis is not able to do everything he wants to do on Ning, most people would never know it. Seriously, other than the occasional lag and maybe a missing “about page” or “highlighted features page” for newcomers (eg. I know what the chatter wall is good for on my profile, but newcomers might not), I love it.

BlogCatalog.com. BlogCatalog.com is the fastest-growing social blog directory for a reason. It is completely open to anyone and, as long as your blog is approved (about 48 hours unless you have questionable content), you’ll be able to meet some wonderful people.

BlogCatalog.com is also different from the aforementioned niche networks because it owns its own technology, features, and widgets. Antony Berkman bought a dying directory six months ago and turned it into a company worth watching.

Stand Outs: There is a real benefit in having a general open network because the skill sets of the staff and membership are deep. The newest feature is brilliant, making it the first stop of the day for many bloggers. Right on your profile, you can add some of most popular communities you belong to: AIM, del.icio.us, Digg, Facebook, Flickr, Last.fm, MyBlogLog, MySpace, StumbleUpon, Technorati, and Twitter. And that's just for starters.

Stand Offs: None to speak of. At a glance, some professionals might be miffed by the abundance of active members with personal blogs and monetorization blogs, but only until you get to know them. They are extremely nice, approachable, and deeply talented. Collectively, they know more about social media than any niche group I’ve come across. You also won’t find a BlogCatalog.com blog as Berkman and his staff mostly communicate on the discussion board (but they all have their own blogs). Yet, they are among the most engaging and friendly non-niche social directory hosts anywhere.

So there you have it. While each has its own culture and climate, they are just like any group you might belong to in person: you get back what you put into them.

The best bet is to put your company (or personal) strategy first. Then, join several but only become active on those that best fit your objectives because as we all know (I hope), there is no such thing as a social media strategy. Social media is a versatile tactic.

Beyond that, social networks are allowing people to participate online without ever starting a blog, vlog, or radio show. But for those who do, they represent the best way to gain targeted exposure.

Doing Good: BlogCatalog.com

Today, BlogCatalog.com, one of the fastest-growing social blog directories on the Internet, has inspired hundreds of bloggers to do good by challenging them to write about and raise funds for DonorsChoose.org, a non-profit organization that brings teachers and donors together to fund specific student projects that range from a "Magical Math Center" ($200) to "Cooking Across the Curriculum" ($1,100) program.

As evidenced by BlogPulse, the social awareness campaign is working with DonorsChoose receiving almost 15 times more exposure on the Internet than any previous day. If this awareness translates into donations, BlogCatalog members will be responsible for raising $25,000 for DonorsChoose.org.

Even if members do not make their donation mark, the campaign still succeeds in raising awareness for this worthwhile nonprofit. Such exposure is likely to translate into donations in the weeks and months ahead. DonorsChoose.org is a member of the Omidyar Network. The Omidyar Network is a mission-based organization established by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife, Pam.

“Internet social networks from MySpace to Facebook are receiving a ton of media and Internet attention, but we have yet to see an online social community come together to raise funds for a good cause,” said Antony Berkman, president of BlogCatalog.com. “We also see this as an opportunity to empower and recognize bloggers to collectively focus their blogs for good.”

Berkman said depending on the success of the challenge, BlogCatalog.com will develop a community service page to host and promote more blog events in the near future. BlogCatalog.com is the first social network directory to organize its members to raise funds for a specific non-profit organization.

To see how the challenge unfolded, visit the BlogCatalog.com Discussion. There, you will find Berkman's original request as well as links to many of the blogs that have taken up this challenge.

Making Improvements: BlogCatalog

There are dozens of blog directories on the Internet; too many according to some. But with its recent format change, BlogCatalog stands out.

Like many directories, BlogCatalog's purpose it to list and categorize blogs available on the Internet. Originally, it was mostly a search engine and directory categorized by topic folders, countries, and languages. In fact, I had almost forgotten all about it until I noticed a few more visitors dropping by from BlogCatalog.

So I revisited the directory yesterday and found something much different from what I remember (more than a year ago). The format is cleaner, user profiles enhanced, and blog page profiles now include a front page preview, recent viewers, neighborhood subscriptions, teaser feeds, rankings, ratings, reviews, discussions, and more. Sure, you can find these features on other sites, but BlogCatalog demonstrates that that the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts.

I don't want to be a spoiler. If you have a few minutes, it's well worth the visit. The submission process is painless; and members have more than enough choices to control their own experience. Very well done.