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Information current as of October 2009

Identity Management

FriendFeed (link: http://friendfeed.com/)

Ping.fm (link: http://ping.fm/)

HelloTxt (link: http://hellotxt.com/)

Chi.mp (link: http://chi.mp/)

Profilactic (link: http://www.profilactic.com/)

Socialthing! (link: http://socialthing.com/)

At a glance…

Identity management services let you control all of your social networks link to glossary from one place.

Users can connect their social networks together and update them simultaneously. Applications let you further customize your social networks. An identity management account can be created and confirmed in a few minutes.

What is it?

Identity management tools help social media users control their accounts through one outlet. For example, a user of Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and LinkedIn link to glossary could log on to one identity management service and create a status update that would be posted on all of those sites. Identity management is intended to save time by putting all of your social media eggs in one basket.

Identity management is an all-encompassing term for a group of different web tools that are also called “lifestreaming” or “social networking” services.

Lifestreaming services “aggregate,” or combine and display, your activity from different social media sites, but usually they don’t allow you to post any information (status updates, blog posts, links), which would then get sent out to your various social media sites. Most lifestreaming services are one-way only, meaning that you can go to such a site and view your profile, which shows your activity, but you can’t send posts out.

Social networking services are tools that help you post to, update, and share things on your social media accounts from one place, but they don’t usually let you see the activity on your other social media sites. Most of these types of sites are one-way only, meaning that you can post something that goes out to your social media sites but can’t see the recent activity on them.

There are many identity management sites available on the Internet. Sometimes sites offer both lifestreaming services and social networking services, and sometimes they only offer one. Each

http://socialthing.com/

http://www.profilactic.com/

http://chi.mp/

http://hellotxt.com/

http://ping.fm/

http://friendfeed.com/


identity management site featured in this report operates a little differently and most have at least one feature that is exclusive to that site. (Please see the accompanying identity management comparison chart link to chart for more information.)

There are also free software programs available (identity management is not limited to websites) that are similar in nature to the websites discussed in this report.

Users should explore these tools and decide if they are useful in the context of their social media strategies. One site may fulfill every function required, or a combination of approaches may be more productive. If you know you want an identity management service to help cut down on your social media workload, explore until you find an identity management service that fits your needs. To assist you in making your decision, we’ve reviewed some of the most popular management services.

Usefulness

Convenience. Managing a large number of social media sites can become unwieldy over time. There is no substitute for genuinely reaching out to supporters on specific sites through the actual web interface <link to glossary.doc>, but identity management is ideal for scenarios like a fundraising announcement that you would like to send to all of your networks. Depending on the service, you may be able to see new interactions with your social networking accounts or responses to your new updates.

Increased connections. As with all social networking sites, simply having an established presence creates opportunities for users to stumble upon your profile or be introduced to your content through other users. Some identity management sites let you create user profiles that house your collection of social media site updates all in one place. Other users can find these profiles and follow links to your accounts hosted on various social media sites.

FriendFeed (http://friendfeed.com/)

FriendFeed is an identity management service that displays updates from various social media sites in real time. For example, a FriendFeed user could log into his account and see updates from Twitter accounts, his friends’ Facebook profiles, and his contacts’ YouTube link 3 to glossary channels all in one list. Most social media sites only display updates from their services, but FriendFeed combines them. The site also lets users create their own custom feeds they can display on their other social networks and official websites.

Each user creates his own account on FriendFeed and edits the settings to connect various social networking accounts to FriendFeed. These connected accounts are then displayed, according to user preference, on each user’s FriendFeed homepage. Users can access the feed information and follow up on the separate social networking sites or give direct feedback via FriendFeed.

Keep in mind that every management service has its limits. While you can both create and receive updates from within FriendFeed, those internal updates and the comments on those updates won’t appear anywhere else besides FriendFeed. However, it is possible to link various


social media accounts with FriendFeed and share content. For example, each update on a friend’s FriendFeed profile can be shared with Facebook by clicking a button.

FriendFeed is a collection of profiles that are linked together in their own network. Each profile is linked to accounts hosted on other social media sites. For example, an organization’s FriendFeed profile can be linked to accounts on popular websites Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn.

The “Groups” section of FriendFeed is similar to the groups and pages functions of Facebook. Groups and individual users can create news feeds devoted to specific topics. The members of the groups collaborate by posting content in the feed.

Like other social networking sites, FriendFeed users are able to share content on the go. Bookmarking tools link to glossary allow web surfers to instantly share a page with a click of a


button added to their browsers. Cell phone users can update their FriendFeed profiles via text message.

FriendFeed allows the use of widgets –– small “windows” that display information –– making it possible for users to display their FriendFeed on their other social networks and web pages. Users can customize the appearance with the help of checking or unchecking options provided by FriendFeed or by modifying the HTML/CSS link to glossary code by hand.

Getting Started Sign up for a FriendFeed account.

o Navigate to the FriendFeed (http://www.friendfeed.com) home page.o Click the “sign up” link located above the sign in form.o Fill in the form and click the “create my account” link.o Click on the button(s) representing your contact lists or click the “Next…” button.o Click the button(s) to subscribe to the feeds of popular users or click the “Next…”

button.

Tailor your organization’s FriendFeed account according to your needs:o Click the “Upload a picture” link.

Browse your computer for an organization picture or graphic. Click the “Upload picture” button.

o Add a description to your account. Click the “Add a description” link. Fill in form with desired information. Click the “Add email address” link.


Add additional email addresses for e-mail notifications, if desired. Click the “Add email address” button. Click the “Email / IM preferences” link. Toggle settings as desired and click the “Save Changes” button. Click the “Home” link on the right side of the page. Click the “Add a description” link. Toggle “Theme” settings and remaining options as desired. Click the “Save changes” button.

o Connect with other users on the FriendFeed network. Click the “Find your friends” link on your homepage. Search for new friends by keyword or select an automatic suggestion. Click the “Subscribe to…” button. Organize your friends into folders for easy browsing later. Repeat as necessary to find more contacts.

o Join a group on the FriendFeed network. Click on the “Browse/create groups” link on the right side of the page. Browse or search for a desired group. Click the “Subscribe to…” button. Repeat as necessary to join additional groups.

Customizing your feed

To select which services you would like to import, follow these steps:o Click the link of your name by the logo you uploaded at the top of the page.


o Click the “Import a service” link.o Browse through the list until you find the desired service.o Click on the link and follow prompts.o Repeat as desired to import additional services.

Ping.fm (http://ping.fm)

Ping.fm allows you to post status updates to a collection of social networks you have designated. Updating several networks at the same time saves users the hassle of logging on to each network separately and posting the same update manually.


Users can separate their assigned services into three categories: microblogs <glossary.doc>, status updates<glossary.doc>, and blogs <glossary.doc>. This lets you target your updates to specific groups while leaving other ones out. For example, the illustration below shows a user about to update the status on his social networks, but not microblogs or blogs.


If you want to target specific social media sites with your postings, Ping.fm allows for the creation of customized groups that let you select which services you want to group together. For example, if you are connected to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn link to glossary and want to make an update to only Twitter and LinkedIn, you could create a special group that would save those actions, perform them, and remain there for later use.


“Triggers” are used to specify what social media site to update. For example, when a Ping.fm user types “@fb” before a message, the site will only post to Facebook. Typing “@tt I’m in London and loving it!” will post that one sentence to your Twitter account only.

For increased functionality, users can also choose from a variety of applications. Some applications are used in conjunction with other programs on users’ computers and some are used in combination with other websites. Some applications are specifically created for cell phone users.


The downside to Ping.fm, despite its robust features and rich options, is the unavailability of viewing updates from the social media sites that you are updating. In other words, you must log in to each site to see the latest activity or the responses to your latest updates on those sites. Or you could use a site that aggregates (combines) social media activity, such as FriendFeed (http://www.friendfeed.com), Socialthing! (http://www.socialthing.com), or Profilactic (http://www.profilactic.com).

HelloTxt (http://hellotxt.com)

HelloTxt is similar to Ping.fm, as it lets you update your social networks without having to log on to each site separately and repeat updates. As pictured below, HelloTxt supports a variety of social media sites and allows you to add photos, video, and emoticons link to glossary to your status updates.


The biggest difference between HelloTxt and Ping.fm is the inclusion of update feeds. HelloTxt directly imports the latest activity from your assigned accounts and displays it.

Each feed item can be commented on through the HelloTxt interface and will put your reply on the originating site. For example, if a Twitter friend posts a tweet <link to glossary.doc> and you wish to respond, you can click the “Comment” link or the “Retweet” <link to glossary.doc> button. Both options will allow you to respond and will post your response on Twitter itself.


HelloTxt supports a wide variety of update methods, including cell phones, email, text messages, instant messenger, telephone calls, RSS feeds link to glossary, and other applications to update HelloTxt accounts –– and by association, other social networking accounts.


HelloTxt also offers a “personal” stream you can provide to others that displays all the activity from your social networks. For example, if you give the URL of your personal stream to a friend, that friend could access that stream and see all of your activity in one place. It’s convenient for those who prefer to show people all updates at once, but you can disable the feature in the settings section of the site.

HelloTxt has a much smaller selection of applications to choose from, concentrating primarily on cell phone applications. As HelloTxt grows, its collection will likely increase and offer similar services to that of Ping.fm.

Chi.mp (http://chi.mp)

Chi.mp is a relative newcomer to the identity management game–– a combination of Ping.fm and HelloTxt that dilutes both sites’ features and heavily emphasizes a “personal page” that shows others your recent activity on other social media sites.

Users are asked to choose a free Chi.mp domain name <link to glossary.doc> and, if available, register for an account. For example, a person desiring the word “oranges” for their domain name would be given the URL of “http://oranges.mp.”

After registering and following prompts, a user will have a personal Chi.mp page with their contacts from select other social networking sites already imported. The page acts as a gateway for other contacts to access activity and updates of the user.


In addition, Chi.mp users can link their accounts with other social networking accounts as is offered on Ping.fm and HelloTxt. This import process, shown in the illustration below, will pull information - including your contacts and any applicable photos - to your Chi.mp account.

Other features are available, such as a personal Chi.mp email address that will forward mail to any other email address of your choice. Users can upload their address books to store contact information, or they can create photo albums and write blogs.

Although there are options to share your Chi.mp activity with other social media sites, these features are limited and the site’s current emphasis is on importing activity from other social media sites. However, the site’s developers have expressed intentions to add new features in the future, likely similar to ones offered by its competitors.

Profilactic (http://www.profilactic.com/)

Profilactic can be thought of as a more compact version of Chi.mp. Instead of giving users a complete profile and special URL link to glossary like Chi.mp and HelloTxt, users are given a basic profile and are provided a list of social media sites that are available to be linked with their accounts. The site also supports the addition of custom sites that aren’t included on the list and lets users add RSS feeds to their lifestreams. link 3 to glossary


Users are given their own Profilactic “lifestream,” which means a feed of all your combined activity from the various social media tools you connect with the site. Each of your Profilactic contacts will be able to access this information and you will have the same access to their lifestreams. For example, the illustration below shows one Profliactic user and his latest updates.


The site also features a “clippings” section which lets users post links to content that they did not create but features them in some form. Your friends’ lifestreams can be customized to show certain materials while excluding others.

Badges and plugins link to glossary are available for a limited selection of sites for the addition of a lifestream widget link to glossary. For users who use Wordpress link to glossary/site/our doc? for blog activities, a plugin is available that allows for the addition of a lifestream on a page so users have convenient access to your latest activity.

Socialthing! (http://socialthing.com/)

Socialthing! is still in its beta testing link to glossary phase, but it promises to offer similar services to that of Profilactic and FriendFeed. The site says it will let users keep track of the activity of their friends in one place and be able to manage multiple sites simultaneously. According to pre-release photos, it also employs the use of lifestreams and provides links to contacts’ profiles on other social media sites.


Best Practices

Do: Check your individual social media accounts frequently to keep current with your feeds

and the latest activity. Identity management services are not yet a perfect substitute and you will miss important information if you rely on them too heavily.

Post updates/messages that are appropriate and relevant to your intended audience. Try not to make a “blanket” statement that loosely applies to all the mediums –– make statements tailored to each type of social media site.

Browse other organizations’ feeds to be aware of trends. Be personable. Don’t rely on copying and pasting for every communication.

Don’t: Disappear for too long. Fans will stop watching your feed if they think they’ve been

abandoned and there isn’t anyone at the controls. Update too frequently. Save your announcements for regular, important information. Neglect your homework. Make sure every connection you support is a legitimate,

professional organization. Try to add everyone you can find immediately as a contact. Grow your network through

patience and positive interaction.

Time Requirements


The time necessary to maintain a successful identity management service depends on the level of use. Some users enjoy identity management services because it saves them time and effort. It isn’t necessary to use an identity management service to use social media –– the content you provide is more important. The use of identity management requires attention to daily activity and the willingness to log on regularly to individual social media sites to confirm they’re working properly and that you aren’t missing interaction opportunities with your contacts.

In 15 minutes or less, it is possible to: post some updates check status of existing accounts respond to questions and comments participate on partners’ feeds keep current on group activities

Measuring Success

As mentioned previously, each identity management site behaves differently. You must change your expectations of performance based upon what the site’s capabilities are.

If the site is simply a utility tool that is not equipped with a profile, your priorities will be to:

Track your time. Does your social media program call for this kind of tool? Are you saving any time using identity management tools? Is the convenience coming at the cost of content?

If the site is more expansive and is equipped with a profile and other social tools, your priorities will be to:

Remember your friends. Most casual social media users don’t use identity management services and won’t see the communications you create just for that site. Are you neglecting your contacts at other outlets?

Be realistic. If you’re not getting much response from the social aspects of these sites, don’t panic. Concentrate on engaging supporters on more popular sites and creating a quality message. Focus on a few things at a time rather than an unmanageable many.

If desired, you can use a simple spreadsheet to track usage over time, including:o Number of friends.o Number and quality (positive, negative, questioning) of comments on your feed

page.o Number of responses you provide.

Regardless of what tool(s) you decide to use, if any at all, don’t be afraid to:


Ask for help. Contact other nonprofit and government organizations and ask what has worked and hasn’t worked for them. It could save you trouble in the long run.

Experiment. A journey into social media will require exploration and a willingness to make mistakes. Use them as teaching moments to expand your knowledge of social media and as an indicator of different actions to take in the future.

Please see the Identity Management video tutorial link to tutorial for detailed information on how to use these social media tools.

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