15 Interesting (and New) Social Media Tools from 2012

Over the next few weeks you'll probably come across a bunch of blog posts that capture the big social media trends from 2012.

I started pulling together a version of my own and then got a little distracted by some of the new social media tools and sites that have capitalised upon (and sometimes driven) these trends.

Some of this big ones from my perspective included an increased desire for content unification from social media users, subject-based content aggregation and organisation and poster-style imagery.

So, let's take a look at 15 new tools that may tell us a bit about what we can expect more of in 2013.

Use wisely and enjoy!


Personal Social Media Aggregators

Content unification is shaping up as one of 2013's big trends on the back of an increasing desire amongst social media users for all of their social network activity to be housed in the one place.

The tools that do this the best include:

1. Rebelmouse.com - your social media 'front page' categorised by 

2. Glos.si - automated organisation of your social media life

3. Memolane.com - a chronological look at your social media activity

Interest-based Social Media Aggregators

Subject-based aggregators give you immediate access to the content you are most passionate about without having to scroll through endless streams based on the people you follow or brands you like.

The new tools doing interesting things in this area include:

4. Sulia.com - a clever subject-based social network
5. CircleMe.com - follow people and / or topics
6. Storylane.com - collaborative curation

Expect to see more and more tools like these surface in 2013.

Social Posters

Another interesting mini-trend from 2012 has been the emergence of high quality 'disposable' digital content. This content can come in many forms, but due to the popularity of imagery amongst social media users, being able to produce poster-style content quickly (and cleanly) is priceless.

Two great examples of these tools include:

7. CheckThis.com - easy-to-use social poster editor
8. Tackk.com - similar to CheckThis but with some added features

An oldie but a goodie that is also worth having on your radar us Glogster.com.

Web-based Image Editors

Another by-product of the image-powered web (proven emphatically by the rise of Pinterest and Instagram in the last 12-18 months) is the need to edit imagery in an 'express' manner to meet the needs of the communities you operate in.

The stand-outs in this area are:

9. Pixlr.com/express- collages, filters and frames at the touch of a button
10. PicMonkey.com - powerful and easy-to-use photo editing

List Lust

List-based content only seems to be increasing in popularity thanks to its easy-to-consume nature. Two new tools are capitalising on that in similar, yet different, ways.

11. Listgeeks.com - a 'lists hub' featuring contributions that range from the very useful to the very inane
12. Listango.com - a basic bookmarking service that make it easier to categorise your favourite sites and resources

Multilingual Website Creators

The social web is creating both challenges and opportunities for brands who have no choice but to participate in a global media landscape. Frustratingly, budgets aren't getting any bigger so creating web properties that service the need for consistent and constant content in multiple languages can be tough.

However, there are options, including:

13. Edicy.com - a very promising start-up being driven by some senior managers from Skype

Organised Twitter Amplification

Now that Google has publicly recognised the importance of social actions in relation to search rankings, it is increasingly vital to give your content as much support as possible, especially during the initial 'just published' phase.

To give your content a kick-start, you might want to consider the following:

14. Spread.us - tweet your curated content on behalf of your colleagues, friends and fans (essentially a mailing list for Twitter)

Pinterest-style E-Commerce Communities

The meteoric rise of Pinterest has been one of the biggest social media stories of 2012. This success has seen the launch of a number of similar sites which capitalise on our collective eagerness to find and share products we love.

15. Wanelo.com - universal catalogue of products organised by users of the site

Happy holidays!