Social Traffic Espionage

All the Social Media experts know it, but not too many of them talk about how important it is to have one. What am I talking about? Blogs of course… Anybody can have a Blog . You can grab a free blogger or wordpress Blog, they are readily available and easy to use.  

Its interesting  that most people with Blogs think of the Blog as being  totally different to Social Media Networks such Twitter, Facebook or MySpace. Don’t be fooled, believe it or not blogs are Social Media vehicles and the most important Social Media tool you have.

Recently we were able to talk to Ross Goldberg about Social Media, he told us that your Blog is the cornerstone of your product or business. In fact he said that  every Social Media activity that you use should be linked back to your Blog.

Why are Blogs so important? Why does Ross Goldberg refer to them as the cornerstone or your product and business. To help demystify the importance of your Blog, we would like to share 7 reasons why  your Blog is the most important piece in your Social Media strategy.

1. Content Is King!
   Your Social Media credibility is tied to the amount of content you provide.  To have a significant Social Media presence you must have a certain amount of  content. Blogs are a fantastic tool for creating lots and lots of relevant content. Each time you add a post you increase your Blogs  content creating a  smorgasboard of relevant content that Google and other  search engines love. Generally the more posts you have the  higher  your Blog will rank and the more Social Media  traffic you will get.
2. Desperately Seeking Answers
   Searching for answers is one of  the top 3 main reasons why people use the Internet. People use the search engines to find the answers to their most pressing questions. This is gives you,  the Blog owner a fantastic opportunity, by making sure that your Blog contains the answers to the most searched questions in your content you will attract traffic.  Blogs that have content designed to answer the most pressing questions that  people have in a particular niche can generate massive amounts of traffic for their business. 
3. Blog Stucture,
   The basic structure of a Blog makes it easy for visitors to find what they are looking for.  A Blog organizes your information  effortlessly for the benefit of your visitors. You divide your post topics into categories and subcategories so that your visitors find exactly what they want with minimal effort. They can move easily through the categories, post archives,  move from page to page or simply scroll down the posts.  Social Media is all about developing relationships with your visitors. The structure of a Blog facilitates an enjoyable experience for the visitor who will be likely to return and tell others about the Blog.  
4. Backlinking, Plugins, Pinging, RSS Feed, Comments
   The interactive nature of  Blogs is hard to beat. Plugins, Pinging, Backlinking, RSS Feed capability and the ability of people to add comments all contribute to its interactive nature.  Blogs have some neat  plugins that make SEO optimisation and interacting with other forms of  Social Media effortless. We at Social Traffic Espionage recommend and use the following plugins All in One SEO Pack, Sociable, Twitme. Also don’t forget to have and RSS feed button on your Blog.   
5. Hello World
   Blogs are universal. It’s a fact  that anybody who uses the internet can  access your blog. Social Media networks such as Twitter,  Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn  are accessible only when you join. A Blog allows you to achieve a potentially infinite number of customers for your business.
6. Create Instant and Comprehensive Information
   Posting on a Blog sends instantaneous  and comprehensive information to the web. Social Media networks such as Twitter,  Facebook, LinkedIn send instant information but cannot compete with a Blogs capacity for  comprehensive content.  Blog posts can be as comprehensive as necessary, include links, and  integrate with other Social Media networks.
7. All Roads Should  Lead To Your Blog
   The cornerstone of  your Social Media strategy is your Blog. All of your social media activities should be organised to link back to your blog. Your profiles on Social Media sites  such as  Facebook and Twitter should include a link back to your blog. Articles, YouTube videos, Podcasts should all include a link to your Blog.

By now I am sure you have got the picture, your Blog is the most important part of your Social Media strategy. If you don’t already have a Blog  start one today.  It’s that important. 

If you like the information in this post, feel free to  share it with your friends or leave a comment.

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Podcasting is becoming popular, heck even  TV shows such as the Bold and the Beautiful are using podcasting in their storylines.

What is podcasting? It can be defined as a series of digital media files, usually digital audio or video, that is made available for download via Web syndication. Basically, in podcasting, you create audio files that are available on your website, which people can then download to their  iPods or MP3 players. “Podcasts” are delivered through RSS feeds; users subscribe to various podcasts.

The widespread adoption of iPods and MP3 players, means that the potential Social Media traffic that podcasting can generate is growing all the time. If you have a product or business and you want FREE targeted traffic then you shouldn’t ignore the power of podcasting.

Ok so your interested in podcasting for your business or product… BUT  how do you make a killer podcast? Stay tuned we are going to share 5 Powerful Podcasting Tips that you can start using today.

1. Original Interesting Content.
If you want to attract and maintain an audience, you will need to share original content in your podcast , or at the very least, present the content in an original way. Think about how you can differentiate yourself from others. Develop a long term strategy that allows you to create a brand that will distinguish your podcast from others.

2. Good Sound Quality
Quality podcasts have quality sound. You will need a microphone that will not include sounds that will distract your listeners from listening to you. What’s a good microphone? If you are podcasting from a home office you will generally need a large-diaphragm, cardioid condenser microphone.

3. Microphone Technique
Spend time in the Podcasting Forums and you will hear the phrase “proper microphone technique”. People often say you either have proper microphone technique or you don’t. Good microphone technique is a blend of many aspects such as physical microphone positioning, diction, speed, mouth form, and presence. The optimum position for your microphone is usually about a hand’s width away from the microphone. The other aspects such as diction, speed, mouth form, and presence are usually improved by practice and time. We recommend that you record your voice, listen to the recording and identify the aspects you need to improve. This is one practical way you can develop good microphone technique.

4. Develop A Plan
Once you have decide to Podcast you will need a plan. Aspects you will need to consider are;

• How much time will the podcast production take?
• How will the podcasting fit into your a current schedule?
• How frequently will you podcast?
• How will the hosting of podcasting files be handled?
• If the podcast is popular, will you ask your listeners for a fee that can be used to cover hosting costs?
• What is your podcasting theme?
• How will the theme connect all the podcasts?

You get the picture …you will need to develop a plan for your Podcasting.

5. The Point.
Get to the point of the podcast, don’t bore your listeners with a lot of fluff about nothing. Talking is a favorite past time for some people but don’t let it hide the quality content you have in your podcast. Listeners won’t waste their time listening to rampant rambling. If you have a point to make, make it in a reasonable amount of time. Take Micheal Chaney’s approach minimize the fluff and focus on quality content.

We hope these tips will give you a great starting point for podcasting. We always love to receive feedback so leave us a comment and if you like this post share it with your friends.

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blogs, twitter, facebook, youtube

You know what its  like you build your blog, website, and squidoo lens,  you have a great product  that you are sure people will buy.  BUT you can’t  get any of  the FREE Social  Traffic that everybody tells you is out there.  You have heard the statistics,  facebook 200  million, youtube 80 million. Why aren’t you getting FREE Social Traffic… everybody else is!  Here are 6  great traffic tips that should get you started

1. Don’t just sign up to a Social Media Site , YOU need to participate
You can’t expect to get your share of  the Social Traffic market if you are not participating in Social Media Sites.  Yes,  we know that there are lots and lots of Social Media sites, but you don’t need to join all of them at once. Start with baby steps join one or two of the Social Media Sites, you can always join others later.  Most importantly don’t just sign up and consider that the jobs done, you need to participate not just stand on the sidelines.  How do you participate? That’s easy, join discussions, offer information, include links to useful tools or sites, tips, reply to people who make contact with you. 

2.  Look At Me! Look At Me! Be your own PR machine.
Don’t be shy, there are a number of ways that you can promote you and your business. We have listed just a few to get you thinking

• add your blog, website or squidoo lens url to  your social media sites profiles
•  include an RSS feed
•  include social bookmarking buttons on your blog or website 
•  add an “e-mail this” and “share” tab at the bottom of blog posts
•  add  your blog, website, squidoo lens  address to your e-mail signature
•  submit articles which have links to  your  blog or  website

3. Grab Peoples Attention
Does your blog, website or squidoo lens have neverending  blocks of  text,  text and more text…BORING!  C’Mon this is 2009, we have the tecnology. Make use of  video, podcasts, slide shows and other multimedia to create dynamic content. Don’t be boring

4. Link s
It is crucial that you include links,  links and more links.  You should link to other parts of your blog or website and externally to other peoples  blogs or sites.  Don’t forget about backlinking. Its OK to  ask other blogs to link back to you  and  to add your website to their blog rolls.  Submiiting your blog  to one or more blog  directories is a good idea.

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Learn How To Retweet, Use Hastags, Direct Message, Shorten urls…

Have you heard of twitter? No its not a noisy bird. Twitter is a Social Media Platform that is growing so fast that it has growing pains. If you are a newbie then you are going to need to learn the twitter basics. Here are 12 terrific twitter tips that will get you started.

1. A “tweet” is the name given to the 140 character message you create in response to the question twitter asks “What are you doing?”

2 Reply @ Symbol
Twitter has a every unique replying feature. Whenever a person’s name is preceded by a @ symbol, that means that the sentence (tweet) that follows is directed at them. So if you are using Twitter and you want to reply to someone, simply type @ and then their name, then type your message. If you don’t want to type the @ all the time you can simply click on the reply button which is to the right hand side of every tweet.

3. Direct messages – DM
You are sure to see the letters DM mentioned in tweets. This stands for Direct Message. Sending a DM is similar to sending an email to a person. A DM goes to your direct message inbox and only you can see your DMs. This is different to replies and regular tweets, they can be seen by your followers, but DMs are completely private. You use DM’s when you want to write something privately to someone, but more importantly, if you are writing something that your followers will not find interesting. We recommend using DMs if you are replying more than twice to someone.

4. Retweet (RT)
Twitter users retweet when they believe that a tweet that interests them will also interest their followers. The Retweet basically quotes a person’s tweet and gives them the credit for the tweet. Your Retweet should look like this RT @juliegaroni (tweet is here). There is a space betweeen the RT and @ symbol. People can see the Retweet and then choose to follow that person. Its like forwarding an email. By retweeting the tweet you increase that person’s exposure to the twitter community. For instance the person who made the original tweet may have only had 20 followers and therefore only 20 people would have seen the tweet. But if the person that is retweeting has 4000 followers then the original person has just reached 4000 additional people. Importantly retweeting promotes one of the ideals of the Twitter community…share someone else’s ideas, and they will share yours.

5. URL Shorteners
The 140 character limit of twitter can take a while to get used to… but it is the 140 characters that give twitter its potent power. You need to think carefully about what you are going to say and to say it in the shortest number of character’s. The twitter community is dynamic…people like to share articles and posts, and not just hear about your thoughts. Including links to news articles, websites, blogs and other external sources puts pressure on this 140 character limit. How do you include a messsage and a long url in 140 characters? The answer is to use url shorteners. There are endless sites that shorten urls, just do a google search and you will one that caters to your needs. We at Social Traffic Espionage recommend and use TinyURL.com.

6. Tweet Regularly
Make sure you tweet (post) regularly. This shows that you have an active presence, and you want to belong/participate in the twitter community.   People are more likely to connect with you if they believe that you are an active twitter user. 

7. Participate In The Twitter Community and Respond To People
Make sure to respond to people that ‘@’ or direct message you. This is just a matter of showing respect, if people are taking the time to message you, then you should respond.

8. Wefollow
Finding people to follow is easy when you use WeFollow. In our opinion, it is the best and most effective way of finding people to follow. How does it work? Basically Wefollow is a twitter directory that uses the tags people have given themselves. It is organized in a very user-friendly way to enable any twitter user to build a quality twitter network in a very short period of time.

9. Twitpic
A picture is worth a thousand words…everybody loves pictures. Twitpic is a twitter tool that allows you to share pictures with your followers. We recommend that you uncheck the box that tweets the picture automatically,since this can be annoying and you might not want it tweeted automatically. Twitpic is simple to use…upload a picture to Twitpic, copy the URL, write something about the picture in twitter, then paste the URL for your followers to see and hit the update button.

10. Hashtag (#)
Hashtags were designed to enhance the Twitter experience. They enable easy categorization of tweets for effective future searching. For instance if you are tweeting about Oprah, you simply insert a # before the word Oprah. Anyone who then searches hashtags.org or Twitter search, for #Oprah, will be shown your tweet as well as all tweets on the subject. Hashtags actually add a lot of fun to Twitter. One of the most popular hashtags you will come across in twitter is #Followfriday. This is one hashtag that you should use if you want to build strong relationships in the twitterverse. To particiapate in Followfriday you enter #Followfriday and then the @ symbol with the username of the person you want to recommend. So your tweet should look something like this…#Followfriday @juliegaroni @pauldaw.

11.Tweetdeck
Tweetdeck is the most popular, and useful 3rd party Twitter application out there. If you can only install one Twitter application, Tweetdeck should be it. Tweetdeck automatically integrates a number of twitter features. Using Tweetdeck you can reply, DM, retweet, shorten a URL, and share a Twitpic without ever leaving Tweetdeck. The newest version also includes a cool feature that when replying to a tweet with a hashtag, the hashtag is automatically generated in your reply.

12. What is twitter search?
twitter search is a twitter tool that lets you see  who is talking about you and what they are saying.  You can only see your replies in twitter if someone starts off a tweet with ‘@(your twitter name)’ but sometimes people use ‘@’ in the middle of their tweet. For instance they might say  “thanks to @juliegaroni” instead of  @juliegaroni thanks”. The great thing about  twitter search, is that when you enter “@(your twitter name)”  into twitter search it helps you find tweets that contain your “@name”  anywhere in a tweet,  just not at the beginning.

We hope these tips have been useful. We encourage you to leave a comment about this post or ask us any twitter questions you might have.

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Have you ever wondered what are the most popular Social Media sites? Talk to other Internet marketers and you will quickly find that they are using Facebook, twitter, and  LinkedIn.  These are the 3 most popular Social Media sites currently used by Internet marketers.

If you are an Internet marketer you will want to use FREE traffic for your business. This means that you will want to use Social Media. If there is one disadvantage to using Social Media it is that it can take lots and lots of time if you don’t know how to use it properly.

So how do you use Social Media efficiently? The first fact you need to come to grips with is that you can’t market on every Social Media site – there just isn’t enough time or hours in the day. 

If you want to market your product or business  using Social Media you need an efficient  time optimisation strategy.  Therefore it would make a whole lot of sense to include Facebook, twitter and LinkedIn  in your  time optimisation strategy.  Why? Because it’s only logical to make use of the 3 most popular Social Media sites;  Facebook, twitter and LinkedIn. 

How much time should you spend using Social Media? The answer to this depends on your circumstances. Generally there is a relationship between how long marketers have been using Social Media and their weekly time commitment. Usually people just beginning with Social Media, spend about an  average of  two hours per week. However, those who have been using Social Media for a number of months spend about an  average  of 10 hours per week or a bit more than 1 hour a day.

What is the reason for the time difference between Social Media newbies and experts? It’s our opinion that the time spent is related to the people’s experiences. Those who are just starting are unsure of this Social Media buzz – does it really work? They are yet to taste success, but once they have made a sale or start to have success they realise the importance of Social Media and spend more time doing it.

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Lights,  camera,  action its time to let your inner actor or actress shine through. YouTube is more than just a funny video site. The website averages almost 20 million visitors per month. I’m sure that you can recognize the traffic generation potential of YouTube.

Marketing your product through videos made by you on YouTube is one of the most effective ways of advertising your product to potential customers. Not sure how to get started, what to do? Stay tuned here are  7 Amazing YouTube tips that will get you started.

 1. Make Your Own Video
Yep that’s right make your own video… you don’t need to hire a professional. All you need to do is to make sure your videos are interesting and unique while allowing your personality or brand to shine through. Remember to put yourself in the viewers shoes and include things that you yourself would probably want to see. Don’t hesitate to inject some humour into the video. Be realistic you will probably have to do a couple of takes, don’t expect to get it perfect the first time.

2. Keep it Short
How short should a YouTube video be? Recently we had the privelege of talking to Ross Goldberg aka Mr Traffic, Frank Sousa and Darren LeCroix. All of these Internet marketing experts agreed that a YouTube video should be precise in its content.  The viewer doesn’t want to know what you had for breakfast, they just want to know what you are giving them. As a guideline your video should be at least 2 minutes but less than 5 minutes.

3.Have A Plan
Think about the audience you want to target. You might be tempted to copy the popular internet marketers, but try to resist since their style may not be your style. As Dr Phil says keep it real, YouTube has millions of videos containing lots of different styles and niches. Take the time to create a draft script that contains what you want to say and how you want to say it. Practice a couple of times before you try to record the video. Saying the words out loud will tell you whether the collection of words you have chosen flow and make sense to the listener.

4. YouTube Video SEO
OK so you have made the video now you need to promote it. We all know it’s no use having it on YouTube if nobody finds it. There is a reason why YouTube has tags, text decriptions and categories for each video that is uploaded. The only way most people are going to find your videos is by searching. This means the words you use for tags, descriptions and categorization are extremely important. They need to match the content of your video.and target the audience you want to attract. You need to make the text description for your video accurate and interesting. Its important to use descriptive keywords and also the language that people will use when they search for videos like yours.

 5. One Video Is Not Enough
You might think that once you have made a video and uploaded it then jobs done. Think again! I am sure that you have been on YouTube and already know that the Internet Marketing Experts like Ross Goldberg and Micheal Chaney have a lot more than one video. The Internet Marketing Experts build a series of similar videos. For starters we recommend that you build at least 10 videos, and then add more videos on a regular basis. We know that 10 videos might seem a daunting task, just remember they dont have to be perfect and they only need to be 2 minutes in length.

6.Go Viral
The ultimate prize for every internet marketer is to have their YouTube videos go viral. Make no mistake this won’t just happen, you will need to take action and promote the videos. The best way to promote these videos is to use other Social Media sites such as twitter, Facebook, MySpace, blogs, and so on. But don’t panic it is really easy to post a youtube video on Social Media sites or at the very least to include a link. If you share your video with as many people as you can and they like it they will share it with others….hey presto your videos go viral.

7. Experiment To See What Works
The Internet Marketing Experts are always testing and tweaking their campaigns. Make use of statistics to identity how many people visit your video, how may people visit your product and how many people purchase your product. Its important to create a number of campaigns and see what works. Its similar to a singer writing a number of songs before they find that elusive hit.

Now you know how, stop hesitating, start your  YouTube internet marketing campaign today and get the FREE traffic you deserve.

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Twitter is growing at an astronomical rate, so fast that it experiences growing pains  on a regular basis. 

OK  we all know that;  I mean how could we not! You would have to be living on a deserted island under a rock with no access to the Internet, newspapers or radio to not know something about twitter.  Everybody knows that Barack Obama used it during his election campaign

As twitter continues to expand at a phenomenal rate, the million dollar question that is on the lips of business owners is “Can Twitter be used to build businesses”  The answer is  YES!  Switched on businesses  are already using twitter as a terrific business building tool.  These  businesses know that twitter is a FREE,   no-cost way of marketing,  but best of all its is viral. 

So how do these businesses  use twitter?  Its all in the posting (tweets).  Twitter provides a public forum, and each post (tweet) a business makes becomes a form of promotion as other users, follow the businesses  posts(tweets).  Over a period of  time these tweets build a reputation for the business as  people can visit and look at your Web site and the quality of your content. The business becomes part of the community.  But wait theres more,   business owners  can also use Twitter for market research and to keep an eye on customer service issues.

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone says businesses “that are not quite big enough to make an impact on the Web, or to spend resources there,” have been some of the earliest users of twitter.  Some San Francisco-based coffee shops and bakeries have sent tweets to tell their customers about specials or products they may be out of that day.  “Businesses use this as a hybrid between marketing and customer service,” says Stone. “They use the Twitter Search to track mentions of their products and services and as a way to begin a conversation.”

To summarize, twitter can be used by businesses to;
1.  build a reputation and brand
2.  market products
3.  achieve  viral marketing 
4.  conduct market research
5.  monitor customer service
6.  develop relationships with other  twitterites
7.  participate in the twitter community

Twitter seems Terrific for  building businesses doesn’t it?  But hang on a minute, before you rush off and start using it today, its worth noting that like any online forum, Twitter may not be for everyone. It can be a time waster and for some people addictive. Having said that if you own a business its definitely worth a look and even a try before you decide whether twitter is terrific for building your business.

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Love it or hate it the new Facebook has certainly polarised social media discussions. This week  Facebook announced a number of changes designed to soothe the  many concerns Facebook  users  had voiced about the homepage re-design.

Over the last day or so these improvements have been gradually added to homepages.  Initial feedback from users is favourable and although Facebook will attribute this to the changes they have made  - perhaps it is also partly due to Facebook users  feeling less shellshocked second time around.

What Do You Think?
Now that Facebook Version 2 is live, its time for Facebook users to give their feedback. They certainly weren’t shy in providing feedback for Facebook Version 1. Whats  your opinion?

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Does Google care enough about social networks?  Should it be afraid, very afraid of the potential impact that the massive growth of social networks will have on the internet?  There are  some  analysts who thinks so and who would even go as  far as to say that  Google is ignoring social search because they’re jealous of social networks.

 Ross Sandler of RBC Capital Markets  gives us a reality check of the situation when he says that based  on its current rate of growth Facebook will be larger that Google by 2012.  Seems incredible doesn’t it –  a social networking site larger than Google.  Before you get all excited by this, remember that these projections are based upon Facebook maintaining its current growth rate.

Facebook is a social network of gigantic proportions. Its sheer size and interactive social community has made it an important Google traffic source.  In fact a  whopping 19% of Google’s sessions now originates from Facebook. To give you a  measure of Facebook’s growth,  last year 9% of all Google sessions came from Facebook.  I am sure that  the  business savvy people at Facebook are aware of  potential benefits this type of growth can create   and they  will not miss the opportunity to use these traffic  statistic as leverage to negotiate a deal with Google.

You don’t have to be a techno geek to know that Google and Facebook are two different entities. Clearly  social and search are two  different things.  I admit that at times they might overlap, but essentially they are two  separate things  that complement each other.  For instance you don’t use Google to tell you what your 1000 friends are up to, nor do you expect Facebook to find the exchange rate for converting  Swiss Francs to  US dollars.  

At present Facebooks growth is a positive event for Google. It is actually increasing Google’s search share when compared to  its rivals.  This  staggering  fact alone  should  have an important impact on any  future monetization  negotiations Facebook might have with Google .  But hang on a minute lets not forget that there  are other  interested parties  like  Microsoft, Yahoo that I  reckon  would also like to make  use of  Facebooks massive growth.

It’s interesting  that a social network like Facebook could overtake Google, but does it mean that Google should be afraid?  Imagine a  world where  Facebook becomes every single person’s  start page. Would  that make Google redundant? Would that be the end of Google?  Personally I can’t imagine the internet without Google.  What do you think?

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If your a techno geek you have probably heard the news from  SXSW  that Facebook Connect is coming to the iPhone and iPod Touch.

So what does this mean?  This means you can interact with Facebook using your iPhone and iPod Touch. But is also means that you can now interact with Facebook beyond just the Facebook app.

If  this idea sounds like something you want to know more about;  you can already see it in action with the Flixster app. The Flixster app is a free download from the app store.

So what can you do?  The “My Movies” tab lets you log into Facebook, once you have logged in you can then  check out which movies your friends want to see. Sounds like a great idea, but the really cool part is that not only can you check out the movies your friends want to see  but you can also see  how they rated the movies you want to see.

This mobile connection with Facebook means that if you are a iPhone  or iPod Touch user then the world is your oyster.  There is a whole  new world for opening up for  iPhone  and iPod users; believe me when I say  its not  just  limited to a “My Movies” tab. For instance, check out this cool example, there is a new game called Agency Wars that lets you take on the role of a spy and ambush friends in the real world using the GPS capability of your iPhone. 

One of the worst kept secrets on the internet is that  the mobile web is emerging as the new driving force of the Internet. It is estimated that of the billions of people connecting to the web each and every day, almost one billion will be connecting to social media  networks ( like Facebook) by 2012. 

Mobile devices are the new frontier and it  is the apps that are pushing the boundaries to where no person has gone before. They win hands down when compared to web browsers which are not designed to run applications. Yeah I know,  a lot of  JavaScript and AJAX fans are probably saying to themselves “hang on a minute” but you have to admit that mobile apps easily  interact with the web. Instead of being limited to the browsers functionality, mobile apps like the iPhone, and iPod touch can reach beyond the browsers functionality and make full use of current technology.

If you ask me, mobile apps are only going to become more popular, important  and intertwined with social networks as time goes by.  Facebook Connect  with its mobile apps is an exciting beginning for all iPhone and iPod Touch users.

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