Ping.fm - site of the month

“Ping is a simple service that makes updating your social networks a snap.” In simple terms, Ping.fm is a tool that allows you to send updates to all of your favourite microblogging sites at the same time.

Ping is currently running a beta version but all the essential features are there, the main benefit being the ability to send updates to other social sites.

So why would you use Ping?

The answer to this question depends upon how much you use social networking sites. Ping is a great way of sending one update that covers all of your social network and microblogging sites. It has a pretty comprehensive list of sites that are covered including:

- Bebo
- Blogger
- Brightkite
- Custom URL
- Facebook
- FriendFeed
- Hi5
- Jaiku
- Identi.ca
- Kwippy
- LinkedIn
- LiveJournal
- Mashable
- MySpace
- Plaxo Pulse
- Plurk
- Pownce
- Tumblr
- Twitter
- Wordpress.com
- Xanga

It can also be used for messenger services such as Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger and AOL Instant Messenger.

Now unless you are a serious fan of social media, it’s doubtful that you have accounts with anywhere near all of the above. However, you do probably own accounts with a handful of these sites.

With one easy update, you can ensure your contacts at all of these sites keep up to date with what you’re doing and more importantly, keeping them remembering you and what you do.
How is this relevant to business?

Aside from being a nice way to stay in touch with friends, Ping.fm enables you to very easily (a matter of minutes, if not seconds) let all of your contacts know what you’re doing. This doesn’t have to be ‘having a cup of tea’ or ‘upset with the world’ but could be something meaningful that reminds people what you do such as ‘trying out new social media site Ping.fm’ or it could prompt a response, for example ‘know anyone that needs a new website?’ or even to seed a viral campaign or company news article – ‘thinks everyone should read http://www.bluhalo.com/blog/view/152/sports-website-design-its-all-about-engaging-fans’.

If you think this isn’t relevant to your business, then think about your personal business relevance. LinkedIn is known for its ability to open up job opportunities to its members – maybe your next job offer will come from a recommendation from one of your contacts…

Back to business and it’s also worth considering your brand personality. If you’re a B2C brand, it may be worth creating identities for your brand on some of the sites above – Ping can make managing these identities a more streamlined process and assist in retaining consistency across different sites.

One of the best features that Ping offers is the ability to include or exclude certain sites from your updates – great if you fancy a rant but don’t want colleagues to see!

Are there any bad points?

There aren’t many!

There doesn’t appear to be a way to send your updates via text message – only via email, which can cost more if you’re updating via mobile – dependant upon your tariff. The exclusion of certain sites from your updates requires you to learn various triggers such as yourcode@tt to post to twitter. However, it doesn’t take long to learn the triggers you need.

All in all, a very interesting site that could see some serious member numbers once out of beta version, or even before. Due to the fact that it’s currently in Beta you need a code from a member to get in on the action. These are quite easy to find by searching online or email me – I’ve already joined up and can send you the latest code.

Jocelyn Kirby