Social lending has become very popular. The economy has been suffering so much that most banks will not lend money to every day Americans. Americans are turning to social lending because this form of lending is much easier than borrowing money from banking institutions.

Websites such as prosper.com, virgin money, and lendingclub.com allow borrowers to get a loan from other people instead of banks or other lending institutions. The way that prosper.com works is that you write a brief summary that includes how much money you need to borrow and the highest interest rate you can afford. The lenders bid on your loan and after the bidding is over the loan money is given to you. There are fees and interest rates involved. Prosper.com charges a closing fee and the monthly payments are automatically withdrawn from your bank account.

Social lending is great for the economy. Most people are borrowing money to pay off debts, start businesses, repair their home, or get a car. The economy needs a shot in the arm. If people are not borrowing money from credit card companies and banks then our banks and credit card companies are less likely to fail due to the growing amount of delinquent credit card accounts. It also helps keeps to keep families financially stable so that they can survive through these rough economic times.

Social lending and peer to peer lending can have their down side though. Everyone knows that if you lend money to a friend or family member then you are not likely to every get your money back - but not necessarily if you put everything in writing. If you do lend out your money through web sites like prosper.com, it takes a while to recoup your investment and make a profit. If in the mean time you have a family or financial emergency then you can end up being in dire straits financially. Social lending is a very innovative thing. It benefits the lenders and the borrowers and helps to repair the economy at the same time.

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Social bookmarking hit the scene in 1996, but it wasn’t until 2003 that the phrase was officially coined. It’s taking the world by storm, and leaving an impressive mark on internet optimization.

When it comes to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), social bookmarking is opening the door for newer websites, and those websites that are not mainstream. Previously, SEO relied upon automated resource location and classification software, most commonly search engine spiders. Unlike the spider, social bookmarking allows websites to be categorized by actual users who understand the content of the source rather than relying on certain fixed parameters for classification. This allows website ranking to be based on actual consumer traffic, which is more useful to both internet and traditional marketers.

Social bookmarking also plays a role in Social Media Optimization (SMO) and Social Networking Optimization (SNO). SMO’s largest purpose is to generate user traffic from sources other than a search engine, so it allows for another large source of traffic. SNO is integral to this source of traffic, because social networks, such as MySpace, and Facebook, allow for people to share reviews across both a primary and secondary audience. This makes sharing more productive, as the secondary audience peruses the site and then may follow on to links that didn’t interest the target audience.

Marketers will benefit greatly from this growing trend. They have the ability to reach more potential consumers than ever before, and with preceding reputation. There’s no better advertising than personal recommendation, which is the heart of social bookmarking.

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The term social media is used to describe the use of today’s technology to distribute information and encourage people to connect with others who share a common interest. The use of electronic and internet tools allow users to actively participate in sharing information through comments, discussions, reviews and networking via text, graphics, audio and video. While the world once relied on traditional media such as newspapers, television, books and radio, social media has changed the way in which the world receives and views information.

Photo and Video Sharing sites continue to gain popularity because they are user-friendly. A registered user uploads the digital photos they want to share and share them with who they will.

Web Logs, better known as blogging, are interactive websites where individuals or businesses regularly make posts and allow readers to comment. They are often used to connect people of like interests as well as generating income for the writer.

News sites on everywhere on the web. A person can find all of the top names in news such as CNN, Fox News, and USA Today as well as specific news categories such as top stories, entertainment, sports or fashion.

Social bookmarking sites allow internet users to store their favorite sites and share them with others. Some of the most popular sites include del.icio.us, Digg and Stumble Upon.

Social reviews are used to provide user feedback on everything from products to movies. Many companies pay for reviews and, of course, there are always those freebies floating around. Many experts say that a bad review can literally destroy a company.

Traditional media has long been respected for providing reliable, professional reports on the happenings around the world. These reports usually include the facts of the story from the view of the reporter. Offering no option for feedback this media is very restrictive. In attempts to stay in the game traditional media has began to embrace a more interactive approach into their programming by developing websites that encourage their audience to respond to questions and polls as well as to post comments, photos and videos.

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It’s a small world after all! Social Network and Social Media 6 degrees apart. What do you think?

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So what happened to the old experiment that we’re all interconnected somehow by six degrees. Well according to an article I read from Tech Crunch - Six Degrees of Speration is now Three by Don Reisinge, that it is now just three -

Is it time to revise the old saw that everyone in the world is connected by just six degrees of separation? A study from French mobile carrier O2 has found that strangers are more connected to each other than they ever have been.

According to the study, the average person is now connected by just three degrees within a shared “interest” or social group instead of six. In fact, it found that people are usually a part of three main networks: family, friendship, and work.

O2 asked adults across three different age groups — 18-25, 35-45, 55+ — to make contact with random strangers from areas all across the globe using only personal connections. By linking their shared interests, the participants were able to connect to that person in three person-to-person links READ ON…

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full credit to: http://commoncraft.com

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Link building is an essential tool for SEO, and using social networks and other social media can be a fun way to build links. Using popular social networks such as Myspace and Facebook allow a website owner to connect with relevant consumers or business owners and presto: increase traffic to a website by suggesting a specific link (yours) to check out!

Millions of computer users spend a majority of their internet time on social networks including Myspace and Facebook. Having a Myspace profile allows is another way for a company to be found outside of major search engines. A Myspace or Facebook profile make a website accessible to target audiences just by “being there”.

Link building through social networks, such as Myspace, is very simple. Having a link posted on a profile is just the start. Joining groups and forums relevant to a website is an essential way to manually post links where you want them (search engines love it!), and to boost target traffic to your website.

Aside from the major social networking sites, like Myspace and Facebook, there are relevant social networks for nearly anything. For example, a website devoted to providing work opportunites for telecommuters may benefit from a social network like CafeMom: a social network for mothers. Consider the number of stay at home moms who either are or would like to be a work at home mom.

Using link building on social networks is not just SEO friendly because the major search engines approve, it is an effective way to reach a target market in a “real” way.

Link building through social network and social media (think Yourtube) profiles, forum posts and group messages are a genuinely effective way to promote a webite and boost SEO. The best part is, by joining relevant groups and forums an individual may also learn a thing or two!

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Today more than never before Personal Social Networks, have ramped the web with its “ädd me” craziness. I receive around two to three e-mails ever day from friends, colleagues and unknown people even, asking me to add them into my daily growing network of friends, and this looks like it is just starting to me, and maybe you as well.

Every single day new online communities are popping everywhere and people just love to jump into every
new social network appearing. Bigger social networks report every year amazing sums of money earned thanks to the social networks they create and manage so you can see the potential here also right?

Those networks are characterized for offering several tools to its loyal members, some of those are very interesting, in fact by simply joining a social network you could end with free services like, your own photo album, blogs, video and photo sharing options, audio features, event announcements, wikis, and some of the more technical related networks are even offering e-mail services with added sms capabilities, where your messages are sent over the web to your cellphone friends, and all this to the speed of light or at the speed you can type a nice message and hit sent.

This looks like a lot of fun no? This is so many free features to enjoy that you can not deny any longer not to be involved on this social revolution I am sure.

Do not forget that you could decide to start your own social network using some white label social networks, offering such collaborative tools, and more options and who knows maybe one day you will be the Internet millionaire! I suggest you give it a try today.

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