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10 Social Media News Sources for Job Seekers
When I was unemployed, someone told me that looking for a job was a full time job. They were right. Anyone who assumes you have lots of free time just because you’re looking for work has probably never had your experience.
Believe me, I understand the stress and time commitment involved in a job search. At the same time, if you are looking for a job in social media or you’ve adopted social media as your primary job seeking tool, you’ll want to stay up to date on the goings-on in this technology.
Here are ten web resources you can use to stay up to date on social media during your job search (and beyond).
1. The Employers’ Blogs
There’s nothing better than hearing news from the horse's mouth. If you use any social media technology, then you’ll get the most reliable information directly from the company’s blog. In my news reader, I regularly check the Facebook Blog, the LinkedIn Blog, and the Twitter Blog for new feature announcements.
(Don’t tell the Social Media Gurus! You’ve just discovered how they know about this stuff before anyone else.)
2. Mashable
Mashable.com is one of the most popular, well written and timely websites for trending news in the social media world. They boast of 20 Million unique visitors with over 6 social media followers. By the time it take you to read this sentence, 60 articles will have been tweeted from their website. Their articles are fun, interesting and timely.
3. Social Media Examiner
“The Examiner,” as us social media nerds call it, consists of quick-tip blog style posts written by a variety of guest writers, mostly about marketing. Over five million readers check out their daily articles each year. Although this site is less about “the news," it’s interesting to read people’s opinions on how to use the technology over time.
4. Social Media Today
Social Media Today is a community driven news source where members contribute their insights to the editors who then decide to publish them or not. Each morning they release a “Morning Report” where the editors take the best of the day before so you can read the most interesting news quickly. Personally, I love user generated content sites, they report on the news faster and in a way that resonates with me.
5. Smart Brief- Social Media
If you don’t know what SmartBriefs are, then you definately want to get on board. This email service offers over a dozen email news services, from Small Business, Careers and in this case, Social Media. Their team of human beings compile daily emails packed with the latest news and analysis of whichever topic you choose to subscribe to. If you don’t feel like surfing the web, and just want to read the most important stuff in an email, SmartBriefs are great.
6. Forbes-Social Media
I’ve been interviewed on Forbes.com (a new tab will open for Forbes.com) on several occasions and believe that their writers are top notch, their editors have high standards, and their topics are always interesting. They frequently have topics related to social media in careers, in job search, and for personal use.
7. Read Write Web
Started as rival to Mashable, Read Write Web offers great technology news coverage, including social media news. One of their key contributors, Rick Turoczy, is a fellow Portland resident who I get to see at local tech events. I feel so special.
8. Windmill Networking
While we’re on the topic of friends, my long time social media compadre, Neal Schaffer, author of Understanding, Leveraging & Maximizing LinkedIn, writes a very useful blog called Windmill Networking. Neal is one of those I guys I turn to when I need an expert opinion about the impact a new feature will have, or the best ways to overcome weird social media challenges. He really believes in the power of networking and puts a wonderful human spin on this technology. His blog is my gift to you.
9. Alltop-Social Media
If you’ve made it this far down the list, you’re probably thinking, “How on earth can I stay up with all of these blogs, and still have time to eat?” Lucky for you, our friends at Alltop have just the cure. They hire actual human beings to curate the most important news from the most important news sites about hundreds of topics. Their resource page for Social Media might be the only place you go to stay up to date, and you’d be fine. It includes most of the sites from this article, all in one place.
10. Google Alerts
A Google Alert is a tool that tells you when Google indexes new content. I use Google alerts to see if my name has shown up. If you are targeting a specific company in your job search, it’s a great tool for staying up to date on their news. As a social media specialist, I use it to track “social media” AND “job search”. In my report, I read about any time someone writes a new article about how to use social media to find a job. You can also try other combinations like “social media” AND “careers." See Job-Hunt's Using Google for Job Search section for more examples and ideas.
Bottom Line
Social media has an impact on almost everything done in business these days, and, particularly if you are seeking a position in public relations, marketing, or sales, being up-to-date on the latest social media happenings will help your credibility as well as your job search.
© Copyright Joshua Waldman, 2013. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
About This Author
Joshua Waldman, author of Job Searching with Social Media For Dummies, is a recognized expert on Social Media Career Advancement. Joshua Waldman is also a speaker and trainer specializing in helping people re-gain control of their careers in today’s economic and technology climate.Connect with Joshua on his website CareerEnlightenment.com, and on social media through Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and his YouTubeChannel.