Social Media Masher

Talk to any garden variety “social media expert”, and you’ll likely get a familiar pitch about how to use the “Big Five”, i.e.: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and Pinterest.

Social media is noisier than ever today, and cutting through that noise takes more resources and creativity than one might think. The tool below is a fun free peek at one of the many insight tools we apply with our S.M.A.S.H. Analytics.

Check or uncheck boxes as you wish, to see dozens of alternative social media options that take you beyond the noisy echo chambers of the major players:

Under 25 Crowd – In the time it took us to create this Social Media Masher, half of this list probably became old news. One safe bet for a while: mobile apps. For a peek at some of the more heavily trafficked youth market social ecosystems, check out Tumblr, DeviantArt, and Instagram. But apps like Snapchat and Vine are probably capturing more of this market’s short attention span.

25-35 Crowd – We’d ask the last person under thirty five leaving Facebook to turn off the lights, but then the 35-55’s would be left sitting in the dark. Want to reach this crowd? Think mobile, and think Apps. Still strong with this demographic: Instagram, Tumblr, and YouTube.

35-55 Crowd – As the youth market continues to rapidly abandon (or even outgrow) Facebook and Twitter, these sites become predominantly middle-aged in their user base. And people focusing on careers and leisure gravitate toward LinkedIn, Pinterest, and watching 90’s videos on YouTube.

Over 55 Crowd – While dozens of startups like Boomj, Eldr, Eons, Multiply, and Rezoom have taken a stab at this demographic, they have mostly failed. Maybe if they had tried to be less “Web 2.0” and not reminded the users of their age constantly with their marketing, they would have made headway. Simple fact: the 55+ crowd uses the mainstream sites Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube quite heavily.

Male Leaning Demographic – This selection and the one for the female demographic are not meant to be sexist, but the simple fact is that Google+, Reddit, and LinkedIn skew strongly toward the male demographic in their user base. And knowing who is using what is crucial.

Female Leaning Demographic – Did you know the Pinterest active user base is nearly 80% women? Likewise with sites like CafeMom and Gather.com. While we’re certainly not saying you should limit your aim to sites like these when trying to reach women, it’s useful to know who is using what.

G-Rated & Family – By its very nature, this niche is dominated either by major players like Disney, or by faith-based or genealogy sites. And usually not a great place to market ideas or products outside of the narrow niche of the site’s community. But MyHeritage and MyLife are interesting tools for finding connections, Cross.TV and Shoutlife are large and faith-based, and sites like WeeWorld are intentionally walled in some ways to be “safe”.

Corporate & Business Professional – LinkedIn is the no-brainer for basic networking and reputation creation, but there are dozens of niche sites out there, and a few global sites with broad scope that you may not have even heard of like Ryze, Viadeo, and Xing.

Creative, Edgy & Hip – While it may be fair to say that if we’re including a site here, it’s probably not actually hip any more, two things are leading the trends with hip, younger early adopters: brevity and organic connections. And avoiding Facebook and other well-worn social sites.Tumblr, Pheed, and Vine are strong here for different reasons.

Business Related – Generally when people think “business and social”, they think “LinkedIn”. But LinkedIn is a tool with vary narrow scope. Need to spread your expertise? Consider Ecademy, Slideshare, Full Circle, or Hub Culture. For location-based social, keeping an eye on your Yelp and Foursquare presence can be as important as the active promotion you do.

Entertainment – We mean this in the sense of promoting an entertainer, not as an inclusive list of social sites related to entertainment in general. Oddly, some of the best tools to use for promoting a professional entertainer are the same as those for other careers. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. But why not let your fans promote you, with social tools like Rabbl?

Commerce & Selling – Calling sites like eBay, eBid, and OnlineAuction “social” sites is a bit of a stretch, but Etsy and Woot fit the monicker well. And it’s much easier to become a seller on Amazon than you think. And its reach spans all social with great sharing/linking tools.

Craft & DIY Crowd – These are just a handful of the hundreds of craft, DIY, or “maker” sites out there. You may have heard of Etsy, Maker Faire, and Knowable, but CraftFoxes and CraftGawker are couple you probably haven’t, and the fact is that when it comes to niche crafts, a niche site may be a better tool than a heavily trafficked, generalized content site.

Tech Industry – While tech savvy users have a whole ecosystem of their own in terms of the niche sites they frequent, major sites like Google+, Slashdot, Reddit, and Technorati are amongst the sites with broader reach and a high density of tech-minded users.

Mass Market Video – YouTube is far and away the most versatile and broadly distributed video sharing tool on the web, but depending on your niche, you may find better-targeted results with Blip, Dailymotion, Veoh, and yes (gasp) even Myspace.

Fine Art & High Resolution Video – For longer videos or professional production features, Vimeo and Viddler may make a better choice. Not to sell YouTube short in this arena, it really is as much about prestige when it comes to the impression you created on line with video created off line.

Promoting a Website – SEO is still a smart start point here. If you’re not in Google, Bing, and Yahoo’s indexes, you won’t be found in web searches, unless you’re mentioned on some other well-trafficked site. But before you spend tons on SEO, consider social sharing sites like Reddit, StumbleUpon, Digg, and others, blogging/sharing sites like Squidoo, basic tools like RSS, or cross-platform promotion tools like HootSuite.

Promoting Music – This was one of the first forms of pop media to gain traction on the web, and it continues to evolve rapidly. The choices here basically boil down to how much you want to give away for free, whether your primary interest is selling or exposure, and whether or not you want to deliver both a physical and digital product. The short list here includes Audimated, Bandcamp, CDBaby, Last.fm, MOG, ReverbNation, SoundCloud, and TuneCore

Promoting Books – There’s a surprising shortage of “social” that’s devoted specifically to books (GoodReads, Library Thing, and Shelfari dominate), but this has been one of the most dynamic and closely-watched markets on the web lately, and things are evolving rapidly. Traditional publishers already went head-to-head with digital providers like Apple and Amazon, but in the space between these monolithic industries, there’s an incredible world of print-on-demand and digital publishing to explore. Using sites like CreateSpace, Lightning Source, and Oyster.

Promoting Film – If you’re promoting an actual film for broader distribution, and video sites like YouTube and Vimeo don’t serve your needs, there are not a ton of “social” sites that are not also very narrow in their focus. But for indy film, sites like IndieWire, Film Independent, and Twitch Film are making a splash.

Promoting & Sharing Photography – The choice here is mainly dictated by how much you want to share for free, and whether your aim is more to promote and share, or to sell. The top “social” sites that step outside the limited tools of sites like Facebook include 500 Pixels, Flickr, Fotolog and Shutterfly.

Beyond Facebook & Twitter