I knew I had to do something about it so I decided that the best thing I could do to get back on track was to publish a Weekend Roundup. I’m glad that I was able to finally overcome it and I hope that I could keep this up and continue to post updates in the coming days.

Hope you guys like reading this edition of the Weekend Roundup. Enjoy!

Blogging

• 5 Essential Tools Every Blogger Should Use
• Is it Time to Make Blogging Your Career?
• 5 Ways To Increase Blog Comments
• If I Were the Blogging Police…

WordPress

• 7 Benefits of Blogging with WordPress
• Year of the Meetup
• Creating a Shared Content Box Across All of Your WordPress Blogs
• WordPress Security Threats – Jan/2012

SEO

• The 10 Golden Rules to Attracting Authority Links
• 4 Social SEO Mistakes to Avoid
• Why Not Use Alexa for Competitor Analysis?
• 7 Blog Writing Tips With An SEO Focus

Social Media

• 9 Ways to Integrate Email and Social Media Marketing
• Getting The Most Out of Great Content in Social Media
• Google Begins Country-Specific Blog Censorship
• 5 Ways Writers Can Break Out of the Tired Old Social Media Box

Technology

• Surveillance Cameras Used To Study Customer Behavior
• Computer Program Reconstructs Heard Words From Brain Scans
• Do You Like Online Privacy? You May Be a Terrorist
• Microsoft Releases Kinect For Windows

Gadgets

• Spark – KDE Tablet
• Mad Catz Cyborg MMO 7 Mouse
• Boxx Eco-friendly Electric Bike
• Hot Wheels RC iNitro Speeders

Pinoy Blogs

• Using WiFi hotspots without permission: Cybercrime Prevention Act violation?
• How to update your LG Optimus Black to Gingerbread
• Android Users in the Philippines Increased by 300%, iPhone Users by 62% in 2011, According to Smart Communications! Smartphone Users to Rise Sharply in 2012!
• Jollibee On-Line Delivery via Facebook

If you have any questions, comments, suggestions or would want to share your article or any interesting story that you found in the Internet and have it featured in the next Weekend Roundup, feel free to leave a comment or send me a message via the contact page.

Last month I blogged about a social photo sharing app called Photovine. This app was released almost the same time as Google+ and was created by Slide a company acquired by Google last year. I only got to try out Photovine a few days ago and I really like it. I love Instagram but Photovine provides a different type of experience.

Photovine has a lot of potential and I believe that it can be successful in the social photo sharing market. Unfortunately, we’ll never get to find out because Photovine along with other Slide social apps like Slideshow, SuperPoke! Pets, Video Inbox and Pool Party will be “retired” in the coming months. This was announced yesterday via Slide’s official blog.

We wanted to give you all advance notice that in the coming months, a number of Slide’s products and applications will be retired. This includes Slide’s products such as Slideshow and SuperPoke! Pets, as well as more recent products such as Photovine, Video Inbox and Pool Party. We created products with the goal of providing a fun way for people to connect, communicate and share. While we are incredibly grateful to our users and for all of the wonderful feedback over the years, many of these products are no longer as active or haven’t caught on as we originally hoped.

Most importantly, we wanted to take this opportunity to reassure you that we’re committed to helping our users preserve their data as easily as possible. We recognize that many of you have stored valuable content with us and want to assure you that, wherever possible, you will have ample time to download that information or transfer it to another service.

For example, on Slide.com, we will enable users to either download their photos or export them to a Picasa account. We are working to release this export feature over the coming weeks and, once added, users will have several months to take advantage of transferring their photos.

Thanks again for all of your support, and we appreciate your patience as we continue to share more details in the coming days and weeks on how to access and save your content from specific Slide products. If you have any questions or feedback, don’t hesitate to contact us at feedback@slide.com. Or visit this page for any additional updates.

Anybody else use Photovine or other Slide social apps? Do you think Google’s decision to shut down Slide’s social apps is a good one? Should Google keep Photovine running? Please share your thoughts.

The other day, I came across an animated and interactive infographic called State of the Internet 2011. Like the State of the Internet video, this infographic details the different Internet statistics but the only difference is that the data/numbers in the infographic are more up-to-date.

Here’s a short introduction for the State of the Internet 2011 infographic.

The Internet is a strange, huge beast. It is getting bigger, faster and more mobile each day. Ferocious social networks fight each other to be on top and gain more of our attention and personal information. An entire economy is generated from our browsing habits. This is the face of the Internet now. .

Some interesting data from the infographic:

• 1.2 Million Editors editing 11 million articles per month on Wikipedia.
• 1 person out of 13 is on Facebook.
• 2 billion YouTube videos watched daily.
• 89% of emails are spam.
• Only 20% of individuals in the developing world are online.
• There are 152 million blogs on the Internet.

The screenshot above is only a sample. The real infographic is interactive so some of the data are interactive and dynamic so it depends on how long the user has viewed the infographic. The data are reset when the user refreshes the infographic page.

The infographic must’ve been made earlier this year because it doesn’t include or contain any information regarding Google+. It would be interesting to see an updated version of this infographic that includes Google+.

Click here to access the State of the Internet 2011 animated infographic.

Believe it or not, more and more employers are using social media to find talent. According to a survey by Jobvite, 80% of employers are using to support their recruitment efforts and the top 3 channels being used are LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Getting a job via social media is without doubt common as much as job seeking in online ads.

With its easy access, there will be more and more applicant flow in those channels. It will be more competitive. Now, the challenge is how to maximize your job search on social media to make sure you find all the possible jobs you are qualified in.

1. Search within social media

The magic word is “search”. But where to start? LinkedIn is an undisputed social media job search platform but other popular channels like Facebook and Twitter should never be left out of your search lists. LinkedIn’s Job section provides a list of jobs closely related to your LinkedIn profile which is based on your work history and connections.

In Facebook’s case, what you do is to search for company pages (you want to work with) and follow them. Some pages post vacancies on their wall or some have a dedicated jobs tab like one of TeleTech Pilipinas. If you are not aiming for a certain company and simply a job title, use the Facebook search function. Try searching for the keyword “jobs” on search and you’ll get useful links and pages.

For Twitter, simply follow a company or do the tweet search function. Some brands have a dedicated channel for recruitment but others integrate it to their main social media accounts.

2. Network with the recruiter

LinkedIn makes it easy for anyone to network with a hiring manager. If you already set up your profile with a profile picture, upload your email contacts. This is to start with a few set of networks in LinkedIn. See your immediate network if you can get introduced to a hiring manager. You can also search for a company and a position readily accessible in LinkedIn.

Also, join groups relevant to your industry and follow companies. They post career opportunities there as well.

3. Grow your online influence

Not all can be considered influencers – or the thought movers and conversational leaders – but everyone has influence. Most businesses operate online. Having a bigger network than your fellow applicants gives you a better chance. Why? It’s a skill. It’s not only the numbers. It’s what you do in the internet that manifests a soft skill of online influence. If you got more network and influence, especially when a job benefits from it (e.g. PR, marketing), it’s a given advantage. Klout.com can be a way of measuring your influence online.

Some employers even check out on your online profiles in Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, blogs, etc. Just a name search on Google and they’ll found out who you are and what you say online (as long as your profile is public).

4. Leverage Smartphone Job Apps

LinkUp found that 20% of jobseekers use their smartphones to look for a job. Apps like CareerBuilder, JobCompass, Monster, BusyBee and many more will help you find one customized and filtered to your needs. Also, utilize RSS or job alerts from your favorite job boards. You can’t miss an opportunity on the go.

5. Start a social resume

Get attention by showing off your creativity skills using video, infographics, or slideshow presentations as an alternative/additional resume and upload them to video/presentation-sharing websites like Youtube and Slideshare.

You can start a website or a blog. Design its format and design. Put content relevant to your job like blog posts, multimedia, about yourself, and integrate your social networks. Don’t forget to include a portfolio of your works and how they can contact you. Land a job by having your online profile easily shareable.

For those of you who are already on Google+ or know what it is about, you don’t have to worry about explaining what this new social network is about and how it works. Just share the video below to all your family, friends, co-workers and other people who wants to know about Google+. I bet you could even use this video to convince your friends on Facebook to try if not switch to Google+.

Kudos to the video author, YouTube user “epipheo“. He did a very good job with the presentation of the facts and at the same time, making it simple and easy to understand. I also like the way he explains Google+ and the issue about privacy settings on Facebook as explained in the video description:

Google Plus is Google’s new social network. But why start a Google Plus account when you already have a Facebook account? Well, Facebook was developed on the premise that everyone is your “friend” which isn’t how your social circles work in real life. Google plus is built so that you can intuitively break up all your connections into “circles” and treat each circle separately. (Facebook allows you to do some of the same things but the privacy settings are confusing and constantly changing.)

Btw, if you want to try Google+ and would like an invite, just leave a comment below or send me a message via the Contact page.

How do you like the What is Google+ (Google Plus) and do I need it? video? Who among you here are already on Google+? Have you completely switched to Google+ and totally abandoned Facebook or you plan to keep both? What other issues and concerns have made you switch to Google+? Please share your thoughts.