50 Social News Websites: A List of General and Niche Social Media Communities

I recently wrote a beginners guide to social news websites and this article follows up on that by offering a list of the social news websites you can use to get information and web traffic.

There are a great deal of social news sites on the internet, sometimes too many. Most of them are dormant and are no longer active, largely because they were poorly marketed and hence, never had an active community of users in the first place.

For instance, this webpage has a list of over 380 social news sites. Most of them are a waste of your time: they are riddled with spam or are so ill-promoted that they’ll never attract a critical mass of viewers or social news participants.

You don’t have a lot of time on your hands. You want a community that gives you fresh news on topics you care about. You want something that sends prospects and traffic while branding your website or business. You want a social news site with a long term returns on investment. Here’s a list of some of them.

50+ Social News Websites: Notes about this list

Image Credit: CNV00037

I spent some time going through hundreds of social news sites and came up with a list of sites which I think are worth exploring. Each site on this list is evaluated according to various criteria, including the no. of votes for each story and the frequency/date of submissions, all of which are indicators of user/viewer activity.

This list is not meant to be comprehensive. It doesn’t include every social news website out there but only the ones which I think has potential for providing you with relevant/fresh news while giving exposure to your ideas, brand or website.

Some of the sites on this list have a broad topical focus while others are created to cater to a specific niche. I’ve divided the list into two portions: General Social News or websites which cover a wide variety of news and Niche Social News which refers to specialized sites that only focus on a limited range of niche topics.

This list purely consists of English social news sites. There are no social bookmarking or social network sites included. I’ve not included video sharing sites because I’ll be writing more on them and video marketing in a future article.

Here’s a brief definition of social news sites, in case you’re unfamiliar with them:

Social News websites are communities which allow its users to submit news stories, articles and media (videos/pictures) and share them with other users or the general public. Some of these articles will be given more visibility, depending on various factors such as the number of user votes for each item.

Apart from counting registered user votes, some social news websites employ human editors to determine the visibility of each news item. Certain stories will be removed from the website while others may be given a ‘featured‘ position if the story is highly relevant and news worthy.

General Social News Websites

1. Reddit: Popular social news website with a large user base. Covers a wide range of news. Includes several topical sections called subreddits, which focus on specific topics like programming, science, politics and business.

2. Digg: The largest and most popular social news website on the internet. Covers all topics including politics, entertainment, technology and general news. Includes a separate video and image section.

3. Propeller: A social news site that covers all topics from technology to politics and entertainment. Operates in a similar fashion to Digg.

4. Fark: A community news site which allows users to comment on news articles. User submitted links will be posted on the main page once they are approved by the administrators.

5. Slashdot: Primarily a tech news site, Slashdot also covers topics like books, games, politics and entertainment. Users can submit stories and they may be published after editors approve it. A popular site that can send a large amount of traffic.

6. Metafilter: A community weblog which allows users to share links and discuss interesting websites/topics. Moderation is done through editors as well as peer pressure in order to prevent gaming.

7. I am bored: Covers general topics with a strong focus on weird and offbeat news. You can submit a link which may be posted after the editors approve it.

8. Mixx: A general social news sites which has a category for all types of news. Topics covered include business, entertainment, sports, health and tech. Includes the ability to create groups to share news with other users.

9. Shoutwire: General news site that is well populated with a loyal group of users. Topics covered include technology, politics, entertainment, lifestyle and sports.

10. Newsvine: A website consisting of community-driven news stories and opinions. Users have their own blogs and can write articles, save links to external content and vote/comment on other user stories.

11. IndianPad: A general social news site that with a large indian userbase. Topics covered include entertainment, sports, videos and tamil news.

12. Linkfilter: Covers all sorts of news. All links are posted and moderated by users. Links can be ranked on several levels: clicks, votes, age, or a combination of all three called points.

13. NewsCloud: A general social site with a focus on news in all topics. Similar to Newsvine, each user has their own blogs and can publish content to be voted up by other users.

14. Hugg: Hugg is a social news site with a strong focus on environmental issues. Also includes other categories like politics, science, fashion and technology.

15. Plime: A general news site which features a wide variety of topics ranging from religion and sports to technology or business. Odd news performs best in this community.

16. C2NN: An active social news site with a variety of topics including environment issues, business, politics, animals and offbeat. Similar to Hugg in focus but much more populated and active.

17. Kirsty: A general news site with a focus on fashion, entertainment and design on top of other topics like technology and food. Has a strong female user base.

18. Nowpublic: A participatory news network which focuses on citizen journalism. Each user has their own individual profile blog/page and can upload videos, images and news stories.

19. Stirrdup: General social news site with four broad categories: politics, technology, news and entertainment.

20. Searchles: A hybrid social news sites which covers all topics. Includes a video section and offers personalized filtering features and the option of joining groups made up of other users with similar interests.

21. Linkinn: A social news site that specializes in pictures and video. Covers a broad range of topics, particular offbeat and weird content.

22. Earthfrisk: Covers topics like humor, politics, entertainment and business. Combines a social network and group features with digg-style news voting.

23. Truemors: A social rumor news site which focuses on the publication of “true rumors that are relevant, informative, and interesting.” Users can post links anonymously via text, voicemail, web or email. Editors moderate content.

24. StumbleUpon: A social network and browser toolbar which allows users to channel surf the internet. Technically not 100% a social news site, although users can submit webpages to be rated by other users. Here is a guide to StumbleUpon.

25. Linkswarm: Covers a wide range of topics from celebrity gossip to funny media, science and politics. Focuses on pop culture and bizarre news as well.

Niche Social News Websites

Here are social websites which focus on a specific niche. For best results, only submit to them when your site falls within the same niche or covers the same topics. Or else you’re likely to be marked as spam.

26. Sphinn: Sphinn is a social site for search and interactive marketers. It’s designed to allow you to share and discover news stories, read and take part in discussions, discover events of interest and network with others.

27. Dzone: DZone is a free link-sharing community for developers. Other topics commonly featured include web design and programming.

28. Tweako: A user-powered site and social network with a focus on guides and tutorials in all categories like computing, technology, and the Internet.

29. Autospies: A social site that focuses on automotive news, car reviews, auto show photos and videos.

30. Design Float: A social news site for design-related content. Topics covered include business, freelancing, advertising, digital art and branding.

31. Ball Hype: A site that aggregates content from thousands of sports blogs. Users can submit stories and votes will determine if they make it to home page.

32. YCombinator Hacker News: A news site that focuses on technology, startups, business and entrepreneurship.

33. SWiK: A community driven resource for people who use open source software.

34. Buzzflash: A user driven progressive political news website that allows you to submit political stories.

35. DNHour: DNHour.com is a user-powered news portal built specially for the domain name industry. Most members are generally from the domain name industry, which includes domain name owners, companies or professionals.

36. PlugIM: PlugIM is a user driven internet marketing community. Topics covered include search engine optimization, products, business and marketing.

37.Showhype: Operates in a similar way to Ballhype. Stories come from two sources — users and aggregated content. Users can also submit a link to a story that they’ve found or write their own article on ShowHype.

38. Small Business Brief: A niche social site which focuses on small business news. Topics covered include marketing and sales, website development, management and entrepreneurship.

39. Hypediss: Social news site with a focus on design, fashion, urban culture and art.

40. Chictini: Product-oriented social site which a focus on new trends and styles. It’s possible to submit news stories although most of the submissions feature products from online retailers.

41. DotNetKicks: DotNetKicks.com is a community based news site that focuses on topics like NET development techniques, technologies and tools including ASP.NET, C#, VB.NET, C++ and Visual Studio.

42. Lipstick: Reddit-style social news site for celebrity gossip.

43. Hubspot: Social news site for marketers, entrepreneurs and business professionals.

44. Winelifetoday: A niche social site for wine lovers. Topics covered included news and opinion articles to do with wine.

45. iliketotallyloveit.com: Allows users to publish and share products with the broader public which they find cool, innovative, exceptionally beautiful, or just weird. Included with every item is a link to an online shop where it can be purchased.

46. Wordsy: A niche social news site for people who love reading and books. Topics covered include small presses, fiction writing, authors, book awards and poetry. (Note: Wordsy has suspended its site since Dec 2008)

47. Value Investing News: A niche social news site that covers stocks and investment news. A small but active community.

48. Teenwag: Focus on celebrity gossip. A hybrid social network with digg-style voting. Users can submit links to be voted up by other users.

49. Muti: Muti is a social bookmarking site inspired by reddit and Digg but dedicated to content of interest to Africans or those interested in Africa.

50. Tip’d: A social media site for finance, investing, and business topics. Tip’d users vote on stories they like by clicking the ‘Tip it’ button that appears next to each story, and then can comment by pressing the ‘Discuss’ link below the story.

This list is a work in progress. I’ll be updating it with new sites over time and I plan to include my own opinions of each site when I have the time. Right now, I’ve only written a very brief description of each site along with their niche focus. Know any quality site that should be included?

Email me instead of leaving it in the comments.

Pick the sites on this list which are relevant to your website or interests. If you haven’t already, register as a new member and click around the site to check out its features/stories. Submit a few stories and introduce it to some friends. If you enjoy the community, start using the site more frequently.

Feel free to bookmark this page for future reference. In the next article on social media marketing, I’ll talk about how you can participate in these social news sites.

From the App Store - iPad

All of the built-in apps on iPad were designed from the ground up to take advantage of the large Multi-Touch screen and advanced capabilities of iPad. And they work in any orientation. So you can do things with these apps that you can’t do on any other device.

Safari

iPad is the best way to experience the web. View whole pages in portrait or landscape on the large Multi-Touch screen. And let your fingers do the surfing.Learn more

Mail

There’s nothing like the Mail app on iPad. With a split-screen view and expansive onscreen keyboard, it lets you see and touch your email in ways you never could before. Learn more

Photos

A vivid LED-backlit IPS display makes viewing photos on iPad extraordinary. Open albums with a tap. Flip through your pictures one by one. Or play a slideshow and share your photos. Learn more

Videos

The 9.7-inch high-resolution screen makes iPad perfect for watching HD movies, TV shows, podcasts, music videos, and more. Learn more

YouTube

With the YouTube app designed specifically for iPad, videos are even easier to find. And on the amazing iPad display, they’re more fun to watch. Especially in HD. Learn more

iPod

Reach out and touch your songs. View your album art full-size. iPad makes music look as good as it sounds.Learn more

iTunes

Millions of songs, thousands of movies and TV shows, and so much more. Browsing and buying are just a tap away.Learn more

App Store

You’ll find more than 150,000 apps on the App Store, and iPad can run almost all of them. Including everything from games to productivity apps. Learn more

iBooks

Reading is a joy on iPad. Text looks crisp and bright. Pages turn with a flick. And you can buy new books from the iBookstore. Just download the free iBooks app to get started.¹ Learn more

Maps

See more of the world with iPad. Find locations easier than ever with street view, satellite view, or new terrain view — all using Google services. Learn more

Notes

With its large display and onscreen keyboard, iPad makes it easy to jot down quick notes and keep important information on hand. You can even email yourself reminders. Learn more

Calendar

Work, home, and everything in between. Your schedules are easy to read and easy to manage on iPad — even all at once.Learn more

Contacts

With Contacts on iPad, you can see much more than just names and numbers. And you can do more with them, too.Learn more

Home Screen

With just one press of the Home button, you have access to every app on your iPad. Learn more

Spotlight Search

No matter what you’re looking for, Spotlight Search can help you find it. Learn more

Accessibility

Universal access is built into iPad. So right out of the box, Apple makes it easy for people with disabilities to enjoy all that iPad has to offer. Learn more

iWork

The iWork productivity applications that you know and love on the Mac — Keynote, Pages, and Numbers — have been completely redesigned for iPad.² So you can create great-looking presentations, documents, and spreadsheets. All using just your fingers. And while they’re easy to use, they’re also the most powerful productivity apps ever built for a mobile device.

Keynote

Create a presentation with custom graphic styles, elegantly designed themes, stunning animations and effects, and powerful new features designed just for iPad. Learn more

Pages

Pages has everything you need to put your words into beautiful documents. Including Apple-designed templates and easy-to-use formatting tools. Learn more

Numbers

Numbers includes over 250 easy-to-use functions, an intelligent keyboard, flexible tables, and eye-catching charts. So you can create compelling spreadsheets in just a few taps. Learn more

The Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition (DRSG)

The Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition (DRSG) is the trade association for companies that provide products and services in the areas of demand response, smart meters and smart grid technologies.

DRSG works to educate and provide information to policymakers, utilities, the media, the financial community and stakeholders on how demand response and smart grid technologies such as smart meters can help modernize our electricity system and provide customers with new information and options for managing their electricity use

How will Google use the power of information for the energy industry?

Invisitrack..The New GPS?

Invisitrack, the new standard for GPS?

The location based service that works both indoors and outdoors.

Accurate within 3 meters

Can better penetrate through walls and other structures than higher-frequency bands like the 2.4GHz used for WiFi

Needs only 2 units for location to work

Find your car in a parking lot, your child in a mall

From SlashGear Invisitrack launches super accurate GPS alternative

The Internet...The New Nielsen Rating?

Your set top box is getting ready to include millions of new "TV channels" and the advertising industry will once again be turned upside down.


Eric Schmidt spoke at the Abu Dhabi Media Summit and CNN lists his Top 5 Moments From Eric Schmidt.

The paragraph that caught my eye.

Similarly, he suggested that TV producers should soon begin releasing shows online before they appear on TV. Why? Not because the online audience is more lucrative than TV – it’s not – but because the Internet provides a test bed where content creators can find out what will resonate with an audience.

Kind of like fail fast, fail cheap.

Many popular TV shows have already started to do this with "webisodes".

The question I have is this.

What happens when every video capturing device is Internet enabled and bandwidth/Internet access is ubiquitous?

I discussed how Google could become the Dynamic Nielsen Rating Giant.

When Johnny's soccer game can be streamed live on the Net and Grandma can watch it, think of the disruptive effect it will have on advertising.

The Internet will eventually be one massive set top box with millions of new "TV channels".

Could Apple Trigger The Cloud Computing Boom?

A major transformation took place when computing power moved from the PC/phone to the Internet.

The PC used to be the device that did the work and used the Net to deliver it. Now, the PC, iPod, cellphone are merely connection devices and the Net does the "work".

An example. Your home phone probably has a built in answering machine which jacked up the price for your phone. When the power goes out, so does the time and your recorded message. Your local phone company offers voicemail as a service option. For x amount a month they record and store your messages. Your phone no longer does the "work", your local phone company's server does.

This transformation is called "cloud computing" and it has disrupted the personal computing industry.

Consumers are maxing out their iPods and other digital devices. The next place to store their stuff is in the cloud.

I said a while back that Apple is sitting on a goldmine with iTunes.

iTunes could be a mobile commerce platform

Apple could introduce and iTunes browser.

iTunes represents a killer platform, it's only fitting that they lead the way to consumer cloud computing.

From C/Net Apple to store video in the cloud

By cramming digital songs, videos, and all manner of software applications on computers and handheld devices, there's some indication thatconsumers are maxing out hard drives, particularly on smaller mobile devices. That has led to speculation among Apple watchers that some consumers might slow their purchasing of new content, if they have nowhere to easily put it.


Now imagine being able to access ALL of your digital content from ANY device, regardless of your location? That is what Apple wants to do. Think of one password protected site that allows you to retrieve and play ANY of your digital content on ANY device....that is iTunes cloud computing.

Google And National Security Alliance (NSA) To Monitor Internet

Too much "Big Brother", or a great idea?

Will Microsoft's search engine, Bing see a surge in use because of this?

Will IPv6 help?

From Washington PostGoogle to enlist NSA to help ward off cyberattacks.

The world's largest Internet search company and the world's most powerful electronic surveillance organization are teaming up in the name of cybersecurity.
The sources said the deal does not mean the NSA will be viewing users' searches or e-mail accounts or that Google will be sharing proprietary data.
Over the past decade, other Silicon Valley companies have quietly turned to the NSA for guidance in protecting their networks.

Enable the (Hidden) Administrator Account on Windows 7 or Vista

Many people familiar with prior versions of Windows are curious what happened to the built-in Administrator account that was always created by default. Does this account still exist, and how can you access it?

The account is created in Windows 7 or Vista, but since it’s not enabled you can’t use it. If you are troubleshooting something that needs to run as administrator, you can enable it with a simple command.

Note: You really shouldn’t use this account for anything other than troubleshooting. In fact, you probably shouldn’t use it at all.

Enable Built-in Administrator Account

First you’ll need to open a command prompt in administrator mode by right-clicking and choosing “Run as administrator” (or use the Ctrl+Shift+Enter shortcut from the search box)
You should see a message that the command completed successfully. Log out, and you’ll now see the Administrator account as a choice. (Note that the screenshots are from Vista, but this works on Windows 7)

Now type the following command:

net user administrator /active:yes

and for turning it of type

net user administrator /active:no

How Parents Can Block Certain Websites from Children at Home

[For non-techie parents who have a computer at home and are worried about their kids safety online.]

block websites at homeA mother recently wrote saying she is very concerned that her young children are spending too much time on websites like Orkut, MySpace and Facebook.

Her worries are not just about children wasting time on the Internet – it’s more about the activities that children are doing on these sites. She is concerned that children could be interacting with complete strangers (or online predators) and even sharing personal information.

And with some news reports saying that criminal activities could have been planned on Orkut, the mother has finally made up her mind to restrict access to Orkut and some other websites on the home computer.

The only problem is that she has absolutely no clue about how to block websites – parental control software like Net Nanny or Norton Internet Security are pretty good but they cost money.

Now before you take this extreme step of blocking website (that is very likely to be opposed by children), try a few things:

1. Educate your children about the dangers of sharing information online with strangers. Family members should talk in detail about privacy and the web.
2. Place the computer in the living area of your home from where you can easily see the screen so you’ll have some idea about activities that children are doing on the computer including the websites they are visiting frequently.
3. Orkut is an open social network – that means you can easily see who’s in the friends’ list of your children and what kind of text notes (or scraps) are they exchanging with each.

Finally, to block websites on your home computer without investing in expensive software, here’s the trick (for Windows PCs):

Step 1: Click the Start button and select Run. Now type the following text in that Run box:

notepad c:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

Step 2: You will see a new notepad window on your screen containing some cryptic information. Don’t panic. Just goto the last line of the file, hit the enter key and type the following:

127.0.0.1 orkut.com
127.0.0.1 facebook.com
127.0.0.1 myspace.com

or

209.85.171.100 facebook.com
209.85.171.100 www.facebook.com

Save the file and exit. That’s it. None of the above sites will now open on your computer.

You can block as many websites as you like with the above technique. If you want to remove the ban later, open the same file as mentioned in Step 1 and delete the above lines.
download net nanny free

Pretty simple but remember, our children are also very smart

On FACEBOOK

http://www.facebook.com/people/Ronik-Rawat/1270426099

Earning Online

yestarday was the day when i was serching a source of earning through online jobs.
Before it i belives that it is easy to get a online job but i was wrong . I wasted my whole day
after browsing so many such kinds of jobs . But they all are want signup fee from me which
i dont have then on a legit job site i tryed to convence the help line exicutive
but he also told me that ther is no other way until you do not pay us the signup fee
thats all

Are you guys have the same experience
or you got the free job share your experience through comments because many people want to know