• by frank , July 13, 2009

Throughout the summer, I have posted a couple of blogs about different ways I am staying informed of my friend’s actions and how I am keeping them informed of my doings. The first blog was about Digsby and the second was about Alert Thingy. This blog is about the ultimate application in social network updating: Ping.fm

Even though I consider myself a mid to late adopter of new technologies, it has gotten to the point where I have joined more social networking sites that I am able to regularly update, let alone keep track of. Ping.fm is the solution to this.

Setting up an account takes about 20 or so minutes, depending on how many networking sites you use and how many options you want to update your different sites. Signing up can be done on the website, Ping.fm.

Once all that is squared away, the real fun begins. By using the website, text messaging, Skype, AIM, GChat Windows Live Messenger, iPhone app, mobile app or the iGoogle gadget, I can micro-blog, update my status message or post a blog on almost 40 different social networking sites.

Currently I post status updates/micro-blogs on Twitter, Facebook, AIM status, GChat status, Myspace and Tumblr. I post blogs on Livejournal, Myspace, Tumble, Blogger and Facebook. What would take me 5-10 minutes before by going to each site and updating individually takes mere seconds now, and there is no lag time between sending an update and it posting online.

The usefulness of Ping.fm doesn’t end there though. It can be customized depending on how you need to use it. I have set up one update process that just updates Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and Tumblr and another that just updates my GChat status and AIM status.

In addition to the social networking sites I have already mentioned, Ping.fm is also compatible with Bebo, Brightkite, Delicious, FriendFeed, Friendster, hi5, Identi.ca, Jaiku, Kwippy, Koornk, Laconica, LinkedIn, Mashable, Plaxo, Plurk, Pownce, Rejaw, WordPress.com, Xanga, Yahoo 360, Diigo, Multiply and You Are. The list grows often.

Of all the recent additions to my social networking repitore, Ping.fm has by far become my favorite.