Top 100 Social Media Tools

Social NetworkNot sure if this is something to be proud of, or ashamed about, but I’m using (or have used) about 70% of the applications in the list. The encouraging thing is to note how many of these applications are free to use. The list has been compiled from a cohort of learning professionals who shared their Top 10 Tools for Learning both for their own personal learning/productivity and for creating learning solutions for others. If you want to influence the list and rankings, then head off to the Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies.

TOP 10

Key to availability: D=download; H=hosted; C=insert code onto page

Ranking

Tool

Votes

Description

Cost

Avail

2008

2007

1

2

del.icio.us

58

del.icio.us Social bookmarking tool

Free

H

2

1

Firefox

50.5

Firefox Web browser

Free

D

3

3=

Skype

43.5

Skype Instant messaging, VoIP tool

Free

D

4

7=

Google Reader

42

Google Reader RSS/Feed reader

Free

H

5

3=

Google Search

38.5

Google Search Web search tool

Free

H

6

6

WordPress

35

WordPress Blogging tool

Free

H/D

7

5

PowerPoint

32.5

PowerPoint Presentation software

£

D

8

14

Google Docs

29

Google Docs Web-based documents

Free

H

9

11

Audacity

28

Audacity Sound editor and recorder

Free

D

10

7=

Gmail

27

GMail Web-based email

Free

H

TOP 11-20

Ranking

Tool

Votes

Description

Cost

Avail

2008

2007

11

26=

Wikipedia

26.5

Wikipedia Online encylopedia

Free

H

12

9

Blogger

26

Blogger Blogging tool

Free

H

13

12=

Moodle

26

Moodle Course management system

Free

D/H

14=

17=

iGoogle

20

iGoogle Personalised start page

Free

H

31=

Slideshare

20

Slideshare Hosting/sharing presentations

Free

H

16=

22=

YouTube

19

YouTube Video hosting/sharing site.

Free

H

16

flickr

19

flickr Photo storage/sharing site

Free

H

43=

twitter

19

twitter Microblogging and social network

Free

H

19

31=

Ning

18

Ning Social networking tool

Free

H

20

15

Wikispaces

17

Wikispaces Wiki tool

Free/£

H

22-91

Ranking

Tool

Votes

Description

Cost

Avail

2008

2007

21=

22=

Articulate

15

Articulate Presenter/Engage/Quizmaker

£

D

101=

VoiceThread

15

VoiceThread Collaborative slideshows

Free/£

H

23=

12=

Bloglines

13

Bloglines RSS/Feed reader

Free

H

26=

SnagIt

13

Snagit Screen capture tool

Free/£

D

10

Word

13

Word Word processing software

£

D

26

17=

Captivate

12

Captivate Demo and scenario-based tool

£

D

27=

17=

Facebook

11

Facebook Social networking site

Free

H

26=

iTunes

11

iTunes Music and podcast player

Free

D

29

17=

Outlook

10

Outlook Email software

£

D

30

43=

Flash

9

Flash Animation authoring tool

£

D

36=

Google Calendar

9

Google Calendar Web-based calendar

Free

H

Jing

9

Jing Record/share screen captures/casts

Free

D/H

101=

Pageflakes

9

Pageflakes Start page

Free

H

57=

Zoho

9

Zoho Suite Online office suite

Free

H

35=

50=

Camtasia Studio

8

Camtasia Studio Screencasting tool

£

D

31=

LinkedIn

8

LinkedIn Social network

Free/£

H

17=

MindManager

8

MindManager Mind mapping tool

£

D

38=

31=

OpenOffice

7

OpenOffice Office software suite

Free

D

43=

PB Wiki

7

PB Wiki Wiki tool

Free/£

H

57=

TypePad

7

TypePad Blogging tool

£

H

41=

26=

Dreamweaver

6

Dreamweaver Web authoring tool

£

D

36=

Google Maps

6

Google Maps Maps of the US. UK, etc

Free

H

101=

SecondLife

6

Second Life Virtual world application

Free

H

44

22=

Excel

5.5

Excel Spreadsheet software

£

D

45=

72=

Adobe Connect

5

Adobe Connect Web meeting/conferencing

£

H

Blogs/Blogging

5

Blogs and blogging tools Of all types

Free/£

H/D

72=

diigo

5

diigo Social bookmarking

Free

H

72=

Edublogs

5

edublogs Blogging tool for educators

Free

H

72=

eXe

5

eXe SCORM content authoring

Free

D

50=

FreeMind

5

Freemind Mind mapping tool

Free

D

Garageband

4

Garageband Personal recording studio

Free

D

57=

Google Alerts

5

Google Alerts Keep track of new information

Free

H

101=

Google Apps

5

Google Apps Communication/collaboration

£

H

31=

Internet Explorer

5

Internet Explorer Web browser

Free

D

43=

iPod

5

iPod MP3 player

£

72=

Keynote

5

Keynote Presentation software

£

D

26=

Netvibes

5

Netvibes Personal start page

Free

H

Nvu

5

Nvu Web authoring tool

Free

D

Wetpaint

5

Wetpaint Wiki tool

Free

H

58

72=

Adobe Reader

4.5

Adobe Reader PDF Reader

Free

D

59=

50=

Adobe Photoshop

4

Photoshop Photo/Image editing tools

£

D

Basecamp

4

Basecamp Collaborative, project management tool

Free/£

H

50=

Elluminate

4

Elluminate Web meeting/conferencing

Free/£

H

40=

Google Earth

4

Google Earth Geographic information

Free

D

36=

Google Scholar

4

Google Scholar Search for scholarly literature

Free

H

Linux/LAMP

4

LAMP Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP

Free

D

72=

Notepad

4

Notepad HTML and text editor

Free

D

OneNote

4

OneNote Personal Information Manager

£

D

Opera

4

Opera/Opera mini Web browser

Free

D

Paint.NET

4

Paint.NET Image and photo editing

Free

D

Stumbleupon

4

Stumbleupon Social bookmarking tool

Free

H

Ustream

4

Ustream Live, interactive broadcasting

Free

H

Wink

4

Wink Software demonstration tool

Free

D

72=

Yugma

4

Yugma Web meeting/conferencing

Free/£

D

73=

22=

Thunderbird

3.5

Thunderbird Email client

Free

D

74=

101=

Blackboard

3

Blackboard Course management system

£

D

101=

Bubbl.us

3

Bubbl.us Mind mapping tool

Free

D

ClassTools

3

ClassTools Create Flash-based learning

Free

D

72=

Drupal

3

Drupal/DrupalEd Content management system

Free

D

Filezilla

3

Filezilla FTP client

Free

D

72=

Furl

3

Furl Social bookmarking tool

Free

H

Google Analytics

3

Google Analytics Website analysis tool

Free

C

101=

Google Sites/ Jotspot

3

Google Sites/Jotspot Wiki tool

Free

H

iMovie

3

iMovie Video editing software

£

D

Lectora

3

Lectora Course authoring tools

£

D

36=

MediaWiki

3

MediaWiki Wiki tool

Free

D

Polldaddy

3

Polldaddy Polling and survey tool

Free

H/C

RSS

3

RSS Really Simple Syndication

Free

Skitch

3

Skitch Screen capture tool

Free

D

SMART interactive whiteboard

3

SMART Board Interactive whiteboard tools

Free

D

Survey Monkey

3

Survey Monkey Survey and questionnaire tool Free

H

57=

Yahoo Mail

3

Yahoo Mail Web-based email

Free

H

91

57=

TeacherTube

2.5

TeacherTube Instructional video sharing site

Free

H

92-133

Ranking

Tool

Votes

Description

Cost

Avail

2008

2007

92=

72=

Adobe Presenter

2

Adobe Presenter Narrated presentations

£

D

72=

Cmap

2

Cmap Concept mapping tool

Free/£

D

Comic Life

2

Comic Life Create comics from photos

£

D

101=

CourseLab

2

CourseLab Course authoring tool

Free

D

101=

CutePDF Writer

2

Cute PDF Writer PDF Conversion tool

Free

D

digg

2

Digg Social bookmarking and rating

Free

H

101=

eSnips

2

eSnips Upload and share files

Free

H

101=

FeedBlitz

2

FeedBlitz Feed to email service

Free

H

101=

Gabcast

2

Gabcast Phone in your podcast

Free

H

Gcast

2

Gcast Podcasting service

Free

H

Geogebra

2

Geogebra Mathematics software

Free

D

43=

GIMP

2

GIMP Image/photo editing tool

Free

D

72=

Gliffy

2

Gliffy Diagramming tool

Free

H

40=

Google Desktop

2

Google Desktop Computer search/organiser

Free

D

50=

Google Notebook

2

Google Notebook Personal online notebook

Free

H

iPhoto

2

iPhoto Photo management tool

£

D

Joomla

2

Joomla! Content management system

Free

D

101=

Meebo

2

Meebo Instant messaging tool

Free

H

101=

MindMeister

2

MindMeister Mind mapping tool

Free/£

D

101=

Mozy

2

Mozy Online backup tool

£

H

OmniFocus

2

OmniFocus Task management tool

£

D

72=

OmniGraffle

2

OmniGraffle Diagramming tool

£

D

OmniOutliner

2

OmniOutliner Keep track of projects

£

D

ooVoo

2

ooVoo Video chat and conferencing

Free

D/H

72=

Paint Shop Pro

2

Paint Shop Pro Image editing tool

£

D

57=

Picasa

2

Picasa Picture editing tool

Free

D

Portable apps

2

Portable apps Suite of apps for a USB stick

Free

D

72=

Quicksilver

2

Quicksilver Interface to work with PC apps on Mac

£

D

Remember the Milk

2

Remember the Milk Manage your tasks

Free

H

72=

Safari

2

Safari Web browser

Free

D

Scratch

2

Scratch Create interactive stories/animations

Free

D/H

50=

Scribd

2

Scribd Document hosting and sharing site

Free

H

Sony Vegas Video

2

Sony Vegas Video Video production tool

£

D

72=

Tiddlywiki

2

TiddlyWiki Personal wiki tool

Free

D

Trillian

2

Trillian IM Aggregator

Free

H

tumblr

2

tumblr Micro-blogging platform

Free

H

Ubuntu

2

Ubuntu Linux-based operating system

Free

D

Wikis

2

Wikis Of all types

Free

D/H

Windows LiveWriter

2

Windows LiveWriter Desktop blogging tool

Free

D

50=

Yahoo Groups

2

Yahoo Groups Community tool

Free

H

Zamzar

2

Zamzar Online file conversion tool

Free

D

72=

Zotero

2

Zotero Firefox add-on to support research

Free

D

31 Comments

  1. Debi K said:

    Thanks for pulling this list together – with your feedback we can get more than two votes! Let us know what you’d like to see:)

    Note: Gliffy is a hosted program.

    Many thanks,
    debik at gliffy dot com

    April 1, 2008
    Reply
  2. Steve Dale said:

    Debi,

    thanks for the feedback. Have corrected Gliffy.

    Steve

    April 1, 2008
    Reply
  3. […] Steve Dale online » Top 100 Social Media Tools Nice piece of analysis [via Ed Mitchell] (tags: social media tools software via:edmittance) […]

    April 2, 2008
    Reply
  4. […] Top 100 Social Media Tools for teaching and learning learning professionals who share their Top Tools for Learning both for their own personal learning/productivity and for creating learning solutions for others (tags: socialmedia socialnetworking software tools web2.0 learning teaching) […]

    April 27, 2008
    Reply
  5. […] be signposting guides to social media useful for 2gether-ers. Steve Dale lists Top 100 Social Media Tools. There’s an A-Z of social media […]

    May 23, 2008
    Reply
  6. Steve Dale said:

    Thanks for the comment re iSpring Pro. It’s probably not the only missing app, but so difficult to keep up with these things!

    Steve

    August 19, 2008
    Reply
  7. […] to the fact that it’s cheap bus fare time out there in the digital age. More than cheap actually, most of the tools are free. But, what drove us onto the buses in the 1980s wasn’t just the reduction in fares. That […]

    September 4, 2008
    Reply
  8. Steve Dale said:

    Thankyou – now corrected.

    Steve

    October 28, 2008
    Reply
  9. Twitter, facebook and digg are probably the most popular social media services today. Very good compilation covering almost every popular social media service.

    November 24, 2008
    Reply
  10. Ernesto said:

    Good list but as a french langage webmaster i judge that dailymotion a video sharing service deserved to be part of this list.

    February 19, 2009
    Reply
  11. Steve Dale said:

    Ernesto – thanks for the comment. I wasn’t aware of Dailymotion Will look into.

    Steve

    February 19, 2009
    Reply
  12. […] (Linda Goin) in relation to the ‘Digital Divide’. Here’s the idea: social media tools and high speed internet access (or even any internet access sometimes) provide a quantum leap of […]

    August 19, 2009
    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.