Razz, Crank Calls Go Mobile

Razz describe themselves as “Audio Candy for Web and Mobile,” I personally think that audio candy is a huge understatement! The site allows you to do everything from creating your own personal ring tones to inserting Mr. T phrases and Fart sounds into your phone conversations, ultimately making your cell phone more entertaining than your computer or the TV. I especially love the fact that you can make individualized ring tones for each number in your phone book. How does that work you might ask? Well simply record a message such as “I’m calling to bother you,” attach it to your friend’s number and prepare to laugh every time they call your phone! A friend tipped me off on the crank call component of the site a few weeks ago, and I’ve been using it to make hilarious harass my friends and family ever since. I really confused my dad the other day when I called for his birthday, he had no idea what was going on when Mr. T said “I pity the Fool” in the middle of our conversation! I would definitely suggest trying it out, and soon.

Vox Makes Your Blog Pretty

Vox has been on the radar for a little while now and hopefully has already become one of your favorite websites. Similar to Xanga or Blogger, Vox allows users to post everything from updates and blog entries to videos, photos and other personal content. Additionally, members can join groups and connect with other Voxers to develop and grow their individual neighborhoods of contacts. I love the mass customization that the site provides, giving users the option to choose from various layouts and designs that can be used to decorate and modify their blog to directly represent their individual style and persona. My page is complete with Fish, Seahorses and a big Octopus, all of which have nothing to do with my personality, but they definitely make Vox much more fun and appealing to post on than a boring Xanga or LiveJournal profile!

Mog, Last.fm's cooler, hotter brother

Mog is the latest, and in my opinion one of the best, Music-based social networking site to hit the web in the last few months. The site primarily functions as an aggregator for all of the music that you are listening to, similar to a service like Last.fm, but the fun doesn’t stop there. Not only will Mog track your playlists, it will also give you recommendations of other similar artists, allow you to blog and post your favorite tracks or albums, and most importantly, connect you to like-minded Moggers with whom you can share tracks, feedback and new musical discoveries. Additional features that make Mog stand out include a video section called Mog TV that randomly streams new and popular music videos from YouTube, and a very cool section of the site where popular musicians and celebrities like Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie and others have created their own Mog profiles for fans to track. I highly recommend Mog for anyone who is musically obsessed and in need of new tunes!

Takkle, Social Networking Meets High School Athletics

If there was any question as to which Sports Social Networking site was ahead of the pack, the folks at Takkle.com have kindly gone out of their way to clarify any uncertainty. Though it is primarily dedicated to High School Athletics, and thus lacks much of the professional team integration on which competitors like FanNation or BallHype thrive, Takkle does a superb job at bringing athletes, coaches and fans together into one community. With features ranging from sport-specific interest groups, targeted video upload contests and an exclusive partnership with Sports Illustrated to help find the top High School athletes in the country, Takkle has certainly covered all of their bases in the Online Sports world. I can see the site eventually joining up with Facebook to help further develop their “My Teams” feature which tracks teams at your respective high school and allows you to view the profiles of other student athletes at your school and in your community.

All successful products, services and even websites have a differential advantage that helps them stand out from the competition, and Takkle is no exception. Not only is this site one of the most expansive sporting social networks around, but the fact that it focuses on high school athletics, and bringing younger athletes together, should allow the site to capitalize on an ever-growing niche audience that currently lacks any means of interacting and discussing their favorite sports. High School athletics have always been a cornerstone of any local community, whether it is a Friday-night Football showdown with a neighboring rival, or a pep rally before the big State Championship game, very few activities have the power to unite individuals from all walks of life quite like high school sports.

Cluztr, Tracking Your Every Move Online

Every now and then you come across a new website that completely makes your day, I have had one of these moments this morning, and the lucky site is Cluztr.com. Still in private beta, Cluztr is what you might call a “personal web-tracking” service that helps users by monitoring the websites that they and their friends are visiting. The possible uses for this site are seemingly endless, ranging from a simple stalking tool to keep up on your friend’s daily activities, to a personal recommendation page that will tip you off to sites of interest based on your previous click stream (similar to StumbleUpon). After installing a simple download into your web browser, Cluztr will begin to observe your web activity, compiling a list of the sites you (and your friends) have recently visited.

The site’s social component includes features that pull from similar pages like Digg and Del.icio.us. Users can sort popular sites based on total visits, views in the last week/day and the site also provides with a cloud view to see which sites are most popular overall. In addition to these aspects, perhaps the best use of the site is for its ability to link you directly to various profiles that you have on different social networking sites. From one single page, users can quickly and easily check their Facebook profile and then click over to view a page on Hi5, Grouper, Break or virtually any other website. I’m sure that there are other pages that have this capability, but Cluztr seems to streamline the whole process and incorporate it into the larger web-tracking service to make one entirely awesome service!

Why Do We Really Use Social Networks?

The folks over at Mashable have recently brought up an interesting point that has undoubtedly been debated and discussed throughout the blogging community since the beginning of the Web 2.0 phenomenon: Why do people really use Social Networking sites? The idealist would certainly say that these sites are useful tools for interacting with existing friends and meeting new peers who share similar backgrounds, interests and experiences. At the same time, the Negative Nancy of the group might say that these websites are nothing more than an excuse to ogle random strangers, stalk your high school crush and most importantly, get some love. To that end, Mashable has proposed the question, which Social Networking site is most likely to get you laid? Choices range from popular communities like Myspace, TheFacebook and Friendster, to smaller niche sites like MyBlogLog and Stickam. While Mashable readers are probably not the best demographic to answer this monumental question, they do seem to feel that Myspace (133 votes out of 372) is best suited to help you score. Interesting Information? Sure…A valid critique of Social Networking? I don’t think so.

While it is very easy to just jump on that bandwagon and joke that these Social Networks are ultimately used as a means of hooking up with existing friends or random strangers, I really don’t think that this is the case for a majority of users on these sites. Clearly Myspace facilitates a more sexual/relationship-based interaction, all one needs to do is look at a random teen’s profile to know that they are using the site to sell themselves as much as for any interpersonal communication. However, Myspace is by far the exception rather than the rule when it comes to all aspects of social networking.

The overwhelming majority of new sites are much more focused on relationship building and sharing common inertest than meeting people for a random hook-up. Even a website like TheFacebook, while it may be perfect for stalking and keeping close tabs on friends and acquaintances, is legitimately used for everything from facilitating college elections, planning group events and, as we have seen most recently after the Virginia Tech tragedy, connecting a huge community of individuals who share the same wants, dreams and struggles. Additionally, popular social networks like Digg, Del.icio.us, YouTube and LinkedIn place very little emphasis on images or personal description, stressing quality of content over characteristics of the individual user. I don’t question the tendency younger, hormone-driven kids to use these sites for “personal gain,” but those same kids use everything from sporting events to study sessions as an attempt to hook up with their latest crush. Perhaps I just have too much faith in humanity, but I don’t think that a majority of users are signing up for accounts on these sites just to find another one-night-stand, but who knows!

Sawlogs, What do Bloggers Dream About?

While it seemed like the blogosphere was absolutely full-to-capacity many months ago, recent weeks have seen a continued increase in the number of internet users who have taken to the web in order to stand on their soap-boxes and preach to the world. It is odd that I take such a satirical tone, seeing as I am currently writing a blog entry myself, which makes me part hypocrite and…well…all hypocrite. Regardless, it seems as if individuals have taken the concept of blogging to an extreme, and if you would like to challenge me on that, you need only look to the latest in a long line of niche blog sites called Sawlogs.com to see that my comments are valid.

Sawlogs provides users with a platform to post and comment about their dreams and nightmares, as if that were really something that needed to be discussed. The most active users make daily blog entries describing their dream(s) from the previous night, with topics ranging from sexual fantasies to obscure and convoluted tales of action and adventure. I find it amazing to see just how candid many of these bloggers are in recounting their dreams to the world. Perhaps I’m just a little more protective of my dreams; or maybe I am simply embarrassed at the different things that I dream up in my head! Regardless, I don’t know if I could take my blogging so far as to tell the world the details of such personal dreams. With an easy-to-use interface and a seemingly endless stream of new content, Sawlog seems to be doing a solid job at attracting users and convincing them to join in on the action, and though I don’t think I will be unveiling my latest delusion involving a famous celebrity and a pool of jello, more power to those who are Sawlogging their way to glory!