Top 5 Micro Blog Websites
Have you twittered today?
If you don’t understand what that means then you haven’t heard of ‘micro-blogging’. According to Wikipedia, micro-blogging is:
“Micro-blogging is a form of blogging that allows users to write brief text updates (usually less than 200 characters) and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user. These messages can be submitted by a variety of means, including text messaging, instant messaging, email, MP3 or the web.”
In other words, it is a new tool that allows you to write as it is known “micro blog” posts. The truth is, many people start blogs, but few actually have the patience and content to write consistent posts with quality content. Also, due to the fact that people for the most part need to access the internet to view your blog post be it directly or via an RSS feed, micro-blogging takes the blog to the cell phone which I am sure you are like myself it is always in your hand!
So to like all new technologies there are a few participants in this niche that provides a service (of course what is nice it always starts off ‘free’).
Let’s begin by giving you the Top 5 Micro Blog Websites so you can create an account and take micro-blogging for a test drive:
 1. Twitter - This is the main player according to the industry currently. It was started in July 2006 and has been growing rapdily ever since. This free service gives you the options to post status updates via Text Messaging (SMS), e-mail, or web browser. The great thing about Twitter is the fact that it has opened its platform to allow third party developers to build applications on top of it! Take a look at my cosmin ghiu twitter account.
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2. Jaiku – Jaiku is considered the main competitor to Twitter. Most features are similar to Twitter as well. We already seem to have the Google / Yahoo competition brewing!
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 3. Tumblr - My personal favorite due to the fact that it inlcudes a variety of features. Text is a staple, but also photos, quotes, links, chats, videos, and what is nice is the fact that you can select different templates for your micro blog along with being given the option for a ‘custom’ template if you want to get into the CSS of your template.
I also love the clean and elegant design of the site and the great usability factors throughout the website. Of course take a look at my cosmin ghiu tumblr account.
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 4. Pownce - Pownce is one of the latest entries into this space. It was started by Kevin Rose (Digg.com founder). Besides text messaging, it allows users the ability to share links, files, and events with anyone on their contact list. It has a nice Web 2.0 design and feel to the website. Should be interesting how they continue to grow.
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5. Frazr – Last but certainly not least is the international entry known as Frazr. This is the Twitter of the French and German markets. Of course it is very similar to twitter in its functionality.
The main reason I put this one last is to highlight the fact that micro-blogging is here to stay! It is not just an American niche but one that is expanding globally as well. According to Wikipedia since May 2007 there are over 110 international micro-blogging websites services. All have similar features with a few bells and whistles extra.
Now only to find a way to penetrate the micro blog directly to mainstream internet users and bloggers. Whatever that formula is, I will be on the lookout.
Bookmark it: 
September 28th, 2007 at 9:38 am
Thanks for dropping a comment into my employer’s blog SpyderBlog.
During my speech to a local writers club, one major resistance to blogging seemed to be fear of flames.
“Constructive criticism is okay” was expressed, when I said that you learn more from negative comments than positive comments. My reply to “constructive criticism” was that blog visitors don’t spend time telling you how to fix or improve, they simply complain about what they don’t like.
Now, for micro-blogging, I see a similar resistance from conventional bloggers. “Trivial” they say (an objection leveled against conventional blogs) about Twitter.
But I think they fear the fast response to messages. Twitter is a rushing river of communal messaging, whilst blogs are semi-isolated islands of content.
You publish a blog post, then wait, sometimes days or weeks, for comment responses.
In contrast, a Twitter tweet may generate an immediate reply.
December 14th, 2008 at 12:56 am
To add the 6th one to the list of top 5 micro blog websites, Compare Infobase Ltd. Launches First Micro Blogging Portal in India – Dilkholkebol.com
Dil Khol Ke Bol.Com – Changing the face of communication
Launched on December 6, 2008, (http://www.dilkholkebol.com)Dilkholkebol.com is a platform to talk anything and everything that your heart desires! The content at dilkholkebol.com differs from a traditional blog in various ways. It is more topical, smaller in aggregate file size (e.g. text, audio or video) yet carries the character of blogs, which people utilize for both business and individual reasons. Many micro-blogs provide short commentary on a person-to-person level, or share news about a company’s products and services. Dilkholkebol.com allows expression of thoughts using Roman alphabets across languages and allows messages upto 140 characters. The content is faster to register, can be archived… is complete with more array of similar user-friendly features. New user-friendly feature to entice its users are on its way at the site. The initiatives target to generate about a million messages in a single day !!!
So, Why wait? Go ahead, Bol Yaar! … Dil Khol Ke Bol …. !
August 11th, 2009 at 1:23 am
Thanks for putting these sites in your blog….liked it as twitter and tumblr are good one’s. will move to the other one’s soon…….
August 15th, 2009 at 8:11 am
thanks for sharing, I really appreciate it:)
October 29th, 2009 at 6:46 am
[...] most famous micro-blogging sites are: Twitter; jaiku; tumblr; pownce; [...]
November 1st, 2009 at 2:15 pm
[...] Micro-blogging (M-B) is a relatively new form of social media and is the new social networking phenomenon provided by services such as Twitter, Jaiku and Pownce to name a few. (M-B) is a primitive form of blogging allowing the user to write shorter brief text updates and enabling them to broadcast and share information while on the move between members of the blog post/social network. It’s an electronic word of mouth lowering the users requirement of time spent and thought writing the blog, as opposed to the time spent writing emails or on the phone, thus making it a very valued learning tool. Micro-blogging is being used in an educational framework daily by tutors and students,benefits include: [...]
November 3rd, 2009 at 4:27 am
[...] they wish. Twitter is currently the most popular Micro-blogging website; however there are a lot of other popular websites that provide the same blogging [...]
December 3rd, 2009 at 1:12 am
Now micro-blog are similar,but Twitter is best
January 20th, 2010 at 2:40 pm
A new site that is becoming very popular is ZooLoo. It’s a more like a tumblr then a twitter, but they have a lot of good integration tools that some of the other site do not havbe.
January 25th, 2010 at 2:06 am
great post , i used some of the services as suggested I also found http://www.identi.ca is also a micro blogging site.