Top 5 Lists of free tools for SMM, buzz monitoring & finding “bla bla…”

The Cluetrain Manifesto shouted it out loud to us in ’98: “Listen to the conversations taking place on-line. Now!” We all (well, those of us in the know) replied: “Yes, that is so true…”, and for the next 10 years we did almost nothing about it. We call ourselves Internet marketing gurus and stuff, and give each other awards. Can I have the one for “Greatest Hypocrite”? Any other takers?

1st Prize for Hypocracy

Here are the 5 best compilations I’ve found that list free tools for SMM, buzz monitoring and tracking, reputation management, social web search, ego-searching in cronological order:

1. Smashing Magazine, November 24th, 2006 (Links checked: May/09 2008)
   Web 2.0: Buzz-Monitoring and Tracking

   This is a cool list. In a sense it is almost ‘old school’ (I mean: 2006! Wouw!), yet relevant even today. And check out the comments! Many are brand new. Not many blog posts are able to live well for 2.5 years. I bow in respect.

2. Mashable.com, December 24th, 2008
   Top 10 Free Tools for Monitoring Your Brand’s Reputation

   Some good ones, but w. some flaws e.g. filtrbox isn’t really free, and a Top 10 is just too superficial. Still, worth checking out!
   

3. BuzzStream Blog, post by Jeremy Bencken on February 24, 2009
   Social Media Monitoring on the Cheap
   
   Few but top quality links. Some directly to SMM tools, some to other ‘on topic’ blogs. Also links to some commercial tools.
4. interactive insights group, March 30th, 2009 by Robin Broitman
   How-To: Search the Social Web – Ultimate Toolkit [MY FAVORITE!]

   This is a very very elaborate list of tools that even I have to do some more work on. Each tool is briefly introduced, and though the list isn’t even exhaustive, it is really inspiring.
   

5. masternewmedia.org, March 30, 2009
   Buzz Tracking And Social Media Monitoring: Best Tools To Do Ego Searching And Find Out Who Is Talking About Me – Mini-Guide

   Yes, this is a mini guide (especially compared to the former no. 3) that has an OK comparison table for the mentioned tools. My eye for detail and style, values the post, but the blog itself is a big messy :-) and too ad-heavy.

Yup, I may have missed some that have popped up in the past two weeks, so please post those links in your comments.

Soon I’ll give you a full run down of the commercial services. That’ll be couple of dozen in the US, and a handful from Europe. Would a Google Map be nice?

Kim M.