I wrapped up Beyond the Big Three, our series exploring social media outposts other than Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, last week, but we wanted to give everyone a tangible, printable resource to have on hand. Therefore, we’ve compiled all 12 installments into one handy PDF document available for download here!

The 12-part series covered 13 awesome sites:

1. Flickr
2. Delicious
3. Tumblr
4. Posterous
5. YouTube
6. Ning
7. SlideShare
8. Digg
9. Blogs
10. Good Reads
11. UStream
12. FourSquare
13. FriendFeed

In addition to summaries of each outpost, each installment includes some real-life examples of how other associations are using the services.

Download the PDF here, and thanks for reading!

This is the final installment in a 12-part series called “Beyond The Big Three,” which highlights social networking sites other than Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. There are tons of other social media outposts on the Web, and they’re great places for associations to curate content. The previous 11 installments can be found here. Thanks for reading!

I had to search through the archives to make sure I hadn’t already written about FriendFeed — I could have sworn I had! If you’re not familiar with FriendFeed, it’s a really cool tool that lets you post status updates, photos and links (and more!) across multiple social networks, including Facebook and Twitter.

What makes FriendFeed different, you might ask. It combines feeds from other outposts — such as Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Twitter — to create one complete stream in one place. And it lets you access that stream in multiple ways.

If you already have a Facebook, Twitter or Google account, you don’t even need to create a separate account for FriendFeed. You can use any of your login information for the previous sites, which is pretty convenient!

When you add fellow FriendFeed users as friends, you receive a customized stream that includes their Twitter updates, Facebook updates, videos and links. You can view your stream directly on FriendFeed’s site, through Facebook, via e-mail or via RSS (in a reader such as Google Reader).

Similar to Facebook, there is a “Like” button for your friends’ items, as well as the option to comment.

There are a few different ways to post something on FriendFeed. You can simply update from FriendFeed.com, and direct your update to whichever outposts you’d like. You can also post via e-mail (which works well for attached photos). And FriendFeed has its own version of Twitter’s “re-tweet,” as well. Each entry has a “Share” link beneath it, and clicking that will bring up a box with a few options for sharing it.

So how can associations use FriendFeed?

The site supports “Groups,” which multiple people can subscribe to and receive information from. For example, if your association began a FriendFeed account for the organization and a corresponding group, members could join the group and receive updates from one another and the association simultaneously. Everyone in the group can share things with one another, and leave comments that all members can see. Groups can be public or private.

FriendFeed could be a great way for members to interact while still experiencing the “stream-style” of information, which is becoming increasingly popular. It even reminds me a little bit of the mobile hub ASAE and The Center created for the Annual Meeting back in August — combining everyone’s comments about #asae09 in one place.

But meetings and events aren’t the only times small-staff associations could potentially use FriendFeed. The site is an ideal way for members to interact and share information about the industry. Imagine a “mini-Twitter,” in which only members’ and the organization’s updates appear and everyone can interact within it. Pretty cool.

Rather than just using FriendFeed during your events, though, members can share information all the time — FriendFeed allows them a central location to collect all status updates and one condensed feed from which to view them.

Check it out and see what you think. How could your organization use FriendFeed?

This is the 11th in a 12-part series called “Beyond The Big Three,” which highlights social networking sites other than Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. There are tons of other social media outposts on the Web, and they’re great places for associations to curate content. The previous 10 installments can be found here. Stay tuned.

You may have heard about Foursquare in recent weeks or months; it’s been called the “Twitter of 2010” by some. Foursquare combines two important trends in the social web: location and mobile technology. But if you haven’t heard about it, don’t worry! It’s generally more popular in larger cities right now, but it’s expanding quickly.

Essentially, Foursquare is an application that enables “checking in” at various locations. The application uses GPS to identify where you are and will give a list of nearby places from which to choose, but you can always add a place if it’s not available.

According to its Help page, When you tell foursquare where you are, that’s called “checking-in”. You can check-in from parks, bars, museums, restaurants…  really anywhere. Foursquare then will let your friends know where to find you.

The site aims to help you find friends and acquaintances in your city. There are apps available for smartphones such as iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm Pre and Android, but if you don’t own one of those phones, you can check in using a basic text message – attach your phone number to your account and text your check-ins to 50500.

Besides checking in and updating your location, there are few other parts of Foursquare.

The Mayor

If you check into a certain location more than anyone else, Foursquare will crown you “The Mayor.” Many bars and cafes in bigger cities (such as New York) sometimes give the current mayor some perks, such as a discount or a free coffee. But if someone comes along behind you who has checked in more often, they can “steal” the title.

Badges

According to Foursquare, Badges are little rewards you earn for doing checking-into interesting places. For example, staying out late on a school night or frequenting too many karaoke bars. Foursquare says many badges are tagged to venues. For example, people could tag a bar “karaoke,” “pool table,” etc…

Points

Foursquare awards points for pretty much every check-in. You’ll get points the first time you check in at a certain location and when you add a new venue. Basically, the more you experience, the more points you’ll get. Foursquare says it is still figuring out what to do with the points earned. In December, though, the company donated $0.04 to charity for every point earned.

Since Foursquare updates are tied to locations, when you click on someone’s update, you’re brought to a page that looks like this:

Granted, Foursquare is more popular in bigger cities such as New York, Washington DC and San Francisco, but let’s think about the implications for associations.

What if your organization could use Foursquare for its annual meeting or conference? I know someone else in the association world has blogged about this before, and I’ve searched through archives and found nothing. So if this was your idea, please let me know!

However, thinking back to ASAE and The Center’s Annual Meeting, I think a Foursquare-type application would have been immensely useful. (The fact that the meeting was in Toronto made using our cell phones a little more difficult, but I digress.) The convention center was so huge and after-hours, people were spread out at tons of different restaurants and bars. Using location-based technology might have allowed us to meet even more people!

Foursquare can be integrated with both Facebook and Twitter, so your status updates there can also be read as check-ins. Additionally, check out this blog post (from yesterday!): Five Simple (and Fun) Ways to Promote Nonprofits on Foursquare.

Edit: This post from Mashable just showed up in my Google Reader: How Nonprofits and Activists Can Leverage Location-Based Services. Great stuff here!

This is the tenth in an ongoing series called “Beyond The Big Three,” which highlights social networking sites other than Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. There are tons of other social media outposts on the Web, and they’re great places for associations to curate content. The first nine installments can be found here. Stay tuned.

When you click over to UStream.tv, you might be wondering what makes it different from other video-sharing sites such as YouTube or Vimeo. The awesome thing about UStream is you can record video live!

(Coincidentally, I began writing this post and saw KiKi L’Italien’s new “Social Media Sweet Spot” show, which she recorded live on UStream last Friday. This is a great example of how live video can be used for communication both at the time of recording and later on.)

On its About page, UStream explains, In less than two minutes, anyone can become a broadcaster by creating their own channel on Ustream or by broadcasting through their own site, empowering them to engage with their audience and further build their brand.

There are so many possibilities for associations who want to use UStream. I’ve written a bit about virtual attendance for conferences and meetings, and UStream could definitely be used to stream keynote speeches or learning sessions.

There is an interactive broadcast functionality, which allows viewers to interact with whoever is broadcasting. If the presenter chooses, virtual attendees could ask the presenter questions rather than just being passive viewers.

For larger events (such as a keynote speech), UStream also offers a one-to-many broadcast feature.

Associations could also use it for various training sessions, speeches or rallies or other events.

You don’t have to have an account to view videos, which is nice for people who just want to watch videos occasionally.

Getting started is very easy – all you need is an Internet connection and webcam.

Click image to enlarge

How could your association use UStream?

Also, I want to add that association professionals should by no means feel obligated to use all of the social networking sites I’ve highlighted in this series. I’ve always advocated picking and choosing based on which ones are correct fits for your organization, but definitely take the time to explore the ones you’re unfamiliar with.

This is the ninth in an ongoing series called “Beyond The Big Three,” which highlights social networking sites other than Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. There are tons of other social media outposts on the Web, and they’re great places for associations to curate content. The first eight installments can be found here. Stay tuned.

If you’re anything like me, you always have a ton of books you want to read. (Check out my to-read list for associations and social media here.) But between celebrating Christmas with my family and New Year’s with my friends, finishing up things here at MemberClicks in 2009 and apartment-hunting (and now packing!), I got a little behind in my quest to catch up on non-fiction.

However, for all you bookworms out there, there is a great social networking site to keep track of the books you’ve read and get recommendations from others: Good Reads. The site, which has more than 2 million users, describes itself as a “large library that you can wander through and see everyone’s bookshelves, their reviews, and their ratings.” Sounds pretty good to me!

Once you create your profile, you simply select books you’re read, are currently reading or plan to read. You can rate each one and write reviews, which will be shared with others. Good Reads uses Amazon as its book catalog, but if Amazon (somehow) doesn’t carry a book you’re reading, you can add it manually. You can “friend” other users and browse others’ reviews. Additionally, Good Reads can recommend new books based on the ones you’ve read and rated highly.

This site probably is more useful for individuals rather than associations, but it can definitely be used for organizational purposes, too. If your association has a large staff, you can share recommendations easily among yourselves. You can also connect with other association professionals in discussion groups. Groups can be public, moderated, restricted by domain, or secret. And associations could even host groups for their members to discuss books if there is an interest.

Good Reads wants to “make reading fun again. (Personally, I’m wondering when reading became “not fun.”) Regardless, I think it’s a great mission and there are tons of opportunities to connect with fellow association professionals who have similar literary interests. (I plan on joining the site sometime this week, too – I can’t believe I’ve put it off for so long!)

Happy reading!