Which social media tools are right for the work you are doing? How can you get started using them - and keep their use sustainable? And what tips and tricks might it be useful to know.

This section of the guide includes an overview of a wide range of social media tools.

• Listening Dashboard
• Search Alerts

• Online Maps
• Photo Sharing
• Video Sharing
• Podcasting

Major social networks

• Facebook
• Bebo
• MySpace
• Twitter

White label social networks

• Ning
• Elgg

Other approaches

• Virtual Learning Environment
• Friend Connect
• Social Network Application

• Blogging
• Slideshare
• Document Sharing
• Content Management System

• Online Office
• Project Management Tool
• Social Bookmarking

There are a range of tools which you can use to add commenting and feedback features to your site.

• Disqus - a social-network and media aware comment system easy to embed in any website. Offering full moderation features, Wordpress blog integration, and RSS feed of comments.

• JS-Kit - a set of resources including comment boxes, polls and featured content widgets.

Location based services are increasingly becoming available on mobile phones and computers. This section provides a brief assessment of some of the key platforms. (Developed for the Plings Project.)

• Foursquare
• Layar
• Twitter Places
• SIM Location Services

A widget is an element of content or interactivity that can be easily embedded on different websites.

• Clearspring provide a platform for taking web content and turning it into easy-to-redistribute widgets which can be embedded on a wide variety of platforms and which can be easily tracked.

• SMS Tools

A good strategy for using social media for youth engagement may involve quite a few different tools.

It's important to think about how you will integrate them.

• RSS stands for 'Really Simple Syndication' and is a key tool for connecting and integrating different social media tools.
• Tagging is a way of pulling content together from across the web;
• Embedding is a way of including the content from one web service into another website;

Extra tools - particularly useful for Fair Trade campaigning…

• Data Visualisation
• Prezi
• SlideShare
• Online Petitions
• Mobile Apps
• Fairtrade Towns Site

One way of exploring the different tools available to you is to play the Social Media Game. You can find instructions for the game here. You can download game cards for most of the tools mentioned on this site here.