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Have you heard about Digg? It's a great social networking tool that I've become familar with and that some clients have recently been asking about. Digg allows you to search the entire site for news articles, video, images and podcasts. Search through the various categories - technology, world & business, science, gaming, lifestyle, entertainment, sports, and offbeat for newsworthy articles and videos using the tabs at the top of your screen. Each category is further broken down into more specific subcategories from drop down menus under the main tabs. You can also apply limiters, searching just news, videos, images or podcasts. Click the Customize button at the top of the screen which will allow you to automatically filter the topics and media type on your home screen each time you sign in. Just not interested in news articles? Uncheck the box and your new home screen will only show video and images. Don't like extreme sports? Uncheck the box to filter out that specific topic.

If you happen to see something you like, you can "Digg it" which will boost the items popularity as well as add it to the recent activity section of your personal profile page. If you clicked the star (making the story a favorite) it will be bookmarked on your profile page in the favorites section.

Want to contribute to Digg? Submit a newslink! At the top of the page, there is a Submit New button. All you have to do is paste the link to what you'd like to submit and then chose whether it is a News Article, Video or Image.

Here is where the social networking aspect of Digg comes into play! Each article, video, image or podcast has an individual page listing. For each item, you can click to Leave a Comment, Share, make it a Favorite, or "Bury" the link - if you find a story with bad links, off-topic content or a duplicate of another story, "bury" the link. It will vanish from your page, and helps to remove spam from the Digg system.

By clicking "more" at the end of the item description, you're taken to that item's specific page where you have another group of options available to you. You can digg or not digg each user comment with the click of a thumbs up or thumbs down button in the Comments section. You can also view Who Dugg It or Who Blogged It, allowing you to find users with similar interests as you. The final two tabs offer the option to Blog It and Email It. Digg currently supports: Blogger, Typepad, Live Journal, Moveable Type, WordPress and custom weblogs with a configured API. Under the Email It tab, you can share the link with up to six of your friends. Finally, at the bottom of the Leave a Comment section, below all other users comments, is a box to write and edit your own comment.

Adding people with whom you share similar interests is simple as well. By viewing other user profiles you can add them as a friend by clicking the Add Friend button. On their profile page you can also Send a Shout, similar to posting a comment on myspace or writing on someone's facebook wall.

Digg can also function as a great networking tool by being able to customize your profile. You can link to your website, other social networking sites, or to your blog and add your instant messaging information. Simply view your user profile, then click Add a Bio & Links in the "About" section. You'll be able to add a description and web address for each link, as well as select your IM client with your user name or ID.

Want to see if your friends are already on Digg? Under the Add Friends tab at the very top of the page, Digg offers 2 options for searching for your friends. Digg works with GMail, Yahoo!, Hotmail and AOL to import your address book contacts to see which of your contacts are registered on Digg. You can also import your Outlook contacts. Simply input your username and password for the email client you use, and Digg does the work for you. If your friends aren't on Digg, click the "Next Step" button and check off who in your address book that you'd like to invite to Digg! The second way to search for friends, is to search by email, name or location. You can Invite People to Digg in this section as well.

Do you like RSS feeds? You can create your own RSS feed based on specific search terms. First, use the search feature for the keywords you'd like to populate your custom RSS feed. Then on the results page, click the RSS icon. You can also subscribe to a particular user’s RSS feeds. Do you like what a particular user is posting? Or just want to keep up with what interests your friends? Simply go to the individual user’s profile and click the RSS icon near the top of their profile.

Check Out Digg!

This is Jennifer Shaheen, The Technology Therapist, with your technology tip of the week.

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