MappingTheWeb //

Everybody has their own list of web apps they CANNOT live without. These are the essential tools to daily life on the net. I find that my top apps tend to remain the same, although some changes do occur.

Anyways, here is MY list. Be sure to add your apps at the bottom…

10. Wikipedia - my source for information and research (PS. I know it’s not 100% accurate).

9. Digg - informative and entertainging news bits and articles.

8. Skype - allows me to keep in touch with friends, family, and contacts over IM or voice. 

7. Feedburner - keeps track of my RSS feeds and stats. 

6. Clicky - provides in-depth web analytics with a clean, usable interface.

5. iGoogle - displays all my RSS feeds; doubles as my search page. 

4. MSN Messenger / Hotmail - used for IM with friends; web-based e-mail. Ya, ya… I could use GMail, but all my friends use MSN Messenger and it integrates with Hotmail, so give me a break. 

3. Wordpress -  best blogging platform available, in my mind.

2. Firefox - my web browser of choice… obviously. 

1. Facebook - essential social network that keeps track of friends, family, and colleagues.

Just missed the list…

• YouTube - premiere video site on the net; this was tough to leave out of the top 10.
• Craigslist - used often, but on an inconsistent basis.
• Technorati - used for searching blogs quite often.
• Joost - I dabble from time to time…
• MyBlogLog - blog social network; used to use more, but it’s being overrun with SPAM.
• 9rules - my blog network; not so much a tool as it is a tight community.

So, that’s the basis for my life on the net. I’m sure many have similar apps of choice, while others have their own favourites. It will be interesting to look back at a post, such as this, in a year’s time to determine what changes have occurred in our online habits and behaviours. Which companies fell off the list? Which ones were added? The evolution of the Internet will no doubt affect the evolution of our ‘lists’, as new products and services crop up, while others fall by the wayside. Innovation is occurring at a blistering rate and no-one can remain at the top forever.

I will be the first to admit that I’m proud to be a part of the 9rules network. It is a great group of people. In addition, the quality of the content is second-to-none. In other words, I believe it to be the most prestigious blog network on the Internet - but I’m rather biased.

Having said that, I was perusing some Alexa stats and ranks the other day and noticed that the 9rules site has remained somewhat stagnant over the past year. It has remained consistently within the 5,000 - 10,000 range, swaying up and down from time to time. Now, don’t get me wrong… I know that Alexa stats are skewed to say the least, but I am surprised that network traffic hasn’t trended upward more so over the past year. Obviously, I don’t have actual site data or stats, but I’d be curious to see if the Alexa info is relatively correlated to the actual stats or completely out in left field.

This brought me to another point that I know Scrivs (9rules co-founder) has brought up in the past: there are advantages and disadvantages to growing a network, especially in the case of 9rules. This network in particular has prided itself on providing the utmost quality content. Having said that, some might argue that by adding more and more blogs to the network, the overall quality decreases by default. This may not necessarily be the case, but an argument can definitely be made for a smaller, more selectively chosen group of blogs.

From the other side, others will argue that more blogs not only increase the variety and diversity of content, but also build upon current traffic levels to provide more exposure to existing member blogs.

Finally, another interesting point gets raised with respect to current 9rules members. I am not of this mentality, but I believe that some of the older and more core members may be: as the network grows, the ‘club’ becomes less exclusive as more members are able to enter. I have heard this mentioned a couple times, but is it truly the case? I think that every member has their own opinion and coming to one conclusion is naive and unjustifiable.

Let me reiterate that I love the network and I’m proud to be a part of it. Future growth will be interesting to observe. Even more interesting will be the development and synthesis of the community - and whether growth hampers the evolution process.

Thoughts?…

It’s official. MappingTheWeb has now been added to the Web++ category at 9rules. For those of you not familiar with the network, ‘Web++’ is just another way to say ‘Web 2.0′. I’m not sure why they use the ‘++’, but it’s their own way of branding the term.

I am very honoured to have my link situated beside such prestigious blogs as Mashable, SolutionWatch, and Postbubble. It is very encouraging. It is my hope that I can contribute a high level of quality to the network. With only 12 blogs in the entire Web++ category, I am extremely humbled by the admission. I will do my best to promote 9rules and spread the word about the network.

Furthermore, the front page of 9rules lists the latest posts via a site-wide RSS feed. Seeing an MTW post on the front page was a very inspiring sight. It’s great to know that MappingTheWeb has been so widely embraced and supported in such a short period of time.

Thanks again to all readers for your continued support and words of encouragement.

Wow.

What can I say? This is an exciting time for the blog and myself.

After holding my breath for a few weeks, 9Rules began announcing new entrants a few days ago. But today was the day I was waiting for. MappingTheWeb officially joins the 9Rules network. I’m very stoked and I look forward to contributing to the network.

Time to celebrate. Raise your glass.

(I will send updates as I get more info from 9Rules.)

In an attempt to gain added exposure and recognition within the web 2.0 world, MappingTheWeb applied to the 9Rules network on Wednesday. Results of the submissions should be posted within the next week or two. Other notable blogs in the 9Rules web 2.0 category include Mashable, SolutionWatch, and Postbubble. Because very few blogs are accepted into the prestigious network, it will be a real honour indeed if MappingTheWeb does get approved.

For more information about the network itself, visit 9Rules.

For more information about Round 5 of submissions, visit the 9Rules blog.