Blogging is fun and  it’s a creative way to establish credibility as well as gain a following for your brand, business or services that you provide. If you are a WordPress user, then you are in luck as there are literally HUNDREDS of really awesome plugins to take advantage of.

The word “plugin” simply refers to a type of computer software that enhances the user experience while utilizing other types of software. For example, if you have just written a blog post and want to share it with a bunch of people immediately, there is a plugin that you can add to your WordPress blog site that will allow you to do just that with a simple click of a button.

The following are 5 great WordPress plugins for those who are social media-oriented. If you have other plugins that work for you, we’d love to add it to the list! Just leave a comment

5 Awesome WordPress Plugins:

1. ShareThis-a plugin that allows you to choose which sites you want to target as well as which websites your readers will submit your blog post to. ShareThis also provides tracking reports.
2. FriendFeed- This plugin pulls in your FriendFeed stream, makes it more attractive and then shares it with blog visitors.
3. Tweetmeme-Used by some of the big-name sites out there such as Techcrunch, CNET.com and Wired (to name a few), this plugin allows readers to automatically re-tweet your blog post on Twitter.
4. Add to Facebook- This plugin adds a footer link to add the current post or page to a Facebook mini-feed.
5. Social Homes- This plugin adds widgets for your various social networks to the side of your blog so that your readers can easily find you on the Web.

Recently, I was watching the news when I saw a story break about a man who was being charged with several counts of child abuse. As the story progressed, a picture of the man’s granddaughter with her children were put on public display for all of the viewers in the world to see, and do you know where the photo came from?

Her Facebook profile picture.

It wasn’t that long ago that I had actually gone through and deleted all of the pictures that I had uploaded to my Facebook account over the years. Granted, none of the images that I had on my profile were anything that I would be ashamed of if it made its way to the general public, but as more and more news stories keep breaking over social sites like Facebook, I cannot help but wonder whether our narcissism is giving way to an unforeseen backlash in the usage of social networking. Some things worth considering with many Facebook users include:

• Befriending people you barely know.
• Others can monitor pictures that you post of yourself and others.
• Status updates are really updates about your latest plans, relationship statuses, achievements and travels.
• Selecting “Like” for a page, group, link or status serves to inform others about your personal opinions, etc.

All of it seems to make it incredibly easy for criminals, stalkers and predators to track your every move. Not only this, but if you think that you’re safe from it all simply because you made your profile “private,” think again. There are numerous Facebook complaints, debates and ongoing discussions surrounding privacy problems, issues surrounding the fact that you can never really “delete” your account and rumors swelling around the fact that once you put information on your profile, it stays in the system.

So, what can you do? The following are 5 tips towards being a safer Facebook user:

1. Control your image. Sure, you might have had a good time with your friends at that party in high school, but that’s no excuse for making it your profile picture. Remember what happened to the woman above? You never know who has access to websites as well as who might be able to hack into a site. Therefore, keep it modest.
2. Keep private information private. If something is going on in your life or if you have personal information, DON’T SHARE IT. You’re just making it that much easier for thieves and scammers to nab you.
3. Don’t post personal information. If you’re planning on meeting up with someone, don’t make your plans on Facebook (or any other social networking site for that matter). Instead, send a private email or place a phone call.
4. Take things at face value. Don’t believe everything that people say on social networking sites/the Internet. The online world is different than actual face-to-face interaction, and the virtual world makes it easier for folks to say or write things that they probably wouldn’t say to your face.
5. Restrict access to your profiles. On Facebook, I’ve restricted access so that I am not searchable. Additionally, I only use it for personal reasons. I’ve purposely chosen to keep my friends list small, and only befriend those people who I actually know or who are my family members.

1. Miproapps-An application that allows users to design a fan page by simply dragging and dropping elements to the center of the page.
2. Tabfusion-An application that actually has an app for each tab that you want to add to your Facebook fan page. This application is free.
3. NorthSocial-A service (which comes with a 14-day free trial) that provides easy-to-use applications that enable users to quickly create and edit a custom Facebook page.
4. Static520-This service helps users create the illusion of having a mini-website inside of their Facebook fan page. Once you sign up for the service and add your content to their editor program, you will then be able to add a static FBML tab to your page where you will be able to copy the code. Users get 2 weeks worth of a free trial to see if they like the service, and then after that it’s $19/year.
5. Pagemodo-An application that allows users to create a ‘Welcome’ or ‘About’ tab on their Facebook fan page without any prior knowledge about Static FBML by using a generator that is simply to use. Click here to see Pagemodo in action.

For a continuation of this list, check out the link below to TechCrunch.

[Via: TechCrunch]