Even your gaming has gone social! Xbox LIVE members can now access their social networks right from their Xbox 360.

Is your company getting ready to take the social media plunge in 2010? Consult this free guideline for laying the ground rules from the Social Media Business Council.

Create and share your social calendar with friends and perhaps you’ll see them at your next party!

BoostPost allows you to easily add over 50 social network ranking buttons to your web site, free of charge.

You have important information on your Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and other web accounts. Don’t risk losing it – this backup service is giving away free accounts until January 31, 2010.

Create and save themed lists such as, “My Favorite 80’s Hits,” or “Top 10 Marketing Blogs,” and this application allows you to save and share them in blogs, email and on your favorite social media sites.

Learn how to connect with your city’s top Tweeters. Check out this and 49 other Simple Social Media Tactics for Non-Profits

Similar to FourSquare, Hot Potato let’s you connect with friends and followers at live events (like SXSW for example). Share the experience through comments, questions, images and more.

This slick toolbar allows visitors to your website easy access to your social marketing presence on a variety of different websites. Integrate chat, Twitter, Facebook, email and more.

This slick toolbar allows visitors to your website easy access to your social marketing presence on a variety of different websites. Integrate chat, Twitter, Facebook, email and more.

Track your social media metrics in one place. Twitter and Facebook are free, track additional services such as bit.ly for $2.49/year

This app helps you to sort through your social media clutter so you can hone in on what’s important to you.

This free "lite" version of a paid tool gives you a snapshot into the social media behavior of a defined audience. Choose your location, gender, age and attitude to learn more about brand motivations.

Build your perfect travel guide based on the reviews and recommendations of others. Share with friends, or print off and take along on your next trip.

This service encourages businesses to reward customers who contribute to a daily challenge that has a positive impact on the community. For example, one business offers a $20 handbag discount to folks who commit to a bike ride.

Old Spice made a bold (and viral) move by utilizing the Old Spice Guy to make videos based on Twitter requests, including a proposal.

Use this free tool to learn how Foursquare users are interacting with your venue, or others.

Add Flickr, YouTube and Twitter tabs to your Facebook profile and give your contacts one place to catch up with your social persona.

Learn a new language by interacting with native speakers. This site claims over six million members and offers both free and paid plans.

Use this social measurement tool to locate authorities and opinion leaders on your topic of interest.

Use this app to take charge of your Facebook news feed and never miss a post from people you care about the most.

Visualize your personal map based on your Foursquare checkin history.

Use this event-focused website to search for conferences to attend, see those events that your contacts are attending or speaking at and track on what you missed.

This service allows you to enrich your travel experience by sharing your itinerary and information with others and connecting with like-minded travelers or commuters.

This specialized search engine allows you to search for any topic and review real-time results from Facebook and Twitter.

Looking to raise money online for a good cause? These ten tools simplify the process.

Collect the best photos, video, tweets and more and publish them as embeddable stories. A beautiful tool for bloggers and journalists.

An International, social community for people who love to cook. Organize recipes in interactive cookbooks and engage in cooking challenges.

PitchEngine was hot news for our readers back in 2008 with a platform that allowed press releases to be released into the welcoming arms of social networks.

Use this social networking site to connect with locals in over 300+ groups centered around activities and hobbies.

Learn three important tips for maximizing online user engagement through the use of "Like" and "Share" buttons.

Leverage your social networks for travel advice or let friends access your recent travel reviews and tips.

Use these social trading cards at your next event and in addition to your company info, attendees will know your interests, favorite quote, and how to find you on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter via your personal barcode.

Interested in knowing who you'll be soaring through the friendly skies with? Register your flight and find out who your travel companions will be.

If you're utilizing social media as part of your marketing strategy, take a minute to review lessons learned in this list of "...Brands that Got Punk'd by Social Media".

Install this browser plug-in to view the social profile for each of your Twitter and Facebook friends simply by mousing over their name.

Get the most out of your travel experiences -- this new (Beta) site helps you stay current on trip-related items including social sites, mobile apps and more.

Altimeter Group has released a report that creates a benchmark for corporate social media budgets. Start by rating the maturity level of your program and then cross match your budget with those on the same level.

Boasting clients such as Heinz, Colgate and American Express, this service allows businesses to measure fan actions on their brand pages, reward loyalty and manage social CRM.

This free music service blends Internet radio, social networking and location-awareness into one really cool listening experience.

TV Shows are cashing in on the social gaming phenomenon. Check out History Channel's "Pawn Stars" on Facebook.

Check into your hotel, document the types of business professionals you're interested in connecting with and setup face-to-face meetings with like-minded guests.

One of our most popular Hot Sheet items of the past was the Chief Marketing Officer's Guide to Social Media. It's back, it's updated and it's glorious.

This tool allows you to generate your next tweet based on a twist of words formed from the essence of your Tweet stream's DNA. Surreal and entirely amusing.

Ready to keep tabs on your brand's social footprint? Check out this list of 10 social media monitoring tools that help you measure presence and performance.

Perhaps one of the coolest things we've seen in awhile, Intel's application pulls out aspects of your Facebook profile and displays them in a museum like setting.

Search for your company name and subscribe to RSS alerts so that you’ll get notified anytime someone blogs about you.

Zero in on Facebook open conversations by keyword without logging into Facebook.

Enter your Twitter handle to find out who you're following that isn't following you back, and those following you who deserve to be followed in return.

Use this informative infographic to plan the best time for your social media updates based on opportunities for the most exposure.

If you've recently joined the ranks of Google+ users, or plan to in the future, this cheat sheet will you help you get the most from your experience.

Generate a personal infographic based on what you tweet -- or one that pits your persona against any other Twitter user.

Download an archive of all of the information you've shared on Facebook. Click on your "Account" menu Click on "Account Settings" Click on "Download your Information"

If you're concerned you're missing out on some of the link gold that's passing through your Twitter and Facebook streams while you're not around, this site captures and analyzes all of the urls your contacts share, and filters them for you based upon your known interests.

Blog posts that include the word “comments” typically get more comments than those that don't. Tweets that ask to be re-tweeted receive 4x more than those that don't. Learn more about the importance of social media calls-to-action.

This new social media analytics tool adds measurement context to your Facebook business page. Find out how you stack compared to three of your competitors' Facebook pages. Learn from competitors’ pages by looking at what type of posts have returned the most responses.

This Facebook app provides unique gift ideas from friends and top curators that you can utilize as an idea source when important birthdays and anniversaries make themselves known on Facebook.

This free social feed reader allows you integrate your Tumblr account and any blog you follow into your RSS feeds. Upon doing so, you'll be able to +1 and share stories on Google+ , Facebook and Twitter right from the app.

This plugin for the Chrome browser allows you to see an aggregate sentiment analysis for tweets displayed on a certain topic such as the president, a new product, an event and more.

If you're following companies on Twitter as a means of scoring some great deals, sign up for this service to filter the best deals and coupons from the rest of your Twitter stream.

Stay on top of social media in 10 minutes a day. Register for this eBook to learn what sites you should monitor, how long to spend and which tools will help you consolidate the information.

Get into the Halloween spirit with this intensely creepy Facebook experience that might just have you thinking twice about your privacy settings.

Utilize LinkedIn's enhanced Classmates application to research and network with alumni from your graduating class. Search alumni profiles, view groups, connections and profile summaries and invite your old school mates to connect with you.

One half of all local searches are performed on mobile devices. 91% of mobile internet access is used to socialize. Catch more eye-popping stats on mobile in Microsoft Tag's telling infographic.

Keep this on hand: The Mobile Marketing Association recently released updated best practice guidelines for cross carrier mobile content programs.

Feeling light on cash? Utilize this Foursquare based service to locate all of the available freebies near you. Currently available in 14 US cities, with many more to come.

Document, organize and share noteworthy items you find on the web. Create and share your own pinboard to plan an event, decorate your home, organize recipes and more.

EdgeRank Checker has complied the results of an extensive Facebook study. Learn how many clicks a Facebook post receives for each "Like" Vs. each "Comment" and more.

If you miss the good old days where people showed affection by exchanging hand-crafted mixed tapes, this music site is for you. Find theme based mixes created by Facebook friends, follow like-minded members or share your own tracks.

Facebook has released a new timeline feature; learn how to hide the older, embarrassing posts you'd rather not share with current friends.

Challenge yourself and your friends to make one positive impact to your life every day. Sign-up for this free service and you'll receive daily email challenges. Once completed, mark them as "finished" and earn points to unlock future challenges.

If you shared a bit too much on Twitter in 2011, wipe the slate clean in 2012. Utilize this tool to delete all of the tweets in your Twitter account without actually deleting your account and losing your followers/followees.

Use this service to create 15 second video updates with your Android or Apple smartphones. Distribute across multiple platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for instant video status updates

What's for dinner? Why not try the recipe everyone's talking about. Get a wealth of culinary inspiration, ranked by social popularity, from some of the top trending recipe websites.

Pinterest, the image based website we've written about in the past, has quickly become social media's "one to watch." Find out how your brand can use this platform to build consumer engagement.

There's a wealth of content available on YouTube, but you're not always in the right setting to watch everything you want to see. Luckily, you can save content to watch later. Find this option on YouTube under the "add to" icon below the video window. For embedded videos, select the plus sign on the menu bar at the bottom to add to your "Watch Later" list.

Show off your creative side and stand out from the Facebook crowd. Use this free tool to design your own banner for the new timeline layout. Upload and edit a background image and enhance it with text, drawing, or additional images.

Find out about the best food and drink deals while you're on the road and ready to use them. Check the website or download an Android/Apple smartphone app to zero in on free bottle service at a night club or to score $20 worth of pizza for $10.

It's YouTube meets DoTube. Choose from a vast selection of how-to videos on topics ranging from explanations of complex financial terms to how to use Facebook's privacy settings. And if you've got insight of your own to share, you can record and upload that here too.

Write tweets between 120-130 characters in length and place your links approximately 25% of the way into your tweet to increase the number of clicks you'll receive on Twitter.

Looking for a little eye candy? Check out this beautiful heat map of the world's most photographed places. Zoom into areas you want to explore and turn photos "on" to see what's there.

Get the inside scoop on your Twitter followers. Follow the steps in this blog post for instructions on how to get information on their professions, gender, interests and more.

This socially intelligent Facebook app allows users to dive into the vast amount of anonymous information people share. Use it as a polling tool to compare audience segments, brands, political leanings and more.

Interested in finding out how many friends you've lost on Facebook? Follow these step-by-step instructions to find out who has unfriended you.

Twitter recently began rolling out big changes to the look and functionality of brand pages. Take a look at how 5 companies that were granted early access to these features are making smart use of the revised platform.

The mobile era is upon us, allowing us to document our lives through keyboards, cameras, music, location and more. This new type of journal takes advantage of the mobile platform and allows you to share moments of your life with an intimate network of friends and relatives.

"People talking about this," "Engaged users" and "External referrers." Follow these three key metrics to measure the success of your Facebook campaigns.

Learn why creating a Google+ page for your business can help you get ahead in local search results -- and how to optimize for success.

Use this service to let your mom know when you've arrived safely at your destination. Check-in to your location on Foursquare using the #mom hashtag, and your mother will receive a call or text with the details.

Learn how to use Twitter's search to engage with prospects. Go to http://twitter.com/search, and use these advanced search operators: Use near:"city" to find local results (e.g., restaurant near:"Milwaukee" or near:"Chicao, IL"). Use within:25mi, for example, to narrow down your search range by distance, in miles, to the city you've selected. Use -http (minus sign http) to make sure that none of the tweets contain links. Use ? (question mark) to display tweets with a question. Use "search phrase" (in quotation marks) to search for an exact phrase.

It's time to use your skills to pay the bills. Impress your current (or future) employer by taking tests in subjects such as Facebook, Twitter, Google Search, Excel, CSS and more. You'll receive scores that let you determine where you stand in comparison to others in the field. And if they're impressive, make sure to share them.

Crowdbooster helps you achieve an effective presence on Twitter and Facebook. It shows you analytics that aren't based on abstract scores but numbers that are connected to your business and your social media strategies: impressions, total reach, engagement, and more.

Shift your Facebook marketing plans into high gear with these four services that make your brand engagement more effective on a daily basis.