This fall marked the first semester Kolbrener had an internship in SEO/Interactive Marketing.  Tanya Ferrell, our SEO intern, has been spending a lot of time researching social media.  After reading her latest article, 4 Types of Social Media Marketers and the 1 You Never Read About , I asked her to write a post for our blog.  So without further ado, here is Tanya’s post:

A social media marketer has two options in life. They can be a power account or they can pitch to power accounts. The biggest difference between the two is a matter of time. Pitching to power accounts can be fast and easy. Becoming a power account takes time, especially at a large site like Digg.

As Tamar Weinberg, an industry blogger, reminds us in a recent post though, not all social news sites are Digg. There are several small niche news sites out there. A smaller site won’t bring you as much site traffic as Digg, but it’s a lot easier to become a power account in a smaller community.

So, below is a list of 50 niche social news sites and their power accounts. You could contact a few power accounts the next time you have a piece of news you want to get out. You could join a small community and become a power account yourself. Or you could just check the list out for a few new interesting sites to visit.

About the list: Each site on the list has some sort of news feature on it, where users can submit and vote on content. Power accounts for each site were determined by a quick examination of the site - looking at Leaderboards, member activity, etc. It’s safe to say that the top users today won’t be top users months or even weeks from now. I know every niche media site isn’t represented on this list. If you know of one that isn’t on the list, leave a comment. I’m sure we’d all like to see more!

50 Top Niche Social Media Sites and Their Power Accounts

Animal Lovers

1. Pikapet - Pikapet is an online playground for pet owners who want to have fun with their cute pets.
   1. aztecangel101
   2. bladesgal17
   3. kate18
2. Dogster - Since launching in January 2004, Dogster.com (and its sister site Catster.com launched in August, 2004) have become the fastest growing pet destination on the Internet and are now a top-five overall pet destination.
   1. Buster from Buster’s World
   2. Flint from In Like Flint
   3. Pandora from Life Is A Movie Starring Me
3. Catster - Dogster for cats.
   1. Mercedes (Mercy) from Mercy’s World
   2. Louis LeBeau from Louis Lines
   3. Ethan from Ethan’s Efforts

Audiophiles

1. Imeem - Imeem is an online community where artists, fans & friends can promote their content, share their tastes, and discover new blogs, photos, music and video.
   1. Ziplok from Ziplokipod
   2. djclightning
   3. dj. ASLAN
2. Buzznet - Buzznet.com is a vibrant social media destination representing the next evolution of social networking.
   1. Panasonicyouth
   2. kron
   3. Millieann28200
3. Hip Hop Network - Hip Hop Net’s mission is to build a diverse community of dedicated Hip-hop heads who continually refine their common aesthetic of Hip-hop as art via instant feedback from a userbase of thousands.
   1. EZQonline from EZQ
   2. TSS Crew from The Smoking Section
   3. YoRapper from YoRapper!
4. MOG - Your personalized gateway for music discovery.
   1. Anna
   2. Dale
   3. Lizziegreeneyes
5. Nation of Millions - A place for the Hip-Hop heads to share, rate, and comment on what’s good.
   1. G-O-D
   2. cvcxl
   3. Jumpman2345 from Sneakerfiles

Free Thinkers (AKA Anything Goes)

1. Mixx - Mixx is your link to the web content that really matters.
   1. Brandon
   2. Bdog2g2
   3. tamar from techipedia
2. Linkfilter.net - linkfilter.net is just what the name implies, a link filter.
   1. potatono from Potatono’s Journal
   2. Kassi42 from Kassi42’s Journal
   3. Lola Ice from Lola Ice’s Journal
3. Plime - Plime is a pliable tree of interesting links, cultivated and pruned by everyone.
   1. 86Apex
   2. AutumnLotus
   3. pocksucket
4. Shoutwire - Internet news for the masses.
   1. yasinumur
   2. APOHEXd15
   3. waffleman
5. Stirr’dup - Stirrdup is a social news community built around the idea that controversy is fun, censorship is awful, and the most interesting stories make you want to talk, debate, and even get a little angry.
   1. Mr. Collins
   2. vertigo jones
   3. Mandrake
6. Searchles - Searchles is a highly scaleable “social search” platform that showcases expertise, enables collaboration with peers and instantly captures it in searchable knowledge indexes.
   1. dumbfounder
   2. Sarge
   3. mindspeakr

News Hounds

1. NewsCloud - People sharing stories for change.
   1. Jeff from Idealog
   2. Damainman
   3. SoxFirst from The Age
2. 2CentsNews - 2CentsNews.com is a community based news website where site visitors submit and rate the latest news stories on any topic from virtually any source on the internet.
   1. cassy1982
   2. davidlynwood
   3. jimclaude
3. Newsvine - Updated continuously by citizens like you, Newsvine is an instant reflection of what the world is talking about at any given moment.
   1. Killfile
   2. schnoo
   3. ShaunStanert
4. BuzzFlash - A user driven progressive political news website that allows you to submit a story that may be reviewed by all visitors and may or may not be promoted to the front page.
   1. partynut
   2. Sparrows
   3. protect_democracy

Car Lovers

1. AutoSpies - Vote, post articles, write comments, and interact with fellow auto enthusiasts.
   1. omarrana
   2. XeroK00L
   3. rybo

Business People

1. Small Business Brief - Fetching the best small business news.
   1. LindaRiley
   2. newtbarrett
   3. Stoney deGeyter from E-Marketing Performance
2. Feed the Bull - Financial and stock market news with a voice.
   1. Ron Coleman from Coleman Financial, LLC
   2. marketnews
   3. PersonalTech
3. DailyHub - DailyHub is a social news and content sharing site for business professionals.
   1. dshah
   2. pc4media
   3. tusharm
4. Value Investing News - Value Investing News is a community driven value investing news site.
   1. SilverSlime from Value Quest
   2. George from Fat Pitch Financials
   3. kenkid

Penny Pinchers

1. Dealigg - Dealigg.com combines the best of user-voted publishing style with the best of online shopping.
   1. FBush
   2. mike
   3. CindyLuis

Teachers and Students

1. Qoolsqool - Qoolsqool is a free and open educational resource for educators, students, and self-learners around the world.
   1. enigmagma
   2. gumblonde
   3. cookiemonster

Paparazzi Wannabes

1. ShowHype - ShowHype finds the top stories in entertainment for you to vote on and discuss.
   1. BumpShack from Bumpshack
   2. TaylorBlue from Taylor’s Entertainment News
   3. LayDdee from LayDdee’s Eyes on Entertainment

Do-Gooders

1. Hugg - Seen some green? Hugg is your source for user-submitted green news.
   1. dput
   2. tracy
   3. maxy
2. Care2 -The premise of Care2 is simple: One person can make a difference.
   1. Cher C.
      
   2. Mark S.
      
   3. June Marshall
      
3. TakingItGlobal - TakingItGlobal.org is an online community that connects youth to find inspiration, access information, get involved, and take action in their local and global communities.
   1. Erick
   2. Damian Profeta
   3. Sean Amos

The Tech Geeks

1. Meme or Lame - Meme or Lame is a citizen media platform targeting gizmophiles that endeavors to bring editors and readers closer.
   1. cartman
   2. gizmodo
   3. sazzler
2. DZone - Fresh links for developers.
   1. bloid
   2. mswatcher
   3. infonote
3. DNHour - DNHour.com is a user-powered news portal built specially for the domain name industry.
   1. FlowerFish from FlowerFish
   2. Anis
   3. eelynn28

Gamers

1. GuildCafe - GuildCafe is free service where you can form guilds and clans, publish your gaming accomplishments and connect with other players who like the things you do.
   1. Roxianna
   2. RedLynk
   3. RealiTCE
2. Quick Jump Network - User submitted gaming news.
   1. KIWIDOGGIE
   2. Bobtentpeg
   3. Johnny McKinney
3. TribalWar - Gaming news.
   1. Knightmare
   2. DudeofDeath
   3. OtakuMark

Book Lovers

1. Wordsy - Just some people who really like to read.
   1. mwilliams
   2. stormgirl_blue
   3. kingrat from Rat’s Readings

Marketers

1. marktd - Marketing news for marketers by marketers.
   1. Piers Fawkes
   2. ddaye
   3. Hobbit Hob from India PR
2. Gooruze - Gooruze offers the online marketing community a new easy to drive, high performance platform where all members can share, educate, advise and learn - shaping the future of the industry.
   1. Brian Chappell from Brian Chappell
   2. Al Scillitani
   3. Dan London from AdWords Editor Explained
3. PlugIM - PlugIM is a user driven internet marketing community.
   1. Matthew
   2. Jack Humphrey from Friday Traffic Report
   3. Andreas Moser from Linkrain SEO Articles
4. Sphinn - Sphinn is a social site for search and interactive marketers.
   1. Maki from Dosh Dosh
   2. Andy Beard from Niche Marketing
   3. Lyndon from Cornwall SEO

Visual Learners

1. Live Video - The world is watching.
   1. Mordeth13
   2. Faye006
   3. Victor1st
2. VideoSift - VideoSift is an online community and passionate about Web video.
   1. MLX from Nature’s Wrath
   2. Zifnab
   3. eric3579

Real Estate Agents

1. Real Estate Voices - A real estate social news site designed to help you discover the most interesting articles of the day, as voted and suggested by your fellow users.
   1. doug63026
   2. pishnuke from Great Realty USA
   3. griede

Sport Fans

1. BallHype - BallHype makes it easy for all of the sports fans out there who want to keep up but don’t have all day to goof off online.
   1. Richie Rich from Home Run Derby
   2. ric-s
   3. kcudah from kcudah sports

Wine Aficionados

1. Wine Life Today - Wine Life Today provides wine news based on what you, the reader, find interesting.
   1. drdebs from Good Wine Under $20
   2. Joel
   3. tomcwark

Birds of a Feather

1. Black Planet - BlackPlanet.com is your place to meet and connect with African Americans around the country.
   1. MikeyBlaze
   2. PR_Lady_41
   3. OG Silverback
2. Blogs4God - Blogs4God is a semi-definitive aggregation of Christians who blog.
   1. pdstein from Our Church
   2. LayGuy from LayGuy
   3. Tony Kummer from Gospel Driven Children’s Ministry
3. Sk*rt - Sk*rt is a portal to find cool things, smart scoop, clever ideas, excellent products, exceptional information. All of it. And more.
   1. sweetsixteen
   2. PTT from Pass the Torch
   3. pajamamommy from the Pajama Mommy Community
4. Saty - Women’s lifestyle portal.
   1. anis
   2. diese
   3. Jaclyn

Fashionistas

1. Style Hive - Stylehive is a global social shopping community, dedicated to discovering and sharing the most exciting products, the stores that sell them, and the people that find them.
   1. AuntBee
   2. Caramel_dezire
   3. phuphuletz