A short and concise how-to guide for 10 social media platforms about in 2012. Some familiar faces and some new ones.

1. A Summary In Social… We can’t ignore social media… we can’t take it all in either. With so many platforms and such broad scope, read on for a simple guide to 10 platforms presently occupying the space and being utilised throughout the digital world: 1. Google+ 2. Twitter 3. LinkedIn 4. Facebook 5. IFTTT 6. YouTube 7. Foursquare 8. Stumbleupon 9. Pinterest 10.About.me

2. Google+ Description: Google's answer to Facebook. A platform built to share news, opinions, photos and status updates. Putting people into circles, adding your +1 to sites or pages you like and would recommend and linking to your content are some of the main features. Uses: S-E-O! I also find it very user-friendly, in particular the setting up of company pages. Additionally, it's great for increasing company exposure and ranking if lots of members recommend and +1 your site and its pages. Limitations: It's still in its relative infancy (although growing at an astounding rate) and so your friends and peers may not all be members yet. The demographic is predominantly male at the moment too...bad luck fellas good news ladies! In terms of increasing exposure, as more people sign up, this platform should become more powerful in achieving that objective.

3. Twitter Description: Post anything you want...in 140 characters or less. Mark words or hot topics with hash tags, teach, get taught, share, promote and follow. Outstanding for it's ability to share news rapidly (news of Whitney Houston's passing broke in 27 minutes ). Uses: Promotion, interaction, customer service and "going viral", if you hit a nerve with a hot topic or blog you can receive a lot of attention, commence a debate and consequently increase followers, site traffic and exposure. It's also compatible with pretty much any application you can think of. Limitations: Lengthy posts cannot be made, urm...that's about it-We love twitter!

4. LinkedIn Description: King of the professional social network. The "serious" one where you upload your resume as supposed to your holiday plans. Posting your shenanigans from the weekend and embarrassing photos not overly suitable! Immerse yourself in the community and you can create a fabulous professional network online. Many corporate companies swear by it. Uses: Fantastic for business networking. Recruiters often search this platform to locate candidates, so if you’re looking for work, upload your CV and complete your profile. Participation in online discussions can be great for your personal profile and brand exposure too. Become part of the community to get the most out of this platform and in terms of SEO optimising your profile and claiming your vanity URL are important additional steps to take. Limitations: In terms of versatility, I've heard usability isn't 10/10. It isn't the most straight forward platform to master. You need to keep your professional head on at all times too so be careful what you say!

5. Facebook Description: With over 800 million users...it's fair to call this platform popular! Update your friends with what you are doing, from going on holiday to eating dinner...yes people do post that. Upload photos and stay connected with your nearest and dearest. Fast, immensely powerful and easy to use. A primary way to connect. Uses: Massive traffic driver and great for promotions (we’ve all received the invites…). Social signals are also used in ranking and I believe Bing uses Facebook likes within its algorithm. A great platform to be casual and transmit your message quickly, to lots of people with no stress in a relaxed format. Limitations: I personally feel this works for a particular demographic and isn't suitable for all industries.

6. IFTTT Description: “If This Then That”. Fancy automating some of your social sharing? You can tailor your social sharing to specific requirements to save you time and help coordinate your campaign. Uses: Automatically sending a thank you to new followers or retweets, updating to Dropbox and receiving text notifications about certain hash tags or tweets from those in your network Limitations: Platforms have their own individual characteristics and one tone of voice may not be suitable for them all. Being personable is one of the main appeals of social networks, taking this away may reduce the size of your network or its authority.

7. YouTube Description: Primary platform for video upload. Fame machine. Career breaker. News maker. Second biggest search engine behind Google. Easy to use. Free content. Free exposure. Arguably essential for SEO and social presence. Enough said! Uses: Completing your brand image with a visual tool. Easy to use and quick to learn, you can search for anything from the sublime to the ridiculous. A fabulous platform. Video sharing and SEO are the vehicles through which YouTube works its magic. Limitations: Conversation around a video is fairly limited and the primary metric by which to measure the success/impact of a video tends to be views or thumbs up which can create a distorted image.

8. Foursquare Description: Application to check-in wherever you are. From Tesco’s to the train station to the golf club, check-in and add your thoughts or experiences about the place as you visit. You can also view who else has checked in and checking in at one place more than anyone else earns you the Mayorship!. Great for businesses if lots of recommendations are received. Uses: Connecting this application to your social networks helps keep others up to date with what you are doing and where you are. If you’re searching for the nearest coffee shop, this app can help. Limitations: Privacy is an obvious one. Letting people know where you are at all times can be an issue if linking to your social network and automatically posting updates. Only keep those you trust privy to your whereabouts.

9. StumbleUpon Description: Stumble through content and give it a thumbs up or down. Keep your favourites and enjoy; also useful for learning random facts and information! Rarely have I found any of the search results to be uniform, low quality or sub-standard. Uses: Driving traffic and content promotion. A fabulous social bookmarking tool to generate some incoming links and increase exposure of your content. Limitations: Try to create and share quality content, something that is different and that people will want to read, share and link to. Putting anything up there and expecting views is unlikely to work (spoken from personal experience!)

10. Pinterest Description: Rather than content, bookmark or share images you come across on the web that you like and want to recommend to others. Follow people to see their pins and recommend your own in addition to viewing recommendations from others in a lovely visual format. Uses: Great for branding campaigns and SEO with each pin linking back to the site it came from to credit the original source. Colourful and vibrant representations of products and themes. Limitations: When I initially tried to join there was a waiting list. An invite from an existing member however, eliminates this issue. A wonderful way to share, the only real limitation I can see for this platform is through abuse of it from spammers.

11. Uses: Very user-friendly. You also have access to statistics showing how many people have visited your page and additional demographics. A great way to promote yourself as an individual as supposed to a brand or product. Limitations: From speaking to people, I gage that it is not necessarily that well-known and widely used presently in the UK. I don't use it to chat or watch much – I use it to explore. about.me Description: A place to collaborate your blog, websites and all your social networking accounts into one easy, all-access area. Write a bio about yourself and customize your page. Claim your “about.me” URL too.