Most of us have joined the major social media sites out there- but how do you find the information useful to you and your clients once you are on Flickr, YouTube, Blogs, Twitter, etc.

The answer is not so simple. There are hundreds of different sites online dedicated solely to searching social media content, and each has different strengths and weaknesses. Here are some of the sites and tactics TVG considers to be most efficient and comprehensive.

Blogs and Blog posts:

Google Blog Search- Starting with the most recognized and utilized search tool.  The main benefit of the Google Blog search is its ease of use since most are use to the interface.  Also helpful is the home page of the search that provides a listing of the most popular topics blogged about that day.

Technorati- The recognized leader in all things Blog.  Technorati is much more than a search engine- it is blogger central, so I encourage everyone who is not familiar with the site to explore Technorati and its many features.  The key to Technorati is its “authority” ranking which is determined predominantly by the number of blogs that link to your blog.  Every blog has a ranking based on their authority, starting with #1 as the most “popular” blog on the web.  The site’s Top 100 blog listing is very useful in identifying the most influential bloggers and conversations.  If you are just interested in performing a blog search, http://s.technorati.com is an easier site than starting on the main page.

Ice Rocket- Monitoring trends in blog conversations.  Ice Rocket is another source for comprehensive blog searches.  A unique feature of this site that TVG likes to use is the Trends Monitoring feature.  This search allows you to track the percentage of blogs mentioning a keyword or phrase (such as your company’s name).  You can compare up to 3 keywords to see how your company is doing compared to a competitor.  The results include a graph, which quickly demonstrates how popular your topic is in the blogosphere or how major events may have impacted your traffic (shown in spikes in the graph).

There are countless other sites out there to search blog posts, including the popular Digg.com.  But moving on to other social media sites you may want to research.  TVG recently discovered some new sites included in the list below in a great PRSA webinar presentation from Josh Hallett of Voce Communications.

Board Tracker- This is a unique site which searches discussion board conversations.  Instead of just locating your company on blog posts, you can now review public discussion boards or forums that are discussing your company or topic of interest.

Everyzing- A site for searching podcasts and online videos or audio files, such as those on YouTube.  Google, Technorati and other search engines do search tags of YouTube videos, but this site is dedicated exclusively to video and audio, therefore more comprehnsive.

Twitter Search- The leading search engine for microblogging site Twitter, Summize.com was recently acquired by Twitter and now can be utilized at search.Twitter.com.  Other utilized Twitter searches- TwitterTroll, TweetScan and a Google search created by MicroPersuasion blogger, Steve Rubel.

Social Mention- a site that searches all social media applications- including Twitter, Blogs, Flickr, YouTube, news sites and more.  This is a great site if you are looking for quick results covering the most popular applciations instead of the most comprehnsive results.

Radian6- A paid for service that provides comprehensive monitoring and analysis solutions.  Although most search engines are free of charge, for those clients and brands that are continuously discussed online, this is an excellent investment that will save you time and worries.

On a closing note- new search engines and social media tools are being created everyday.  The possibilities are endless, so find the tools that you find most useful for your goals and hopefully this overview gives you a few places to start.