20+ Tools to Make Any Email Inbox More Social
Studies have shown that we spend a great deal of our online time in our inbox. There have been many interesting techniques and strategies for saving time and managing your email in better ways. You know, things like how to be an email ninja, how to achieve inbox zero or how to make peace with your inbox and stop sleeping on the couch (OK, I made that one up, but you get the point).
This won’t be another one of those. Instead, what follows will be a bunch of tools that can make your email client more social networking and social media friendly. These sites and add-ons can make your inbox do more than walk and chew gum at the same time.
Choose Your Weapon
No matter which email client you use, there are cool snap-in tools that can enhance your email experience. Whether it’s Microsoft Outlook, Gmail, Apple mail, Mozilla Thunderbird or others, you can add new Web 2.0 functionality to your inbox.
Microsoft Outlook
Xobni: If you want extended information about the people that send you emails then checkout Xobni, which snaps inside Outlook and displays many new details about senders and all of the emails that you’ve exchanged with them. The service now connects directly to users’ LinkedIn accounts if they own one, which opens a whole new world of possibilities.
OutTwit: Adds a tiny toolbar that lets you send new posts to Twitter as well as read and reply. You can now use TinyURL and send direct messages to anyone. The beauty of it all is that it looks like you’re working but you’re actually goofing off with your Twitter pals. You can have all new tweets appear in a folder called Tweets (if desired), just like email. It’s also firewall friendly. 
Plaxo with Pulse: Your address book is important and Plaxo with Pulse adds a toolbar that turns your Outlook into a dynamic social network. In essence, it’s like having FriendFeed in your email client. Also, Plaxo will sync all of your contacts online with your local address book. The most powerful feature is the way Plaxo can manage all of your contacts from many different email systems such as Gmail, Yahoo mail, and more.
RSS feeds: Outlook can become an excellent way to keep up with all of your RSS feeds. While I still love Google Reader, I find myself using Outlook’s excellent RSS reader more and more because I am always in my email. I get notified of new blog posts instantly as they appear in my Outlook just like new emails. I’m hoping they will add the sharing capabilities that other readers have but other than that, Outlook RSS reader is a great time saver. Here’s how to add RSS feeds to your Outlook.
TimeBridge: One of the best features of Outlook is the ability to check everyone’s calendars for meeting availability times. The problem with that excellent feature is that it only works inside the firewall within an organization’s private network. Well, that is no longer the case thanks to services like TimeBridge. The service snaps into Outlook and allows you to share your calendar and availability with people outside of your firewall and local network. This is a powerful way to schedule appointments that will save you an enormous amount of time and frustration. Here’s an excellent DemoGirl screencast.
Gmail
Xoopit: Is one of the most innovative things to happen to email. It enables you to aggregate all of the images and videos from your Gmail account in a useful manner. You can view Flickr pictures and YouTube
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