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Editor’s  note: Each week, we do a survey of Beaconfire staff to get impressions on a variety of non-profit technology issues. All opinions expressed here are solely those of their authors. RSS is becoming ubiquitous, and with the sheer volume of content on the internet, more users are finding that they need a way to manage their content. This week, we asked the Beaconfire staff: How do you consume RSS content?

Eric, Senior Consultant: I aspire to have a complete set of Yahoo! pipes to perform elaborate analyses of of the blogosphere and social media about the the people and issues of importance to me, translates snobby foreign news sources into English to make me seem smart at parties, and otherwise leap tall buildings.

But in fact, I use the built in reader in IE7 to keep track of about 2 dozen environmental and tech/marketing blogs.

Ali, Marketing Consultant: I’m a fan of Google reader. It’s one of the easiest readers to set up, I can access it from any computer and I can track all the marketing and technology blogs I follow.

Amy, Functional Consultant: RSS is everywhere but I pro-actively consume RSS in two ways.  One is iGoogle – I use Google as my browser home and have set up a HOME tab with news (CNN, Top Stories), Weather, Moon Phases, HowTo Wiki and, of course, the BeaconfireWire feed.  My iGoogle also has an IA/UX tab with my favorite industry feeds (Boxes & Arrows, A List Apart, UX Matters, etc).  

I also use Bloglines to manage RSS feeds.  Bloglines has more advanced functionality than iGoogle in terms of managing feeds and I like how it lets me save articles in the feed queue for later so I can go back and re-read them when I have time.

Paul, Software Engineer: This may brand me as a neo-Luddite, but I don’t use RSS.  I’ve always preferred to actively seek information on a website rather than subscribing to a feed and having it delivered to me.  The moral of the story?  Make sure content that’s available in RSS feeds is conveniently indexed in HTML format on your website as well.

Marissa, Functional Consultant: RSS (like Web 2.0) is one of those technologies that isn’t really new, and has really always been around in some form. And everyone who uses the Internet probably consumes an RSS feed in one shape or another, even if they don’t know it. If you see a list of “latest news” on a web site in the past few years, you’ve likely consumed RSS content.

For my personal RSS use, I love Netvibes. The tabbing and rearranging let’s me keep my most important RSS Feeds up in the forefront, while allowing me to easily organize secondary feeds that I like to read from time to time.

Kate, Administrative Assistant: I’m obsessed with tracking the weather, both on my home laptop and on my iPhone. Especially since I’m new to this whole “East Coast Weather” thing, and I don’t have any windows at my desk, I use my iPhone to see what the weather’s like downstairs at least 5 times a day. I also check the weather in my hometown, as well as in Paris, London, New York, and Portland. I just like to see how we stack up. I also track stocks on my iPhone that I’ve not invested in, but I think I get some sick pleasure in watching other people lose their shirt. I guess a touch of schadenfreude’s good for the soul.

Kristin, Project Manager: Honestly, I don’t consume any RSS. I can’t even keep up with email (which is my primary "dashboard") so why add another "feed" to my list of things to try and keep up with.

John Brian, Marketing Consultant: I use a single Netvibes page as my portal at both work and home - it’s the only way I can avoid getting buried in content. I triage my content into pages - must-read items like my email, a couple political blogs, weather, and, most importantly, Beaconfire Wire live on the first tab, fun and goofy stuff, including Digg and my comic alert feed on the second (when you get the rest of your newspaper online a la carte, it’s important to get Dilbert and Doonesbury that way too), clients and other non-profits on the third, work-related tools, like Central Desktop and Basecamp on the fourth, and occasionally interesting, but non-required reading on subsequent tabs.

The key is making use of preview tooltips and titles to quickly and ruthlessly mark items as read - I’m not someone who deals well with unread items, either in my inbox or my feeds. But in the net, using RSS keeps me from having to check more than 100 sites several times a day, so it’s a real time-saver.

Editor’s note: Each week, we do a survey of Beaconfire staff to get impressions on a variety of non-profit technology issues. All opinions expressed here are solely those of their authors. Since video is becoming a more and more important medium for non-profits to use, we asked: What’s a youtube video that you would pass along? Note that these aren’t specifically videos we think non-profits should emulate, just examples of the diversity of opinion as to what makes a viral video.

Jeff, Principal Consultant: I usually pass along the videos I’m just seeing after everyone else has seen them. Here are two:

• Thai prisoners doing thriller dance
• Obama “Yes We Can” video

Eric, Senior Consultant: Cat playing the piano!

Taylor, Software Engineer: My top 5 youTube videos that make me laugh (I’m pretty sure they are appropriate)

• How to stop a kitten fight (depends on your sense of humor)
• Kick his Ask!
• Charlie bit my finger - again!
• Serious Baby… sometimes
• Grape Crusher

Marissa, Functional Consultant: Yo Gaba Gaba - the Party in my Tummy.

John Brian, Marketing Consultant: I’m generally a fan of anything that makes me laugh with or at political figures. Consequently, some of my favorites are:

• Barack Obama - The drawing board
• Any Mike Gravel music video
• Michigan for MItt
• The better John McCain “No we can’t” videos - John.He.Is and the Billionaires for Bush remix

I was also impressed by the responses to some of the user-generated content contests - particularly the Colbert Greenscreen Challange and The Office - make your own promo contest.

Michael, Principal Consultant: There’s no question in my mind what the greatest YouTube is of all time: Ask A Ninja from digitalfilmaker

This comedy series with witty repartee about all things pop culture has a dedicated (albeit highly disturbed) following - including me.

Tim, Functional Consultant: There are just too many to choose from, but I always enjoy Barats and Baretta. They’re great at short bits that deliver just exactly what they intend to delver. No fluff, just funny.

• Mother’s Day
• Mantage
• Maxwel Dorian, Valedictorian
• Completely Uncalled For
• To Do List

David, Software Engineer: http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/

Mark, Functional Consultant: Anything with monkeys in it… especially…

Trunk Monkeys

Lancelot Link

I could go on and on… River Dance Monkeys

Kate, Administrative Assistant: Here are the only YouTube Videos I’ve ever passed around:

• Hillary Clinton’s “Caucusing is Easy” video, because it was genuinely humorous and informative (now I know how easy caucusing is!)
• Mike Gravel’s throwing the rock into the pond video, because it was weird and therefore funny.
• The cartoon parody of Mike Gravel’s throwing the rock into the pond video, because they apparently agreed with my assessment of the first video.
• “Series of Tubes” music video
• (I was also a big fan of Jib-Jab, but it hit the streets before I knew what a U-Tube was.)

The common link for me is being able to have a laugh either with or at politicians. The Clinton brand of self-effacing humor really tickled me, which was great for them, because it lead me to help get out their message. The rest were videos where the politicians involved probably would have been better off if their videos hadn’t made it into my mental space.

Erika, Operations Manager: Vista Wonders

Several Beaconfire Clients also have videos you should check out - like this introduction to Bread for the World’s Hunger Justice Leaders event or NPCA’s Teddy for President campaign ads. If you’re interested in learning more about how Beaconfire can work with your non-profit to create a viral video, please give us a call or send us an email!

Editor’s note: Each week, we do a survey of Beaconfire staff to get impressions on a variety of non-profit technology issues. All opinions expressed here are solely those of their authors. This week we asked: Should non-profit organizations market to minors?

Milo, Marketing Consultant: Cause marketing for youth is totally appropriate, especially when it’s geared toward youth engagement.  Most people would agree that membership-based nonprofits that offer teens and pre-teens the opportunity to be engaged in volunteer leadership structures (committees, working groups, board youth liaisons, etc.) provide great opportunities for kids to learn about community, leadership and civic engagement.

Cara, Project Manager: Personally, for younger kids, I think it would be great if NPO’s made more materials available for parents that they could use to engage their children and help get them interested and aware – especially living where we do, we struggle with how to make the girls understand that there is a big world out there.  I would love for organizations to provide kits/programs, created with children in mind, that we could access and work through as a family.    Some do this for educators but, frankly, I don’t have the time to take something created for a classroom and whittle it down to something that can still be used at home.  Make it easy for me (I mean really easy) and there is a very good chance I’ll use the materials to focus my kids on your key issues and, thus, introduce them to your organization at an early age.

Michael, Principal Consultant: I believe nonprofits have a responsibility to market to minors… but not “in your face” Cheetos & Coke selling strategies. Rather, they need to approach this market with the express intent of educating the next generation about the relevance of their issues to their lives & give them opportunities to step forward to share, network, volunteer, fundraise or give if they want to. Minors – read teens / pre-teens – can be active advocates for a cause. They can be influencers of peers and parents both in how they think and how they act. But, organizations shouldn’t pander to or treat this group in loco parenti. Rather, engage them on their terms – which is letting them dialogue, share, identify and be active as they want to be. In my opinion, no organization has done this better online that PETA.

Andrew, Project Manager: I am not sure that I agree with Michael, especially the statement that “Minors – read teens / pre-teens – can be active advocates for a cause. They can be influencers of peers and parents both in how they think and how they act.”

As an adult, a parent should (this obviously is not always the case) have a broader perspective on the world, more education, experience, wisdom, etc. than their children. For the most part, it is the parents’ role to guide their children, not the other way around. Now, I do not mean to imply that adults cannot learn from children. What I am saying is that non-profits are mission driven with nuanced objectives and approaches that may be lost on a minor.

I agree with the conceptual missions of a myriad of non-profits, but I do not support all of them due to concerns about specific policies, stances, politics, actions, marketing tactics, etc. Minors are more likely to overlook the cold realities and become enamored with the conceptual aspects only. Do we really want a non-profit, regardless of the altruism of their mission, to introduce our kids to the next Joe Camel?

Mark, Functional Consultant: Absolutely. I would think that most parents would agree that building a sense of charity from an early age is an important activity. NPO’s marketing themselves and their campaigns to minors work towards that purpose, and as long as any direct interactions involved parental consent for kids under 13 (per Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 and any similar legislation that governs offline interaction) I don’t see an issue.

Corporate and much less wholesome organizations already reach kids so effectively through mass media - think Joe Camel and Tony the Tiger. Any parent I’m sure would rather their kids get excited about something like Conservation International’s Stephanie Colburtle the Leatherback Turtle over Ronald McDonald any day.

There are already great models to follow, like UNICEF’s Trick or Treat for UNICEF campaign, where kids are marketed special collection boxes for Halloween, engage in fundraising, learn the importance of charity and have fun doing it. I’ve also heard stories of  kids having their parents help them use online tools like Heifer’s gift registry to ask for friends coming to their birthday party to buy an animal from the catalog (donation to Heifer), rather than bring a toy or other gift. That’s powerful but not surprising that kids can grasp the importance of giving to someone else and enjoy the experience, over yet another toy.

Marissa, Functional Consultant: For educational purposes, I think it is okay to market to minors (Smokey the Bear, anyone). But I’d feel uncomfortable marketing to minors for fundraising purposes. There’s something that does not feel right about convincing children to ask mommy and daddy for money. Non-profits raise money to accomplish their mission, and shouldn’t necessarily get embroiled in the same tactics as corporations, where making money is the mission. That’s not to say that non-profits can’t take a few cues from Madison Avenue. They just don’t need to be like Toys R Us.

Kate, Administrative Assistant: I think it’s very important that non-profits market to minors. While I don’t think it’s appropriate to seek donations from them, there are so many other ways they can become involved. There’s certainly nothing wrong with encouraging a youngster to save the gorillas, see a play, mind their cholesterol, and end hunger. With all of the marketing geared towards turning minors into good consumers, there ought to be as hearty of a drive to encourage them to be good citizens. I say, pump the youth full of idealism! Maybe they’ll grow up to care about something.

John Brian, Marketing Consultant: I’d say it’s important to get your brand in front of young folks as early as possible. If non-profits cede the field, kids will grow up knowing all about Pepsi and Apple and nothing about protecting the environment or marriage equality. There are certainly some issues that might be touchy, like choice or the death penalty, but as long as organizations are concentrating on branding and issue education, cultivating young people early will make them more responsive to you and better citizens in general.

Of course, that’s not to say that you should market to them on the same channels you’re marketing to the rest of your list. Even my generation isn’t interested in direct mail, and I’ve read that even email seems too old-fashioned for today’s teens, who prefer SMS, social networks, and social bookmarks as their media of choice.

Jennifer, Project Manager: Seeing how for-profits market to minors at very tender ages through all variety of channels, from TV to grocery store shelves, why should nonprofits be any different?

Public sector and nonprofit organizations use cause marketing techniques to affect positive social change ranging from improved individual behaviors to winning hearts and minds. Nor is this the exclusive domain of nonprofits. The entertainment industry, often the torch bearer of trendy issues, is arguably better positioned to reach youth, a recent example being the animated movie Happy Feet that raises awareness about the topic of global warming. The worry is that when commercial interests drive an issue there is always the underlying motive to promote the company, sell its brand and ‘grow’ its customer base, from any age. A company may shift to a new issue du jour when the public tires of the current one, and even follow practices that are counter to its marketing messages, but it will work to retain its customer loyalty nevertheless. This is particularly troublesome with young children who lack the education, experience and mature capacities to reason and inform themselves about the issues and their messenger. One might argue that nonprofits should be held to a higher standard. That is, should their mission and their cause be above their brand and their institutional shelf life? I think it should – their mission is what makes them the special civic organizations that they are. They should ask hard questions about the goals of their marketing efforts: are they designed to increase funding and membership levels? Or are they truly focused on raising awareness and educating young people about their cause? The sector struggles with measuring the latter, but that shouldn’t deter organizations from being honest about their marketing. Otherwise, I as a parent will grow just as leery of nonprofits as I am of for-profit companies that market to my kids.

Many nonprofits work towards causes I support, and ones I hope my children will also champion one day. But there are some organizations that promote ideas that are completely opposite and counter to what I try to teach my kids, or have less than admirable practices. I prefer that a nonprofit’s outreach to youth focus on informing and educating them so that they can make up their own minds, both about the issue and the organization.

One Beaconfire project directed at younger folks will be going live in a couple months - APS’s Physics Central is dedicated to teaching young people (among others) about the importance of physics. We’re spearheading their redesign - look for it later this Spring. That’s all for this week - join us next week where we’ll hear about the Beaconfire staff’s favorite YouTube videos.

Editor’s note: Each week, we do a survey of Beaconfire staff to get impressions on a variety of non-profit technology issues. All opinions expressed here are solely those of their authors. This week, in honor of super Tuesday, we asked: What lessons should non-profits take from the online Presidential campaign in 2008?

Michael, Principal Consultant: #1 lesson so far: Take your message and actions to the where the people are, everywhere they are. Socnets aren’t just hip - they are essential seeding grounds for support.

#2 lesson: Social media matters. Social media done well is the killer app for influencing decision to engage.

#3 lesson: Build the network, inspire the network and then the money will follow.

John Brian, Marketing Consultant: Direct mail folks, take notice: the dominance of online campaign fundraising is here (which means it’s still a couple years out for the non-profit sector, but still…). Obama and Clinton both had record-shattering months in January, with Obama raising $28 million out of $32 million online. And in the last 36 hours, Clinton’s brought in another $4 million online while Obama’s supporters have delivered $7.5 million more. Direct mail just can’t work fast enough to respond to events with the speed that email and social network fundraising - by the time something is written, designed, approved, printed, mailed, opened, responded to, mailed back and deposited, the next round of events will have come and gone. Plus these donations have come in virtually cost free.

The biggest surprise was that it looks like The Producers was right: you can make more money with a flop than with a hit. The day after he won Iowa, Barack Obama brought in quite the haul online. But it was eclipsed by the contributions he received after he lost New Hampshire. Makes me wonder if non-profit advocacy groups should make a pitch to their members after they lose a vote about "Don’t let this happen again." Of course, this could encourage development departments to ask their legislative folks not to work too hard….

Jennifer, Project Manager: A best practice in web design is to know thy audience and help them see themselves in your web site. For any public-serving or customer-centric organization, the logical strategy to match this design principle is to focus not on what your constituents can do for you but on what you do and can do for your constituents.

The presidential campaign sites tend to be all about me, the candidate. Branding and helping voters get to know them is important, but at the end of the day they are campaigning to serve the public and should speak to the people and the issues that they care about. All the sites address the issues in one way or another. Clinton’s site is particularly effective in helping visitors know her position on the issues by scanning the labels without even having to click through. Most of the campaign sites also have clear calls to action and community features to get people involved, but you have to dig below the surface to get a sense of whose interests they are campaigning for. There are a few exceptions. The Ron Paul campaign site includes a People label in the top level navigation, but it focuses too narrowly on niche audiences (gun owners, home schoolers, students and veterans). Fred Thompson’s site is another example of highlighting very niche coalitions — lawyers, veterans, students, young professionals –  that only represent pieces of the Republican base.  McCain’s site has a great top level navigation label – Undecided? - but the landing page could do a better job, for example, of swaying the left-of-center undecided voter. By contrast, Obama’s site is noteworthy for its “People” navigation which does a good job of representing the core Democratic constituency. As he continues to campaign for the Democratic nomination and gets closer to the general election, he might want to round it out with any key audiences who can’t see themselves in his list.

Kate, Administrative Assistant: This may be pretty basic, but for me, what stood out the most were the websites with an immediate and clear call to action. This worked best when the website was easy to navigate, and we were easily able to find the additional information we sought. For example: “Make History! [by giving me money! Press this Donate button!]” It easily gives me the option to say, “Oh, that’s a great idea; I’ll give you money now,” or “Hmm, I see what you’re after, but let me click on these well-organized tabs to see if I agree with your positions on the issues that are important to me.” And, another seeming no-brainer, but one that wasn’t necessarily followed by all candidates, is that the effective sites didn’t lead us away from the homepage with their links. We were kept within reach of the reminder to give them money.

Beaconfire doesn’t work on political candidates’ sites directly, but a variety of our clients are involved with this election, including NPCA (who has their very own Presidential candidate!), AFSCME, and NARAL Pro Choice America. Be sure to join us next week when we ask Beaconfire staff what they think about marketing causes to minors.

Editor’s note: each week, we do a survey of Beaconfire staff to get impressions on a variety of non-profit technology issues. All opinions expressed here are solely those of their authors. This week’s question: What online innovations do you predict in 2008?

Ali, Marketing Consultant: In a word, I’d say synchronization.  Users are increasingly being stretched across different social platforms, multiple email addresses and sources for information.  Though I don’t have what “it” is, I think it’s going to be a better tool to get all your online needs met at a one-stop shop.

Tim, Functional Consultant: I see the next year as one where we will see widespread changes in both the devices that people are able to use the view web, as well as the interfaces we are able to create for them to do so.  I think that we’ll have to be even more vigilant to ensure that these new interfaces continue to be inclusive of all audiences.  Our users, more and more often, are going to be accessing our sites through wireless handheld devices (phones are already in much wider use for this in other countries) and figuring out how this increased and widened access to our sites intersects with out desire to try and do even more with the same sites, will be a great challenge.

John Brian, Marketing Consultant: I’ll predict that in 2008, we’ll see more integration between CRMs and social networks. Convio has a one-way Facebook integration module already – the next step is to see two-way integration between data sources - we’re starting to see some networks become a mini-internet of their own, but with far more personalized content. We’ll also hopefully see SocNets open up a lot more (on which OpenSocial is a start) and we’ll start to see NPOs and companies assuming that people will have a social network presence when launching campaigns.

Ken, Software Engineer: My prediction is that Microsoft’s Silverlight will gain momentum and will become a technology of choice for create rich internet and smart client apps.

Join us next week when we do a survey of lessons learned from the online campaigns the Presidential candidates are running.

Editor’s note: each week, we do a survey of Beaconfire staff to get impressions on a variety of non-profit technology issues. All opinions expressed here are solely those of their authors. This week’s question: What do you use as your primary internet browser, and why?

Amy, Functional Consultant: I use firefox almost exclusively for browsing.  I used to do considerably more CSS design work and came to love the dev toolbar extensions it offers.  (Taylor wrote a great blog piece about FF extensions).  When do I not use firefox? Only in instances where an online application such as outlook web access or the VPN refuses to function in anything other than IE.

Michael, Principal Consultant: I use FF. Reasons are simple – great plug-ins that are constantly improving, UI is smart and highly usable, custom keys & mousestrokes are fab.

Miro, Software Engineer: Inspecting layouts/CSS: Ffox. Everything else: IE(7). Why? Cause it just feels faster, especially spawning whole new windows. And I love Bill Gates. W3 standards? IE is it’s own standard.

Lynn, Principal Consultant: Firefox!

Taylor, Software Engineer: I use Firefox as much as possible:

• I rely heavily on many FF add-ons, mainly for debugging purposes (see my blog: My Firefox Extension Favorites)
• I protest IE for not following W3 web standards, which in turn makes my life as a developer much more complicated
• I think text among other things appear sharper in FF

Tim, Functional Consultant: I use Firefox because of all the addons that that I use to troubleshoot HTML/CSS layouts.  No need to mention them, Taylor already posted about them all.  While I am really pretty happy with IE7, it’s lack of addons and still sub-par support for HTML standards mean I have to stick with FireFox and just open IE (along with Safari and Opera) to test layouts and use the few online applications that won’t work in FireFox.  I have great hopes for IE8 and also am hoping the the next version of FireFox manages to gobble up fewer of my computers precious resources.

Andrew, Project Manager: I used to use FF, but after three separate clients told me that their office, and users, use Internet Explorer, I switched. Some developers and designers focus on FF and forget that most clients primarily use IE, and this can cause problems interfacing between them.

Marissa, Functional Consultant: I primarily use Firefox:

• For all the reasons Tim stated – It is way dreamier than IE for troubleshooting layout issues.
• For all the reasons Tim stated – Plugins I can’t live without.
• Because I’ve had a long-standing love affair with tabbed browsing – Yes, I know it’s in IE7 now, but for me, it’s too little, too late.
• Firefox just seems less annoying than IE.

Jeff, Principal Consultant: FF for me. Mostly the same reasons Marissa said: Tabbed browsing, since I keep an average of 20-40 windows open at a time. Regarding IE, I still haven’t upgraded to v7 since back in the day you could only have 1 version of IE and didn’t want to be stuck with a one I didn’t like. Given that my choices are IE6 and FF, there is no choice.

Kristin, Project Manager: Firefox, because it has cooler plugins and was the first one to come out with tabbed browsing.

John Brian, Marketing Consultant: I use IE7 because I like to view the web the way the average user sees it. That said, I do install a few add-ins that give me some Firefox functionality – in particular, IE7Pro which has AdBlock, crash recovery, and mouse gestures, among other features. Plus I like IE7’s tabs better.

Cara, Project Manager: Firefox – switched when my IE browser stopped allowing me to fill out forms – stayed with Firefox mostly for speed and add-ins.

Kate, Administrative Assistant: I use Firefox, largely because it remembers who I am and what my passwords are without me having to think about it. I’m considering about switching back to Safari though, because I’ve experienced some wonkiness with Firefox at home lately. Also, my husband insists that Safari’s far better, and he’s the official tech guy in our home, and usually right about these things.

Erika, Operations Manager: I use Explorer, mostly because it was the default the last time my computer was updated.  I imagine that the majority of the people who use computers do the same…they never bother to change whatever the default was when they got their computer.  It would be interesting to know what the differences are between “technical” people (those who use internet technology in their work) and non technical people in terms of whether they change the default browser.  Does the majority of the population even know about Firefox and Opera?

At home, I use Firefox on the Mac.  I love Firefox, but it doesn’t always perform well on the Mac, especially when it comes to forms and drop-down menus.  That can be rather frustrating.

Mark, Functional Consultant: I use FF, namely out of habit, for the add-ons and the warm fuzzy feeling of using community developed open source software. Features such as tabbed browsing, password manager and live bookmarks got me hooked on the FF. I stuck around for such cool add-ons as mouse gestures, firebug and forecast fox. Though I admit to almost getting sick from using tab effect (this one does a rotate animation when you toggle between tabs) due to the animation! In my opinion, mouse gesturing should become a standard feature of future browsers of all flavors. I also think of FF as one of the best examples of how the open source ideology can drive software innovation and create better products. After all, the development of IE 7 was all about keeping pace with the innovations and great features created with FF. On the downside, FF is a memory hog at times and has crashed on my machine at times for no apparent reason, though likely due to add-ons or some as yet unaddressed bug.

I do like IE 7 as well, but really haven’t spent the time to get used to the major changes in the interface and controls, so it feels less comfortable. Also, the effort involved in migrating data over from my current fav (FF) is a barrier to me in using it more - though there is likely some tool to make this easier. It does seem in general that this version of IE is converging more on w3c and HTML standards, but I’m sure there’s a ways to go. I’m also annoyed that there are still so many IE only applications on the Web using active x controls, and hope that MS moves its handling of client-side applications to plug-ins that aren’t dependent on the browser type. Maybe Silverlight will take them further down that road.

Of course, when building sites and campaigns, Beaconfire configures and tests for all major browsers, including several generations of Internet Explorer,  Firefox, Safari, Opera, and others, based on visitor statistics. Be sure to stop by next week to find what innovations Beaconfire staff are predicting for 2008.

Editor’s note: as a new feature, we’re doing a weekly survey of Beaconfire staff to get impressions on a variety of non-profit technology issues. All opinions expressed here are solely those of their authors. This week, we asked what people thought was the most influential web 2.0 site of 2007 - here are their answers:

Michael, Principal Consultant: What Web 2.0 category had 15% of Internet users engaged yesterday? What 2.0 revolutionary medium has Seniors, Boomers, GenX-ers, Millenials, Right Wing, Left Wing, Centrists and outright wackos using it? My vote for 2007 Most Influential Web 2.0 Site goes to YouTube.[...]

Tim, Functional Consultant: Facebook for three reasons: It successfully bridged the gap between the rockers and kiddies on MySpace and the fine upstanding professionals on LinkedIn, they had a huge jump in registered users in the past year…and everybody says so, and that’s a huge part of web 2.0.[...]

Mark, Functional Consultant: Flickr is one of the most useful Web 2.0 sites out there. While YouTube may be its more glamorous headline grabbing cousin, Flickr is more useful to more people as the taking and sharing of digital photos is much more pervasive than video.[...]

Milo, Marketing Consultant: Niche social networks: in a world of media fragmentation and long tails, it only makes sense that impersonal behemoths like MySpace and Facebook will lose ground to a smaller, more intimate and focused online communities — like the soon-to-come Shoe Tube — where users can more easily find others who share their passions.[...]

John Brian, Marketing Consultant: Social news sites, and Digg in particular. As I’ve noted previously, social news sites let you pick your own like-minded editor and are becoming a necessary commodity in a McNews world.

Brad, Client Manager: I’d like to suggest the widest influence wasn’t a particular site, but a type of site: the RSS aggregator, which not only makes user-contributed content much easier to manage and access, it also puts the user in editorial control…The power of 2.0 isn’t simply in content generation, but in content distribution.[...]

Kate, Administrative Assistant: I would suggest Facebook, because it’s very accessible to the masses. Also, there’s very little that will be more tangibly influential to the younger generation than their friends telling them when something’s cool.[...]

Eric, Senior Consultant: Yahoo! Groups. In 2007, listservs reached a big milestone: more than half of all Internet users now subscribe to at least one listserv, up from about one in three in 2001. Not only that, email that goes viral has more real world influence that the hot topic du jour at the web 2.0 hype leader du jour. That’s because older adults are much more likely to actually act on their opinions…and older Internet users disproportionately favor email for staying in touch over newfangled web 2.0 alternatives.[...] [for more, read Eric's report on Listserv use for nonprofits (pdf) -ed]

Amy, Functional Consultant: I’d have to 2^nd Kate’s nomination of Facebook - great minds and all of that. It’s most important to me because it’s helped me re-connect with family and friends who I haven’t seen in 10+ years.

Jennifer, Project Manager: The growing popularity of user reviews and ratings on products and services offers great promise for engaging the lowest common denominator…We believe it more when we hear it from our peers. From Netflix to Angie’s List, this Web 2.0 feature has had increasing influence on the American consumer in 2007, and offers great promise in 2008 for influencing consumers of nonprofit resources, services and ideas.[...]

Erika, Operations Manager: I would vote for Facebook as well… One of the things I’ve enjoyed the most about setting up my own page has been being contacted by people I haven’t heard from in a very long time, simply because they found me on Facebook. [...]

There were also submissions for less-heralded, but also important user-generated content sites like KittenWar and StuffOnMyMutt. Some answers were longer than we had room for - read full responses below the fold. And be sure to stop by next week to find out about the browser preferences of the Beaconfire team.

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