[2] Various aggregation services provide tools or widgets to allow users to consolidate messages, track friends, combine bookmarks, search across multiple social networking sites, read RSS feeds for numerous social networks, see when their name is mentioned on various sites, access their profiles from a single interface, and provide "live streams", among other things.
[4] Some aggregators perform other duties; for example, some aim to help companies and individuals improve engagement with their brands.
In March 2008, The Economist reported that social networking services are beginning to move away from "walled gardens" towards more open architecture.
[9] The OpenSocial initiative aims to bridge the member overlap between various online social network services.
This practice serves a dual purpose: it provides understandable information about complex topics and eliminates the time requirement for readers to find and analyze news from multiple sources.
Social network aggregators then analyze this data, correlating the audience profiles and the type of content.
A study provided by eMarketer noted that 43% of marketers complain about a significant lack of time to find relevant content for their business.