Have you updated your Contacts list with information from social networks?

Scrubly

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That’s pretty muchrnwhat Scrubly is: arnweb-based updating service for Google Contacts. With your permission, Scrublyrnupdates your contact list with information drawn from Facebook, LinkedIn, andrnTwitter. It also consolidates duplicate contact information and deletes blankrncontacts. (You may manually modify Scrubly’s recommendations any time.) Scrublyrnwrites the updated information back to your Google Contacts list.

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Scrubly charges arnfee of $19.95 for a “one-time scrub” of your contacts, or $39.95 perrnyear for an unlimited number of “scrubs” during the year. If you havernfewer than 250 contacts, Scrubly is free.

rnrnIn addition to updating Google Contacts lists, Scrublyrnalso works with Outlook and Mac contact lists. With Google Contacts, Scrublyrnimports and export the data via the web. When using Scrubly to update Outlookrnor Mac address book contacts, you’ll need to install a bit of software on yourrnsystem to help with the import and export process.

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Scrubly cleans and updates your contact list using a 6-step process

Google Contacts

rnrnHere’s a look at the Scrubly contact update processrnfor Google Contacts. The steps below assume you’ve created a Scrubly account,rnlogged in, and started the six-step “scrub” process.

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Scrubly imports your contacts while displaying amusing messages

1. Upload

rnrnFirst, you need to give Scrubly permission to accessrnyour Google Contacts. Scrubly then imports these contacts. In my case, Scrublyrnretrieved all 1,322 of my contacts.

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The Express Scrub identifies obvious duplicates; the Deep Scrub compares data in more fields

(During the import process – and throughout thernscrub – you’ll see various messages suggestive of the “reticulatingrnsplines” message you might remember from SimCity. Messages like “Loadingrnworld maps…”, “Checking with Strunk & White”, and “Rhythmicallyrnapplying the bubbles”.)

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Scrubly reports Express Scrub impact after you review identified duplicates

2. Express Scrub

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Next, you have thernchoice of an Express Scrub or Deep Scrub. The Express Scrub consolidatesrnduplicate contacts, and removes blank and “system default” contactsrn(i.e., the sample contact records that often come with new systems). The DeeprnScrub takes more time, but identifies more potential duplicates by comparingrndata in more fields. A Deep Scrub includes an Express Scrub.

rnrnWhen duplicates are identified, you have completerncontrol over how each record is handled. Scrubly prefers to preserve data, sornwhen duplicate records are consolidated no data is lost. Of course, you canrnalways choose to preserve records. You can also edit individual fields inrnrecords identified as duplicates. Scrubly works to make sure you don’t lose anyrnuseful data in the cleaning process.

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You choose the rules that Scrubly uses for Deep Scrub duplicate detection

3. Deep Scrub

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Before a Deep Scrubrnbegins, you select rules for Scrubly to use. For example, one rule looks for: “Scansrnfor matching names. The contact name plus email address, phone number orrnaddress must match. Phone numbers are matched across Work, Home and Other.”

rnrnPotential duplicates are identified and presented forrnyour review. The review process may take some time, as you really should lookrnat each individual case. The Deep Scrub sometimes identifies contacts asrnduplicates when they are not. For example, I have two contacts named “HollyrnRoss”. Scrubly identifies these as possible duplicates, yet I’m confidentrnthat they are two distinct people. The review process lets me keep bothrnrecords.

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Choose how Scrubly updates your contacts' information from Facebook, LinkedIn and/or Twitter

In this phase,rnScrubly removes duplicate data within contactrnrecords. This eliminates the problem of having the same email address or phonernnumber listed in multiple fields within a contact record.

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Scrubly alsornstandardizes all your phone number fields to a format you specify. I choosernXXX-XXX-XXXX, but you might also select several other standard phone numberrnformats (e.g., XXX.XXX.XXX, (XXX) XXX-XXXX, etc.). 

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5. Social Update

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Next, Scrubly canrnpull information from social networks you use to update your contact list. Thisrnlets you add more current information to your contacts list. A colleague mightrnhave updated their job title on LinkedIn or Facebook. This process lets you addrnthat information to their contact record.

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If you use multiplernsocial networks, you’ll need to prioritize the information. For example,rnScrubly can import a contact’s photo from any of the three networks to which itrnconnects: LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter. You need to decide which photo tornuse. Since I use my contact list primarily for business purposes, I prioritizernthe networks in exactly that order (LinkedIn first, Facebook second, andrnTwitter last).

rnrnDuring this step you may choose to allow Scrubly tornOverwrite your existing information. If your contact list is quite out of date,rnit may be smart to select the “Overwrite” box for fields likely to bernout of date, such as Job Title and Company Name. Similarly, if you don’t havernphotos of most of your contacts, you might allow the Photo field to “Overwrite”rnexisting data. (I ran Scrubly once without Overwrite selected on most of these fields,rnthen re-ran it with Overwriternselected. I was happier with the results with Overwrite selected. My contactsrntended to have provided more accurate information on social networks than I hadrnin my contacts list.)

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Review a full report before sending the scrubbed data to your account

6. Download

rnrnFinally, Scrubly provides a full report of changesrnbefore sending the scrubbed contacts list back to your account. The finalrnprocess deletes all of your existing contacts, and then replaces them with thernscrubbed data. Importantly, Scrubly saves your original data. Should yournrealize later that the scrubbed data was somehow faulty you can always returnrnto Scrubly and choose to restore your original data.

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In an ideal world, communication would be like Star Trek

Bottom line

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I’ve found Scrublyrnuseful in two different scenarios. In one, Scrubly helped me quicklyrnconsolidate multiple digital contact lists: I could import lists from severalrnsources to Google Contacts, then rely on Scrubly to help me consolidate andrndelete duplicates. In the other case, I rely on Scrubly about once a year tornupdate contact information for my contacts from social networks. I like havingrncurrent photos and job contact information right in my contact list.

rnrnIn an ideal world, communication would be like Star Trek: we would simply speak a contact name and arncommunication channel would automatically open. In the meantime, I’ll rely onrnScrubly to clean up and update my Google Contacts with information from socialrnnetworks.