In preparation for some upcoming research, I’ve been surveying the field of Social Networking sites. The only way to characterize growth in the field is explosive; while I don’t have actual numbers on how many social networking sites are out there, my informal survey shows we are talking at least hundreds, with more coming online each day.
Man has always been a social creature and has constantly developed ways to communicate with friends and loved ones using the latest technology. Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter have gained popularity in recent years. Though they have similarities, both are distinct in the kind of services they offer to their users.
There are so many social networking sites out there at the moment, but I really find it amazing that the older generation still haven’t caught on to this new phenomenon. Social network sites are amazing because they let everyone communicate with their friends, find people they haven’t seen for a long time, and network with people who have the same interests as them.
At the start, Facebook was a site where people could inform their friends and loved ones about what was up in their lives through status updates. Its scope was pretty much limited to a person’s own network.
I thought I would put together an article that will help the older people find some social networking sites that will actually help them connect with people. So here they are, the top 5 social networks everyone should join.
In recent years, though, Facebook has expanded extensively to include the applications that has made it the most popular social networking site. The interactive games, fan pages, classified ads, as well as the business advertisements have all driven the popularity of Facebook sky high.
Myspace is the largest social network in the world. They have more users than any other and surprisingly the majority of their users are over 30. Myspace has a key focus around the music industry. If you are looking for a band to listen to or just find out when their next concert is on, then Myspace is the place to find them. Myspace also allows users to customise their own pages, so you can make it look as colourful or as bland as you want. However, I also think this can be the sites downfall from time to time, because I really hate looking at pages that are just either too over the top, or music starts playing, or just unreadable.
Twitter, like Facebook, offers a way to broadcast a person’s status updates. They differ in that Twitter focuses exclusively on status updates.
Facebook is one of the best social networks in the world for actually finding people. Profiles are not customisable and their platform is very clean and slick. They arent focused on pushing through the pageview like Myspace, more importantly they focus on interactions and how users use their site.
Unlike Facebook, however, Twittter allows people you don’t know to see or ‘follow’ your status updates. Twitter has made man’s need to share and interact as it’s bread and butter – and done it quite successfully. With Twitter, people with similar interests and ideas are brought together through ‘tweets’.
Facebook has has huge growth in international markets recently, so if you are trying to find a long lost penpal in China, then you might have a chance with Facebook. Facebook is for older users and users who normally have at least a degree. Im not always sure if that is a good thing or not.
People on Twitter are not about privacy. They want to be heard, they want to connect. A lot of celebrities are using Twitter as a way to communicate with their fans among others. Recently, celebrity tweets have become a hot way to advertise with one tweet going as much as $25,000.
Bebo is a social network that has just been bought by AOL. It has a strong presence in Ireland and the UK, but predominantly for the younger generation. Bebo also has a focus on bands and artists, but this social network doesn’t really stand out from the crowd. Pages are customisable on the site, but nothing over the top like Myspace.
Tweets from people are tagged and thus people who are interested in those tags can see those tweets. If it interests them, then they can choose to follow a person’s tweets which will then connect them to that person, much like becoming ‘friends’ on Facebook.
Hi5 is a social network that is being used a lot by the older generation. It is a social network that is growing in nearly all markets, but doesn’t really have a focus. Hi5 when first launched spent a lot of time trying to spam as many people as possible into joining. That tactic seems to have worked and their are now millions on users online. Hi5 would be a good place to head to find out if your older friends are online, but I would spend a lot of time using this site.
If you want to know which one is better then it really depends on your needs. It’s not uncommon for people to use both Facebook and Twitter at the same time. After all, two is definitely better than one where man, the social animal, is concerned.
Orkut is under the huge Google umbrella. Orkut is a great social network with a huge following in South America as well as other non-english speaking countries. Orkut has a very slick design (as you would expect from Google), plus it seems to be growing in english speaking countries by the day. This social network used to be closed, but now it is completely open and anyone can join.
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