Social networking sites are nothing new. They’ve been around for about a decade, but have exploded in popularity in recent years largely thanks to MySpace and Facebook. There are now hundreds and thousands of social networking sites around, so let’s take a look at the top social networking sites and why they’re sitting so comfortably at the peak.
Facebook is without a doubt THE top social networking sites right now. Originally intended for college students only, it opened up to the public and got incredibly popular within a short period of time.
Facebook is what made social networking what it is today and spawned the “Facebook Generation” which not only consists of the younger generation, but also the seniors. Lots of adults and even politicians who have shunned away from computers and the Internet have taken a deep interest in Facebook.
Maybe it is because you can share a lot of things on Facebook, user friendly and you can easily find new friends in there through your current friends. Or maybe it is because you can connect to apps on Facebook and play games while keeping up with your friends.
Whatever the reason is, there are more than 500 million people who are active in Facebook and they have an average of 130 friends. If you’re not on Facebook yet but your grandpa is, then chances are he has more friends than you.
Twitter is somewhat unique within the top social networking sites list. The creators of Twitter recognized that some people do not have a lot to say and don’t want the hassle of writing a full length posts about it. So they let users to say whatever on their mind with 140 words or less. Then people can follow your tweets and sometimes retweet your post.
Twitter is also considered as a micro-blogging platform since no messages can be more than 140 words at a time.
MySpace
Before Facebook and Twitter took over, MySpace was the top social networking site. You could say it was more of a social blog. Users get their own page and they can do certain customization on it like changing background, adding mp3 player or changing the fonts. Anyone can visit your MySpace page but you can add restrictions to those who are not confirmed as your friends.
Even now there are still users who prefer MySpace over Facebook or Twitter. They feel that the customizable page have the edge over Facebook.
MySpace was originally intended for people to share their music and for indie bands to get together.
Friendster
Friendster is one of the most popular social networking website before Facebook or MySpace. In fact, it was one of the earliest social networking sites that were truly successful. Launched in 2002, the concept is similar to Facebook where it allows users to find and connect with old friends while at the same time being able to find new friends without having to meet face to face.
Although at first it may seem as if Friendster had completely dropped off the radar after Facebook, the truth is it still has a very strong presence in Asia.
NOTE: If you have any questions about “building an effective and powerful web presence” or if you want me to do this for your business, please give me a call 0406-532-730 or ask me in the comments below. I’m thinking I’ll do some videos soon and will probably start answering some question via video and posting them here. Let me know what you think, please comment below and please don’t be shy.
Take care and have a wonderful day.
Ian Richardson
This is a very good article. Social networking sites are now part of our life. Many sites are available on the internet but this article shows you some top social networking sites which are very good.
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