Social Networking Sites

Facebook is what everyone thinks of when social networking is mentioned and with valid reason. Facebook allows its users to develop their relationships with other people through posting on others walls, tagging activities they engage in, places they go, and who they're with. Not only this it allows its members to create groups to connect people who have certain things in common i.e. the Baruch memes page Baruch Memes.  I feel that Fb has been leading the way and setting the example for other social media sites with their constant innovation and their streamlined site. Another attribute that sets Fb apart is that their site is extremely user friendly, organizing the users news feed, likes, interests, and groups in a very easy manner.

Myspace was one of the most popular social networking sites before Facebook really took off. I had a profile early in high school and deleted it a long time ago when I made the switch to Fb. I signed up again for this blog entry and its interesting to see how it has changed overtime. Its clear that they have changed their focus to prevent going bankrupt by their much stronger competitor. Now there is a strong focus on music. When I signed up they immediately suggested types of music I should listen to and also asked the artists that I was interested in. After this I explored the site a little bit and it has this feature where it shows you new music videos by popular artists which restates its focus on music. Something that I found odd was there was a section where you can upload blog posts. I never really thought of a social media site that isn't specifically meant for blogs having this option. I'am not too sure as to how popular this feature is as Katy Perry is my only friend on this site and she seems not to be a very avid blogger. Another new feature that they introduced are something called "badges". I have no ideas what these are, I just know I got one for completing the process of making my profile. Do you trade these with people? Or is it something like you get more privileges the more you collect? Either way I don't think I'll find out unless someone reading this post knows and is willing to fill me in. Overall MySpace has changed a lot and I feel that it is targeting a different audience now and I don't think I fall into that category as this experience reminded my as why why I deleted mine in the first place.

Twitter was one of the fastest growing social networking sites, out pacing MySpace and even Facebook. Twitter differentiates itself by limiting its users to only posting status updates and each status cannot exceed 140 characters. Twitter also has this unique feature of using a Hashtag (#) in order to organize all the posts on its site. For example if someone were posting about the Kony phenomenon they could put #Kony2012 at the end of their status and someone who is interested in seeing what people are saying about this subject they could just do a search for that and every tweet that has that hashtag in it will pop up. I personally never really used Twitter but I can see how useful this site can be. You can choose who you wish to follow and get a lot of information this way, like following a new anchor to stay updated on current events or following ESPN to get sports coverage. Its also aided companies get feedback on their products or services by searching for posts with their hashtag.

LinkedIn differs from other social networking sites in that while other sites are used primarily for recreational purposes LinkedIn is used for professional networking. Profiles on LinkedIn and like online versions of someone's resume although these can contain a lot more information than their resume. Basically acting like a virtual resume database, LinkedIn obviously is a a valuable resource for employers looking at applicants who are applying to work at their firm. Likewise those who are looking for a job can find valuable info about employers and can find contact information of people who work at the firm they are applying to. Personally I  am a fan of this site and can give you a huge edge on competition if you know how to use the site correctly.