"Social networking" has been around forever. It's the simple act of
expanding the number of people you know by meeting your friends'
friends, their friends' friends and so on.
In fact, many of us today use
Twitter and Facebook to promote our existing and upcoming businesses.
And people looking to connect with other business-associated contacts
usually move to sites like LinkedIn, but one need to understand that social media is beyond Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Blogs.
After observing and running an analysis on hundreds of Social
Networking sites I have listed down
15 Top Social Networks Sites 2014
across countries.
1. Facebook: To access Facebook.com,
you must create an account on the site which is free. Facebook's terms
of use state that members must be at least 13 years old with valid email
ID’s. After updating you're details, your Facebook profile is
generated. Using Facebook.com you can:
o Browse and join networks, which are organized into four categories: regions, colleges, workplaces and high schools.
o Pull contacts from a Web-based e-mail account, into Facebook.com.
o Find friends in several ways, including search engine to look for a specific person and lot more.
o Facebook has recently crossed 500 million users and is the most popular Social Networking site of the world.
2. MySpace: On MySpace, your social
network starts growing from the first day. When you join MySpace, the
first step is to create a profile. You then, invite friends to join
there and search for your friends on already profiled on MySpace these
friends become your initial Friend Space. Once the friendship is
confirmed all the people in your friends' Friend Space become part of
your network. In that sense, everyone on MySpace is in your Extended
Network. As part of terms of MySpace, the user must be at least 14 years
old to register.
3. Twitter: Twitter is a very
simple service that is rapidly becoming one of the most talked-about
social networking service providers. When you have a Twitter account,
you can use the service to post and receive messages to a network of
contacts, as opposed to send bulk email messages. You can build your
network of contacts, and invite others to receive your Tweets, and can
follow other members' posts. Twitter makes it easy to opt into or out of
networks. Additionally, you can choose to stop following a specific
person’s feed.
4. LinkedIn: LinkedIn is an online
social network for business professionals, which is designed
specifically for professional networking, to help them find a job,
discover sales leads, connect with potential business partners. Unlike
most of the other social networks, LinkedIn does not focus on making
friends or sharing media like photos, videos and music. To start using
LinkedIn you need to register and create a profile page. To register to
LinkedIn, you need to provide personal information. You can update the
profile with your education and job details and a summary. Additionally,
you can also give and receive recommendations from co-workers and
bosses. There are more than 75 million professionals registered on
LinkedIn.
5. Bebo: In the United Kingdom, Bebo
is the second best social network. Bebo allows users to create social
networking profiles for free. It offers many of the same features as
other social networking sites. You can register a free account with Bebo
and upload photos, videos and information. The site lets you connect
with old friends and make new ones using a unique user interface. The
site boasts users from more than a dozen countries, including the United
States, Australia, Canada, Poland, France and Germany.
6. Friendster: Friendster was
one of the first Web sites to bring it into mass culture. It was
designed as a place to connect with friends, family, colleagues and new
friends over the Internet. However, it went beyond just a one-way
communication. Using Friendster, you can connect with friends and
family, meet new people through the connections you already have, find
people with similar interests, backgrounds or geographical locations,
join groups by activity, school or interest, interact through message
posts, games, blogs and application sharing, and share your details with
the Internet community.
7. Hi5: Hi5 shares many similarities
with many social network sites; however, it introduces some twists that
make it worthwhile for people who love trying out new and interesting
online communities. However, it is not one of the popular sites in the
United States. This was a strategic move from the founder, therefore,
Hi5 claims around 60 million members from more than 200 countries other
than the US. One of the site's biggest transformations is the addition
of many entertainment options, including games.
8. Habbo: The Habbo online community
is inhabited by pixelated, cartoon-character alter egos. You can meet
others in public rooms (nightclubs, restaurants, shops) and create
private rooms for selected friends. Habbo employees heavily moderate the
site, catering to its solid teen user base. Most of the users of Habbo
are between the age group of 13 – 18 years. Although, a major part of
the users are from the U.S., Habbo social networks is very popular in
places like the United Kingdom, Japan, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Finland and
more.
9. NING: Ning is the leading online
platform for the world's organizers, activists and influencers to create
social experiences that inspire action. It helps you create a safe and
secure place online for like-minded people. Ning takes the idea of
groups to a whole new level. The ability to create your own community
makes Ning a great home away from home for organizations and groups
looking to fill the social void.
10. Classmates: Classmates.com
is different from most social networks, in the sense that most of its
features are available to premium member. The price for premium members
depends on the length of the agreement – shorter term results in a
higher cost per month. Classmates.com is primarily used to reconnect
with old classmates. The site features a search engine that lets you
view other people who went to the same school you attended. Creating a
basic Classmates.com profile is free and easy. However, most of the
advanced features in Classmates.com are only available to paid users.
11. Tagged: Tagged is a blend of
social networking features that MySpace and Facebook users will find
very familiar. Tagged was designed to help users meet lots of new people
with similar interests in a short amount of time. You can access and
register directly or be invited by a friend to join Tagged. This is a
free social network that allows you to view your friends’ newly uploaded
Tagged photo album. Tagged encourages its users to meet strangers based
on shared interests, with the idea of growing your network to meet as
many people as possible.
12. Multiply: Multiply is a
vibrant social shopping destination, but faster and more convenient,
where sellers and buyers interact. A user's network is made up of their
direct contacts, as well as others who are closely connected to them
through their first-degree relationships. Users are also encouraged to
specify the nature of their relationship with one another, making it
possible to share content based on relationship. Many shoppers in the
Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam have
made the Multiply Marketplace a favourite shopping destination.
13. Meetup: Meetup is an online
social networking portal that facilitates offline group meetings in
various localities around the world. It makes it easy for anyone to
organize a local group or find one of the thousands already meeting up
face-to-face. More than 2,000 groups get together in local communities
each day, each one with the goal of improving themselves or their
communities.
14. myYearbook: myYearbook, the
best place to meet new people and one of the 25 most-trafficked sites in
the United States. myYearbook has Flash-based games, and the games
incorporate Lunch Money (the myYearbook virtual currency). It includes a
virtual economy through which people can purchase of gifts which
members send to each other. Lunch Money is also donated by members to
their favourite charity. In 2010, myYearbook donated money to the Haiti
Relief Fund to help victims of the earthquake in Haiti.
18. Orkut: Orkut is a free social
networking website where you can create a profile, connect with friends,
maintain an online scrapbook and use site features and applications to
share your interests and meet others. The prerequisite for logging on to
Orkut is that the user must be over 18 years old. Currently, Orkut is
the most popular in Brazil. The number of orkut users in India is almost
equivalent to those in its original home in the United States.
