Social Media Type: Social Networks

Most people recognize the term Social Networking, but do you actually know how long they’ve been around? The answer might shock you – since the late 1990’s! They first appeared with Geocities and Tripod; however, they were never very interactive which is why people don’t actually recognize them as being social networks. I know I had an account with each and never recognized it until after I stopped using them.

Types of Social Networks

MySpace & Facebook

Then in the early 2000’s we had the beginning of what everyone termed Social Networking with the creation of MySpace. I do still have a MySpace account; however, I never use it, so don’t try and get me on there. Anyhow, then Facebook was created in 2004 and it took a while for people to realize what it was. However, people like me, created an account as soon as we could. For me, that was in 2006, but I didn’t like it very much, so I mainly used MySpace until 2007 when the major push happened for Facebook. Since then, it’s my main way to communicate with others. I do have a personal Facebook account, but I do not have a professional one.

Twitter

With Twitter, I resisted it because I couldn’t see the reasoning with it. I created this back in 2011 in response to work wanting me to have an account to use for communication. I have to say, in the past 2 years, I can see the need to follow people to have information forwarded to you. However, that being said, I still cannot see it for those of us who only use it to tell everyone what’s going on. Isn’t that way Facebook does and you can add pictures if you really want to. Besides, Facebook doesn’t limit you to a certain amount of characters. I know others love this type of communication, but unless you are a star (TV, stage, screen, music, singer, etc), promoter, endorse or produce products (like a writer or inventor), I honestly cannot see what the use is for Twitter I’m sorry to say.

LinkedIn

I could have sworn I had a LinkedIn account in 2007 and stopped using it; however, when I went to look last year, I found that I didn’t have one after all. However, since then, I’ve created a LinkedIn account and have connections made. It seems to be a great little area if you are looking for other professionals to talk about general areas and to reconnect with other professionals you used to work with in past positions. When I lost my job, in early 2013, we were told that this would be a great place to put our information for other professionals to reference when looking for people for positions. I don’t know anyone who has obtained a position this way, but there’s always hope!

Pinterest

It’s only been in the last year that I’ve heard about Pinterest. That being said, it’s only been around since 2010. Again, I couldn’t see the sense in it other than doing things in pictures rather than words. However, I figured this would be a great way to spice up my area of the website, so I created an account in the last month. I can see the marketing potential, but usage as a personal user; I cannot see the use for it but I am willing to try.

Google Plus+

Would you believe I have 2 Google+ or G+ accounts? This is due to being a Learn Local Practitioner (or in layman’s words – I teach pre accredited training to people) and when I started my Certificate IV in Web Based Technologies, the teacher recommended that we start an Google+ account. One account is used for when I am teaching, to access online docs as well as emails and the other is my professional account. I can see it’s a great resource for talking and collaboration on topics.

Ning

I do have a Ning account, again for teaching, but I haven’t gotten around to actually accessing it.

There are many other Social Networks out there; however, I have touched on the more popular ones and ones that I have used. Want more? There is a longer list of social networking sites.

Why People don’t want to join Networks

Some people haven’t joined Social Networking sites. Others have joined, used them for a bit and then cancelled their accounts. Why? Well, there’s a range of reasons why. I have asked people that I know either why they haven’t joined or why they stopped. Below is a few reasons I’ve been told:

• Don’t have the time
• Don’t see the point, I can get more out of a phone call
• Too many game & people requests
• Jokes are all I see
• I can get all of the news by someone else’s account that I live with, why should I have one?

I’ve had a range of ages, but I have to admit that these are usually people, men and women, over the age of 35. These include workmates, my family, and associates. I have to admit; sometimes I just step away, especially if we’re on vacation or holidays, from social media for a few days. My husband has less social networks, but intends to be more addicted than I am. Do you step away or are you online most of the day?

What do you think? Did I do Social Networks justice or did I get it completely wrong? Do you agree with my assessments for Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Google+? Leave a comment and let me know.