Check Out Social Networking Sites

Create a new post on your blog with the above title. In your post, discuss the following. Visit Facebook, Myspace, Friendster - and one other social networking site of your choosing. Compare your impressions of these sites. Note that you probably should register and log in to get the complete picture. Facebook The slogan for this social network is, "Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life." Staying true to this slogan, Facebook provides a platform with which thoughts and images are freely shared with select 'Friends' that are also Facebook users. There are various levels of privacy control, which allows the user to

determine who sees content that they've uploaded (friends only versus everyone)and also making the decisions about whether they want to be tagged (documented) in photos that other people took of them. There's a 'Newsfeed' tab which is where the user goes to views all status and image updates that are made by people within their social network. The 'Notifications' tab provides real-time notes about friend requests and/or comments that the user receives in response to something that was posted, and included the user. There is also the 'Wall' which houses comments and general greetings from people in the user's network. In addition to these features, there's also a 'Message' tab, where users can receive personal messages (privacy of not posting on wall) from people within the user's network or anyone (depending on the level of privacy that the user has chosen.) Myspace Myspace credits itself as being, "The leading social entertainment destination powered by the passion of fans. Music, movies, celebs, TV, and games made social." This social network is one of the original ways in which celebrities were able to make direct contact with their fans and vice versa. Like Facebook, it gives users the ability to make status updates, and has a 'mood' button which is a smiley face used to express how the user is

feeling in that moment. Users are also able to post images and share with other users within their network or a wider audience, depending on the privacy options that are chosen. The same upload system is used for streaming videos and and playlists. There's a 'Comments' tab in which the user can review comments that were made about them by other users within the network or at large, again depending on the privacy options chosen. Like Facebook, there's also a 'Notifications' and 'Message' tab. Friendster The slogan for Friendter reads, "Play free online games and meet new friends by joining Friendster today." The unifying force here is slightly different than Facebook and Friendster, in that this social network is bringing people together to play online games. The rage of gaming sections include, 'Featured Games,' 'Popular Games,'New Releases,' 'Shooting,' 'Strategy,' 'Puzzles,' 'Card Games,' 'Arcade,' and 'Simulation.' Users have the option of

linking their Facebook account to generate more players for games. There's a 'Leadboard' tab, which documents top players in real-time. In addition, there's also a 'Recent Activity' tab which allows users to see what games are being played by people in their network. In addition, there's also a 'Forum' feature which serves as a platform for players to interact with each other and exchange insights about strategy and general feed-back about games offered by this social network. LinkedIn "The world's largest network,' are the words that LinkedIn uses to describe itself. Unlike Facebook, Myspace and Friendster, LinkedIn is the leading social network committed to creating a platform where professionals can 'network' and exchange valuable ideas with other users within their specific field of work. This network also has an 'Updates' feature where users can see posts that are being made by other professionals in their network. There's a

'People You May Know,' tab which gives the user an opportunity to browse through listings for other users who they may have done business with in the past, or share the same 'connections' (friends) as the user. LinkedIn can serve as a resume for users, as it enables them to list their educational and professional accomplishments, and allows them to indicate whether they are interested in job opportunities. This resume-like format can also be exported in the form of a PDF. All of these networks contain some form of advertisement, which can be very beneficial for business owners who would like to broaden their reach to different community groups. Featured images were sourced from: Facebook, Myspace, Friendster and LinkedIn websites