Facebook has not only enabled people to stay in touch with one another, it has also helped many people find family members and loved ones of who them they had lost touch with or never had the opportunity to meet. Facebook is an amazing website for people who enjoy socializing, keeping in touch with friends and family, playing games and much more. There is a lot more to Facebook than just what meets the eye. In fact, there are many features of Facebook that a lot of people do not know about but if they did know, they would certainly enjoy these features as well. Below is a list of the top 10 features of the popular social networking website, Facebook.

Tag your friends in comments.

You might have been used to being able to tag your friends in pictures that included them or pictures that you wanted to share with them. This was always a neat feature that Facebook provided to its users. However, a fairly new feature allows Facebook users to tag their friends in their very own status. So now, if you are hanging out with a friend, you can tag them in the status and let all of your Facebook friends know who you are hanging with. When you tag the friend in your Facebook status, a link to their page will be set on their name so anyone viewing your status can easily click the name of your friend and will be taken to his/her page. This is also a great way for people to find mutual friends that they may share.

Post an MP3 to your status.

This is a cool hidden feature that lots of users do not know about. If you have several music files with URLs that end in .mp3, all you have to do is simply copy and paste the URL into your status update box, press submit, and you will be able to display an actual music player for you and all of your Facebook friends to look and listen to. This is a great way to share some of your favorite music with your friends and family members. If you haven’t yet, you might want to give it a try. It is pretty cool. Click here for FB mp3 upload file app.

Develop your own poll.

Need to find out statistical information for a school project? Interested in finding out which fast food restaurant is most popular amongst your friends? You can create your very own poll on Facebook which will allow all of your friends to answer honestly. This is a great way for you get poll results almost instantly. You won’t even have to leave your bedroom to find the results to your unique poll. To create a poll, go to your status update box. You will notice that when you are writing the status, you have the option to ask a question instead. In the question box, you can ask your question and create multiple choice answers for friends to choose from.

Create groups.

This is a feature that has been around for quite a while now but still, there are plenty of people who are unaware. You can create a group, whether it is for a school program, a favorite television show, or a support group, and invite members and allow members to join the group at any given time. This helps people of the group communicate with one another on a more personal level.

Create events and invite everyone.

On Facebook, you can create an event which will save you a lot of time instead of having to send out invitations to people for the events. In fact, when you create an event on Facebook, you can send the event invitation to your friends on Facebook as well as people on FaceBook who are not on your friends list and people who are not even a member of the social networking website.

Find out how “liked” your pages are.

This is pretty cool statistical information that you can find on Facebook without putting in any effort. You can use the “view insights” button or facebook insights page that gives you more insights on the content that users view on your Page. This will tell you number of total likes, friends or fans and people talking about your page.

Block creepy people.

One of the best features of Facebook allows you to block people that bother you, for good. You can put a creepy or annoying person on your block list and when they log onto their Facebook and go to your page, it will look as if you deleted your page and are no longer a member of Facebook. This will help you prevent and avoid stalkers!

Hide status updates and albums.

If you don’t want everyone to know your business or see certain pictures, you can hide status updates and albums from specific people on your list of friends. This comes in handy when you want to hide your “crazy night out” pictures from your boss or a racy status from your family members.

Create designs with tagged pictures.

On the top of you Facebook, there are about eight different small sized pictures that you have been tagged in. This is called a banner. You can create a custom design or use a pre-made banner to make your Facebook page look unique.

Make the new ticker small and unnoticeable.

The new ticker is annoying to some and you have probably noticed it one the right-hand side of your homepage. If it bothers you, make it smaller so that you don’t have to look at it. Use your mouse, click on the ticker and then pull it up so that it will appear much smaller on the homepage

Conclusion

Facebook has a lot more features to it than what meets the eye. These top ten features are cool and interesting aspects of the social networking website that you can enjoy. Now that you have learned about these different features, you might want to start trying them out for yourself.

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Introduction

At first, social networking was an idea that many people had never heard of. When MySpace hit the scene, it became popular in a dramatically short amount of time. There were so many things that you could do on the site that were the catalyst for its primary success. Facebook, on the other hand, started off small when it first came out but, like a planted tree, it has grown and expanded into something amazing. As Facebook continued to grow, it began to outshine MySpace and is now ranked higher than MySpace. There are a lot of differences between the two sites right now as both sites have different features to offer their users.

Applications

Both social networking websites have applications that users can play and have fun with. As of right now, it seems Facebook takes the lead with some of its applications. For example, the game Farm Town has received so many users and a lot of people find the game to be addicting.

Demographics

Facebook may win the race when it comes to demographics. The fact of the matter is both adults and children or teenagers own Facebook accounts. It is a cool website to use for people of all ages. On the other hand, a lot of the users on MySpace are younger. When Facebook was first designed, it was aimed toward college students. MySpace still has that spunky appeal that attracts younger visitors while Facebook seems to have a more mature layout that is easily and openly used by both adults and teens alike.

Privacy

When it comes to privacy, MySpace definitely takes the lead. The news is constantly bashing Facebook for violating the privacy of its users. Facebook can show other people exactly what you do, every move you make. It can also show what type of habits you have when you browse the web. Advertisers also use the information on your Facebook page to target you with advertisements which, let’s face it, can be quite annoying! Myspace offers a better sense of privacy all together.

Design

MySpace takes the lead for design as well. While designing your own page is not important to some, MySpace allows its users to design their profile in a unique manner that helps their page stand out from other pages. Facebook, on the other hand, sticks to a simple layout that cannot really be altered, changed or customized according to your preferences. With that said, the latest version of Facebook, slated to roll out in the coming weeks, is said to minim the design of MySpace in many ways, which truly heats up the batter between these two social networking juggernauts.

Entertainment

Both MySpace and Facebook are perfect for entertainment purposes. You can listen to music, play games, and of course, stay in touch with your family and friends.

Promotion/Business

Both of these social networking websites are perfect for entrepreneurs and artists who are looking to promote themselves or their business. Some find it easier to network on Facebook while other people say it is easier to network on MySpace. One really has to try both and see what works best for them.

Spam

As a member of MySpace, you may notice a bunch of junk e-mail in your messages. This can be quite annoying. When it comes to spam, Facebook is better at filtering through it so that you are not bothered by it as much.

Safety/Security

Very recently, there has been a lot of Facebook hacking taking place. However, this can happen with a lot of different websites and the best way to save your Facebook or even MySpace page from getting hacked is to change your password every now and then. When it comes to your safety and security, MySpace is better with providing you with the security you need to prevent your personal page from getting hacked or from your private information being exploited.

Usability

When Facebook first hit the scene, it was simple to use. Now, they have changed so much when it comes to the format of their page, it can be very frustrating, especially for older users who were just getting the hang of the old Facebook.

MySpace has changed its layout and theme over the years but it is still fairly simple to use.  As of right now, Facebook even rolled out a new feature which is referred to as “The Timeline” and basically outlines your life from birth until now with pictures and everything else that is important and significant to you on your timeline.

Conclusion

With the differences between the two social networking websites, it can be hard to choose which is the better one overall. Facebook obviously takes the lead, according to the existing charts, but there are some people who prefer MySpace anyway. With Facebook, you can find friends, message friends and add new people, use different apps and network with other people. The main issue with Facebook is the lack of security and privacy. It is not right that users have to worry about their private information being handed out to advertisers and other third-party people.

MySpace definitely takes the lead over Facebook when it comes to privacy. Most people, however, choose Facebook, because it easier to use to stay connected with the people they care about. Some people second guess their decision to use Facebook due to the lack of privacy. However, even with a certain lack of privacy, Facebook is still the number one social networking website on the Internet right now. Deciding which one you will use is entirely up to you. If most of your friends are using Facebook, it would be understandable as to why you would prefer to use this social network as well. After all, these websites are designed with the purpose of connecting people with one another. Many people have even been able to find long lost friends and family members through Facebook. What a great phenomenon!

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What does Facebook offer?

The two different websites both have positive things to offer its users. Facebook is much like an online hangout that allows people to keep in touch with one another even after graduating, moving to another state or even across the world. Facebook keeps families, friends, and acquaintances connected with one another. The “like” feature on Facebook allows users to choose things they like along with their friends statuses and picture updates.

Top Notch Privacy Settings

Facebook recently changed their privacy settings and some love the new change while others are not a fan. While your wall was once visible to everyone, you have the option of making your wall private or semi-private to specific people. Don’t want your family members to see what you are saying in your status update? You can simply block them from being able to view your status updates. It’s quite simple and easy to follow. Facebook privacy settings are definitely great for people who don’t want their information available to random people.

Networking and Business Friendly

Facebook is not only a good website for people who want to stay connected. It is also perfect for small business owners. Small business owners have the opportunity to build a fan page for their business on Facebook. This page will allow them to keep in touch with customers, customers can leave feedback and comments, the business owners can post pictures of merchandise, take orders, and use the link for their business page on Facebook to spread the word about the business. Facebook is also network-friendly for people who are into networking themselves.

Not So Positive Things About Facebook

While Facebook has a lot of positive features, there are some negative features as well. Facebook is constantly making changes that most people don’t like. In fact, some users have been so upset with the changes that they started their own Facebook page to express their dislike for the new layout and format of the site. While it takes some getting used to, it is not absolutely terrible.

What is worrisome, though, is the fact that many of the Facebook applications and features can find out a lot of your private information, much more than you would be willing to share. Because your private information on Facebook is not really private after all, it may leave you wondering how user friendly Facebook really is.

What does Google Plus offer?

Google Plus, the relatively new social networking platform, has lots to offer its users as well. Google Plus offers video chat to its users. This feature comes in handy for those who would normally use other video chat programs. Now, users are able to stay in touch and chat through video which is quite cool. Google Plus also has a feature that is referred to as Circles which enables you to choose who is in which of your circles. Once you set up who is in your different circles, you get to decide what those people can see on your Google Plus page. Because the site is new, there are still plenty of features to come.

What are the negative features of Google Plus?

Google Plus users are supposed to use their real name when they sign up. This means your name will be displayed as it actually is. Whereas Facebook gives you the opportunity to use nicknames or fake names, Google Plus wants you to be honest and use your actual birth name. For some people, this is just not good. Google Plus is also relatively new and seems to be a bit too exclusive to some people.

Which Is Better?

As of right now, Facebook is definitely still the better social networking platform out of the two selections. Why is that? Well, as the number one social networking platform, Facebook continues to change with its users. The reason changes are constantly being made on Facebook is because the creators want the website to grow with users instead of users growing out of the Facebook trend. Myspace is another one of the competitors that Facebook is constantly dealing with. At one point, Myspace was the number one social networking platform. Facebook was able to beat Myspace for the lead and is working hard to make sure it keeps that spot and prevent websites such as Myspace and Google Plus from reaching the number one spot.

Facebook is paying close attention to competitors, especially Google Plus, and is making even more changes to keep up with these other social networking sites. It is obvious that Facebook does not want to lose its number one spot on the list of top social networking sites. As Google Plus grows with its new features, Facebook continues to produce new features as well. This benefits the users much more than it benefits either of the sites. With these two websites in constant competition, they will likely work on making the sites even more user friendly and listen to what user have to say about the site.

If these different social networking platforms are willing to listen to your suggestions and make changes based on what you and others have to say about the website, then that is a good thing. That means that the website actually care about their users and not just making business and money. Even more changes are expected to come for both Facebook and Google Plus. It is hard to say if Facebook will have the number one spot in just a few years from now but with the way they operate, it is quite possible.

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There are many platforms that allow individuals to communicate. Of course, the social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace are the most popular; however, forums and web discussions are becoming increasingly popular as well. These platforms allow users to discuss various topics and it is very possible that, depending on the subject you are interested in, there is some type of forum that exists that specifically targets that subject. The process of creating a forum or web discussion is dependent on the skills the person has within web hosting and code. Forums and web discussions are still not quite as popular as other social networking sites, but they have the versatility to become anything the creator wants it to be, which is making it popular among individuals.

Who are social networking sites for?

Almost everyone has some type of social networking site and businesses are now creating their very own which would allow them to connect more deeply with their customers. By creating such sites, businesses are now able to see what their customers truly think in a relaxed, comfortable state. Individuals and businesses alike want a social networking platform that is easy to use and popular.

Here are the top five social networking platforms:

These five social networking websites are in the lead over all other social networking sites online. One may wonder how the rankings for the top five social networking platforms are decided. The decision is based on a number of factors. These factors include:

• Profiles
• Security
• Features for Networking
• Support
• Friend Focus

These few factors are what determine whether or not the social networking platform is a success. Profiles are the most essential factor because this is how a user expresses themselves and who they are to the public and to the people who they know. On a profile, users can talk about their likes and dislikes, hobbies and interests, and literally be themselves. Users value being able to have a profile that is easy to use and allows them to talk about themselves and what they are into. A user profile should be easy to set up and understand, but also decent enough to allow the user to show who they are and their personality through their profile.

The Importance of Security

Security is definitely another major factor on what makes a social networking platform successful. Users value their privacy and security. Who would want to be a user of a social networking website that didn’t value the security of its users? Surely, no one would. Each and every successful social networking platform should have security options for its users. These options include giving the users a block button so that they are able to block anyone they want, especially people who may be bothering them online. Users should also be able to block off certain parts of their profile from other people if they wish.

Available Features

The features for networking are definitely an additional bonus. If a social networking platform wants to have success, it will need to offer tons of features to its users. It is important that social networking platforms remember they are in constant competition with others. Features that should be offered to the users include picture updates, video update, groups, status updates, and tons of other features that the users want.

Support is a necessity especially for those who are new to using social networking platforms. The last thing that a platform should want to do is to leave a user feeling unsure and left out. The platform should offer support and advice to new users and there should always be a section available to users that answers some of the most frequently asked questions.

Connecting with Friends

Last but certainly not least, friend focus is essential and it is the main way that a social networking platform will grow. Users want to be able to connect with their friends and family members. If a social networking platform wants to be successful, they have to make the friend focus easy for users to keep in contact with one another.

In Conclusion

Overall, it seems as though Facebook has mastered most of these features because it is number one on the list of top five social networking platforms. Facebook has received a 4 star rating for security, support and friend focus. Facebook also received a 3 star rating for profiles and 3.5 stars for networking features. Facebook currently takes the lead as the number one social networking platform, but the website does have some fairly stiff competition.

MySpace comes in as a close second. The website received a 4 star rating for all features except for the friend focus feature. When it came to friend focus, MySpace received a 3 star rating, which is what put the social networking platform at number two in the list. MySpace is in constant competition with Facebook for the number one spot. If Facebook wants to keep its number one spot or if MySpace wants to reach that number one spot, changes will need to be made on both ends. The same goes for the other three social networking platforms and all of the other platforms that have not been able to make it within the top five.

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In the Beginning:

It all began with Usenet and the creation of “threaded” conversations held on bulletin board services.  This allowed people to have interactive conversations and keep them organized so that information was easier to find and easier to understand.  To this day, Usenet still exists and is blooming with hundreds of thousands of new messages every day.  Usually grouped by interest, a Usenet group would be listed as, for example, rec.games.computer.quake for discussion of the PC game Quake.  There are Usenet groups on just about any topic you can imagine from fan groups for Janet Jackson to discussion groups about knitting.

Fast forward a few years to 1998/99 and the introduction of Open Diary and LiveJournal.  Open Diary was the first to recognize that there were many people out there who were using word processing software to make online diaries for themselves, which at the time was difficult and often expensive, as web hosting was comparatively more expensive than it is now.  With this knowledge, the founder who goes by the handle “TheDiaryMaster” created a service wherein users would sign up for an account, choose a template and start publishing from the services interface.  It streamlined the process and also added on many other features that would have been difficult, if not impossible, for those who were publishing on their own. Open Diary introduced security levels so that posts could be friends only or public as well as options for changing fonts and allowing visitors to leave comments on your posts, something that until this service was not available anywhere.  Also available on the service was the ability to add friends, so that you would have a type of reading list to keep up with your favorite diary writers. In fact, Open Diary can be seen as the first step that the world took towards social networking.

In 1999, a newer service came to the forefront with even more options available to users called LiveJournal.  At its inception, it was an exclusive club: you needed to know someone to get an invite to sign up.  There was a point where people were selling their invite codes for $25-30 apiece!  LiveJournal offered much in the way of customization of your individual space, ability to host photographs and other multi-media creations as well as also having a friends list and commenting abilities.  The biggest draw to LiveJournal in the beginning was their new “community” feature which allowed a user to create a group journal where ongoing conversations could be held by multiple users (up to 500 at a time).

The dawn of Web 2.0

While it is a hotly disputed topic of when “Web 2.0” became a reality, it is well known that the term was coined at the 2004 O’Reilly Mass Media Web 2.0 convention in late 2004.  What the term has come to mean however, in everyday terms is that the web instead of being a place where a person seeks out information, like in a library catalogue, it has become interactive. People have real experiences through virtual worlds and text-based chat rooms, and even now through video conferencing.  Thanks to file sharing sites and services, people are trading music and books and any other type of media imaginable.  The experience of Web 2.0 has moved to also take place on our cell phones where the new Android, iPhone and other devices are allowing for remote access to email, websites, navigation and news all at the tip of your fingers wherever you happen to be.

Of course, with the invention of ever greater technologies we come face to face with some of the problems of these opportunities. More than ever, privacy and identity protection are at the forefront of everyone’s minds as they use credit cards to purchase items for themselves and their loved ones, subscriptions to online video games and even use online services to send and receive faxes and attend university.  This concern is a very real one as sensitive and private identifying information is shared over the network of the Internet and opens users up to identity theft and fraud like never before.  While the Web 2.0 has made life simpler and more streamlined for the legitimate users, it has also made life simpler and more streamlined for those who would steal your information to use for their own ends.  This had led to a rise in the creation of privacy, anti-virus and other security software.  This has become a thriving occupation all on its own from websites offering virus protection scanning and programs to fix problems found to people who have taken the time to get training to do it manually and will come to your home and fix your computer for a fee.

What you see is what you get:

Thanks to the introduction of Web 2.0, the life blogging that has come with it, we are now seeing the Internet open up to new users at an amazing rate. Anyone who wants a website can pay a few dollars for a domain name of their choice and the majority of web hosts have a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor that requires no programming knowledge whatsoever.  This brings the world of website building to the newest computer user and for fans of the most obscure hobbies.  As time goes by, the World Wide Web looks to become more and more interactive.  Eventually one day, perhaps, a person will not need to leave their homes at all to conduct their daily business.  It is an exciting and uncertain time for people everywhere as regulations are imposed and new ways of communicating are built.  Pull up a chair, dear reader and come along for the ride!

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If you’re tired of FaceBook, Twitter, and all of the other sites that you can name as well as we can, you always have the option to just go it at yourself, and create your own place to share LOLcats pics and YouTube videos.  Like all such endeavors, it comes with its own caveats and warnings ahead of time that should be heeded.

Know why you’re doing it

Perhaps more than most other types of internet endeavors, you need to think clearly about exactly why you are doing this.  With so much of the world already taken by existing networks, you’re not going to get people running to your new one just because it exists.

If you want to have any reasonable hope that your network will go anywhere, it needs to be a place that services a type of community that isn’t well-served anywhere else.  Here are a few examples:

Business and artistic guilds and communities that need to maintain strong ties to one another.

• Social groups that are, if not marginalized, perhaps at least specialized enough that they could benefit from the special attention that someone who understands them can give.
• Religious groups that would benefit from the safety of an environment in which they know they wouldn’t be judged.

Know where you’re doing it

If you’ve gotten that far, then your next question is where you are going to setup shop.  Included in the question of “where” is “how”.  There are two main routes you can go here.

One way you can do this is to find some social networking software, load it onto your web hosting account, fire it up and handle the administrative back-end yourself.  There are a number of key advantages to this approach.  You will have every customization option at your fingertips, especially since many of the packages that you’ll find are open-source.  You’ll have full access to the network’s back-end at all times in case of a problem.  All of this means, though, that it could be a lot more work.  You may get some help from your web host if you run into technical difficulty, but don’t count on it.

The other method is to setup a network that is a part of larger social networking super-site.  There exist web sites where you can create your own social networking home from within their larger community.  The advantages of this approach are that their setup tends to be far easier, and you have the support of people who know how to run these specific networks backing you up.  The disadvantage is that you are also that their mercy.  If they decide they don’t like your topic for whatever reason you could be shut down on a moment’s notice.  You are also beholden to their tech support, which in some cases didn’t promise any impressive response times.

If you want it easy

All that said, here are a few places in which you can pursue the latter option and let someone else do the heavy lifting:

• Ning – Ning is by far the largest of these services that you will find.  Operating since 2005, its servers host more than 90,000 networks.  That size though comes with a price … literally.  Last year Ning removed all free social networks from their site.  Granted, their lowest level account is a mere $2.95 a month.  Still, they’re done a lot of other things to send the strong message that they are heavily focused on their bottom line, such as removing all adult sites and removing the search feature until user pressure forced them to reinstate it.
• SocialGO – A smaller network, but one with a rich list of features.
• WiserEarth – A good home for networks designed around a social issue.  Be sure to look at their terms of service: they are very specific about what kinds of groups do and don’t qualify.

If you want to do it yourself

If you are ready to be bold and dive into the nuts and bolts of setting this up yourself, here are some of the software packages most commonly suggested:

• Buddypress – This open-source WordPress plug in has a lot of fans.  It is free, easily customizable with addons and templates, and some hosts actually support one-click install for it.
• Kit Social Platform – Formerly known as “KickApps”, this is one of the more respected of the professional (meaning, not free) solutions.  It works off of your own domain, comes with an API and developers kit, and is available for a 14-day-trial from distributing company KIT digital.
• Elgg – Elgg has been around for a long time, and has been a popular choice for most of its existence.  It is described as being both full of features and simple to use.

I’ve set it up: now what do I do?

First, obviously, you need users.  Don’t measure yourself by FaceBook.  If you have 100 or so users, that’s a success.  Remember, unless you’re trying to run this as a business (not something we would advise given the competition), your goal is to support a community.  Every single person that you do this for is one more victory.

Once they are there, you simply need to help keep the community’s blood flowing.  One web site suggested that it was akin to a dinner party: you need to provide the space, the atmosphere, and then a few seeds of conversation.  From there, you step back and let it happen, nudging it from time to time when necessary.

It’s your baby: nurture it

That last part is mandatory: you have to keep an eye on it at all times.  The number of ways that it can devolve into something not worth most of its members’ time because of a few bad apples is countless.  Also keep a close ear out for what features you may want to add on to help boost the community’s discussion effectiveness.  Finally, make sure that you encourage users to write you about any technical problem they see, no matter how small.

Don’t be too intimidated.  This is work, but it’s work others have done, and you can too.  Even if all you make is a small home for a few people that need it, the reward

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Thankfully, those days are now over. When Google announced its newest social networking initiative, Google+, most people were, of course, skeptical. After all, Buzz shared all of their contacts information and their own publicly and angered their users to no end. It also brought the company under an oversight committee with the FCC for the next 20 years. So on June 28^th 2011 when a limited field trial of Google+ was announced on the official Google blog, there were those who were generally not that interested or impressed. However, as time went by and invitations were beginning to circulate, an amazing thing occurred: IT was proclaimed that Google finally got their user-friendly privacy laden social networking engine!

Spam Infested Walls and Poorly Managed Groups

The timing of this release could not have been better, truly. During this time period, FaceBook had begun making improvements to how the social networking giant handled everything from personal details and security to how friends lists were displayed, and there were very few users who were satisfied, let alone happy with the changes. Their news feeds were being dominated by those applications that now had free reign to post on friends’ walls crowding out the actual status updates with games like “Fish-ville” and “Sims.” Users were also finding that their groups were being attacked and changed, a move that made it impossible for the group leader to interact with their group members no matter how long the group had been in existence without beginning again from moment one and re-inviting them to join the group.

Many users had been asking for the option of further defining their friends groups so that updates could be further managed. While FaceBook made a move to have options for showing a particular post only to XYX friends list or to exclude XYZ person or group of friends, it was clunky and the rules must be set for each post. Google+ learned much it seems from the problems that FaceBook has been facing. With a neatly streamlined interface, users are given “circles” of friends that are user defined. When posting, you are given a prompt to choose which circles you wish to share this with, or if you want to share it publicly, with all users.

Profiles, Interests, and User Choice

Another feature of Google+ that users find to be a better executed version of a FaceBook feature is how interests appear. On FaceBook, in the sidebars of your page, there are listings for interests such as: actresses, movies and establishments. There is the option to “like” them, adding a listing in your profile of goodness only knows how many listings. From the most inane like “sleep” and “food” to the names of bands and movies, your profile becomes cluttered with this mess! Taking a lesson from these oft voiced issues, Google+ Created what they call “sparks”. These are user interests and, when searched for and chosen, only the ones that you mark specifically are added to your sparks file and you receive updates on your news feed for only those that you chose.

Chat and Archiving

When it comes to chat, Google+ uses their ever stable G chat which rarely, if ever, freezes or otherwise disrupts the browser of the user, and saves conversations within your G mail in a special folder meant for them. Unfortunately, FaceBook seems to not yet understand the need for a stable chat engine or for easy archiving of said conversations. Regularly FaceBook chat will freeze a user’s browser and messages get stashed away in your in-box, making it impossible unless you have an excellent memory to tell a conversation from an in-box message.

Also, a much clamored-over feature that FaceBook users have been rallying for is Video conferencing and group chat. While these features are now available on FaceBook, Google+ was launched with them available and working without any freezing or slowing of your system or even distortion of sound.

Privacy

FaceBook has been charged with many privacy issues, especially lately, including:

• Data mining: Where information is gathered about a person through their website usage and used to advertise other services to them. The information gathered is often sold to a third party.

• Customization Issues: FaceBook only allows for plain text to customize your site, unlike some of its more popular contenders. Due to this however, innovative minds have begun creating and using hacks to customize their sites, causing others to become infected with their hacks (usually Java Scripted) and slowing down their system.

• Lack of live support: In our 24/7 lives, customer service that is live and reachable at any time around the clock is crucial. Especially since FaceBook sells credits for its widely-used games, questions about billing are sure to arise.

Google+, while in its infancy, is working out the kinks as they go along.

• Privacy: Google+ is fueled by your Google profile which in its default settings is 100% search-able.

• Service Linking: Google is fond of linking all of its services to create a suite of programs that can be used together or separately. Be certain of what Google products are being drawn upon when you sign up and begin posting.

• Copyright: A not well known clause in their terms of use make anything that you post using Google+ the property of Google and can be used in any way that they see fit. This, as I am sure you can imagine, makes some waves.

In conclusion

While FaceBook and Google+ both have their flaws and their upsides, it is being shown now that what was once the product or service on every person’s lips, there will always be new innovations in social networking. It has become such a large part of how to communicate with our loved ones, coworkers and friends that seeing more streamlined and more secure services will be the path that any and all social networking sites must take if they wish to survive. Google+ is here to stay. However, so is FaceBook, as they will eventually serve two different demographics. Our prediction is that Google+ will become the social network of the 20-30 something business people while those younger and older will gravitate towards busier FaceBook.

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These local hangouts, though, can often be a little less friendly to marketing sharks.  Let’s face it, too: you’re not interested in being one.  You just want to advertise your services to people who might honestly be interested.  Even the local dives have ads posted in them.  To do so simply requires that you understand the scene, and treat it with respect.

So let’s drop the metaphor and look at some of the smaller but still popular social networking sites.  For our purposes we are going to focus on native English sites that mostly have at least 1 million users.  If you can speak other languages then there are many very large ones that represent good alternate markets.

CafeMom

CafeMom has been growing tremendously, and is on the verge of breaking through “niche” status to become one of the web’s bigger players.  An outgrowth of ClubMom, this social networking site panders to the moms who need an outlet that they can share with other moms (men are specifically barred from registering).  General socializing happens here, but also advice and support for just about every mothering need out there.

What the advertiser should know: CafeMom is very advertiser friendly.  If you are offering a physical product of some kind, you should consider sending free samples: this is one of the draws the site uses to get people to register.  Remember that the goal of this site is to make the lives of the mothers there easier.  Make sure that whatever you are advertising is geared towards that, even if indirectly.

Care2

It’s a sign of how huge the World Wide Web has become that a site with 14 million users is considered 2nd-tier.  Care2 hasn’t rushed to growth, but has been slowly building their user base since 1998.  The reason is that this is not a site that puts profits first.  Care2 is a social networking site for activists.  It allows individuals to work with each other, discuss issues, and most importantly find concrete ways to channel their energies into effective social change.

What the advertiser should know: Care2 takes their commitment to social values seriously.  This includes their approach to advertisements.  They have on their site a long explanation of what their advertising principles are.  Read it.  Make sure you can convince them that you will enhance their site, not just draw from it. One minor marketing addendum: according to the site’s founder, Care2′s user base is also mostly female.

Link Expats

If you measure the success of a web site by how well it fulfills the Web’s potential of bringing disparate people together, this is about as successful as it gets.  Link Expats is a place for people who are removed from their home country for any reason to find each other, talk, and assist each other.

What the advertiser should know: While some of the reasons that someone would be a member of this site are benign, some are (literally) deadly serious.  This site as a result has strong privacy protections.  Users can’t even friend each other, but they can ban one another easily for spamming.  Get the idea?  Follow the site’s rules to a T, and don’t push.

deviantART

deviantART is one of the longest running and best supported amateur artist social networking sites in existence.  Just about every type of 2D art is represented, and with 14 million members, just about every demographic is represented.  There isn’t that much in the way of large communal spaces: chat rooms are the only thing this site has that fulfills that function.  Most of the interaction occurs on the pages of artists and their works.

What the advertiser should know: Ads are only visible to users who don’t upgrade to premium memberships.  That doesn’t look to be a small demographic on this site any time soon, though (reference the term “starving artist”).  In fact, it’s large enough that you can almost treat this like a “normal” demographic distribution of users, albeit one with a bit of geeky edge to it.  Anything either tech-oriented or counterculture-leaning should find an audience here.

Stickam

You might have used this site before and not realized it.  Stickam is one of the premier media sharing sites on the web, with a particular focus on streaming video.  Because the demand for this kind of service is quickly growing, and because they make embedding easy, Stickam winds up often quietly embedded in other web sites.  If a site you use has recently addedy a video chat room, check the credits: it’s possibly a Stickam room.

What the advertiser should know: Stickam has worked heavily with major media kings like MTV and CBS Radio.  This gives it a bit of a MySpace feel: if you know the kind of demographic that comparison brings to mind, then you know about what to expect.  If you don’t, we’ll sum it up: a culturally diverse group of mostly beginner to intermediate web users (this is a broad stroke: please don’t take offense Stickam wizards) who probably are used to seeing web advertising.  This is with one catch: many chat rooms are adult-oriented.  Be sure you’re OK with this.

VampireFreaks

It may seem like we’re just fulfilling some editorial requirement of including one “strange” site by closing with these guys.  This isn’t so much that case.  It’s more to hammer home the point that sometimes you are dealing with a very specific subculture, and you need to know how to approach them with respect.

VF servers the “Gothic Industrial Culture”.  If you don’t know what this is then it’s hard to describe it without resorting to obnoxious stereotypes.  Consider it those who like to “play in the dark”, in just about every meaning that this phrase might bring to mind.  The name itself is likely a “scaring the normal” point of pride jab.  If this description in any way weird you out, you should probably look elsewhere.

What the advertiser should know: This is a very self-aware demographic.  Thus it’s best to neither approach them with a typical suit-and-tie motif nor try to pretend you’re a part of this crowd, assuming you’re not.  Despite the very showy appearance of this crowd, believe it when we say that they’ll respect you the more real you are.

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This much is  accurate: they will.  If you don’t want to be on page 17 of their listings, however, then you need to do a few things to put you ahead of the people who are making no effort at all.  These are basic rules that anyone can easily follow.

Keywords are your best friend

There is a larger truth about search engines that is so obvious that is seems unfathomable that more people don’t intuitively realize it: search engines can only search through text.  This means that you need the text on your web site as relevant as possible.

Take care, therefore, to make sure that key phrases that you think people who would want to come to your site would search for are somewhere in the text of your web pages, word for word.  These are known as “keywords.”  For example, if you are selling “Victorian wall ornaments,” those are your keywords, and you need them used on your site in multiple places, especially your front page.

A warning, though: don’t go crazy.  In the past people created pages that had thousands of words consisting of nothing but keywords in invisible text.  Search engines are now trained to filter out these pages.  Use your keywords only in the appropriate context, but don’t be afraid to use it multiple times.  Make sure as well that you throw in a few synonym phrases (“Victorian ornaments”, “Victorian decorations”, etc.)

Links are your next best friend

Search engines catalog links as much as they do basic text.  Make sure that there are plenty of links on your site, optimally ones that contain in their URLs the terms that people are searching for.  Other good ways of adding links that users might find are by setting up external sites that link to yours, as well as getting into link exchange programs with the appropriate types of partners.

Don’t forget social networking

Most common social networking websites are business-friendly.  Be sure to setup an account on each of these, and optimally, keep them at least moderately updated.  This is one more route by which users can find you, and one more potential entry in a search engine’s top 10 results.

Keep up with the trends

Finally, don’t stop here.  Since everyone is trying to game search engine results, search engines themselves constantly revamp their formula.  Keep an ear to the ground on the latest trends, and remember that Google isn’t the only search engine out there.  Search engine optimization is a job that never quite ends, but one that the dedicated web users can easily keep up with, and are well-served by the effort.

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This rule was strongly agreed upon and enforced by any means necessary until about five years ago.  It’s difficult to say exactly what happened to cause this shift.  Likely, it was a combination of a number of factors.  For one, there was a general sense that web site users were getting a bit of a free ride and that the money for web site owners to pay their bills had to come from somewhere.  Also, whereas businesses who wanted to find new customers before had to resort to reviled options such as direct email solicitation (forever etched in our vocabulary now as “spamming”), now alternate means exist, mostly through non-intrusive means found on social networking web sites.

Jump on in!  But do it right.

This means that those who are in new or growing businesses who want to use social media web sites to increase their customer base no longer have to worry about the blowback from treading in forbidden waters.  However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t still certain rules that apply.  It also doesn’t mean that it’s just as simple as slapping down an ad and forgetting about it.

If you’re a business who wants to expand into the social networking world, here are a few things to keep in mind:

1) Work with the site, and the users

Since large social networking sites need your money to keep going, they’ll be in the best position to tell you what the lay of the land is like: they’re not going to want to see you set up shop just to get chased out of town for not following some social code you didn’t know of until you broke it.

Also, listen to user feedback.  While there will always be some trigger-happy users who find spam everywhere they look, generally you’ll get a good idea of what’s fair and what’s not from user reactions.  And if you actually asked, you’d be in such a rare category that you’d automatically earn a certain level of respect.

2) Follow the cool kids

Yesterday it was MySpace.  The day before that it was LiveJournal.  Today it’s FaceBook, but there are already signs that it might have peaked.  Tomorrow it will be someone else, possibly FourSquare, or likely Google Plus.  The “hot spot” changes at lighting pace.  You need to move just as fast.

3) The toys change too

In addition to new places on the web, you will need to keep track of new ways to access the web.  PCs aren’t exactly dying as much you might hear, but iToys are going to become more and more frequent.  These new technologies more and more often include in their embedded software ways for businesses to interact with customers without having to go through a web browser.

One last bit of advice: hire an IT guru.  Or if IT is your specialty, hire a marketer or secretary.  The point is that just keeping up with how your business does Ecommerce is enough to keep one person busy for well more than 40 hours a week.  You’re going to want to make sure that you have someone who can focus on that, and only that.  Social networking is no longer a no-business-class zone.  They can and do now coexist.  You just have to devote the resources necessary to do it right.

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