- Social networking is the use of internet-based social media platforms to stay connected with friends, family, or peers.
- The most popular social networking sites in the U.S. include Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.2
- Marketers use social networking for increasing brand recognition and encouraging brand loyalty.
- Social media can help connect people and businesses and can help promote brand awareness.
- There are disadvantages related to social media, including the spread of misinformation and the high cost of using and maintaining social network profiles.
How Social Networking Works
Social networking involves the development and maintenance of personal and business relationships using technology. This is done through the use of social networking sites, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. These sites allow people and corporations to connect so they can develop relationships and so they can share information, ideas, and messages.
Family members who are far apart may remain connected through personal social networking sites like Facebook. They can share photos and updates on things that are going on in their lives. People can also connect with others (notably, strangers) who share the same interests. Individuals can find each other through groups, lists, and the use of hashtags.
Social networking is commonly used by marketers to increase brand recognition and encourage brand loyalty. Since it makes a company more accessible to new customers and more recognizable to existing ones, social media marketing helps promote a brand’s voice and content.
For example, a frequent Twitter user may learn about a company for the first time through a news feed and decide to buy a product or service. The more exposed people are to a company’s brand, the greater the company’s chances of finding and retaining new customers.
Marketers use social networking to improve conversion rates. Building a following provides access to and interaction with new, recent, and old customers. Sharing blog posts, images, videos, or comments on social media allows followers to react, visit the company’s website, and become customers.
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to marketing strategies. That’s because every business is unique and has a different target demographic, history, and competitive marketplace. Because social networking companies want businesses to pay for their advertising, companies often restrict the number of reach businesses may receive through unpaid posts. For example, if a company has 500 followers, followers may not all receive the same post.
The constantly evolving nature of social networking makes it challenging to keep up with changes, and also influences a company’s marketing success rate.
What is the purpose of social networking?
Social networking fulfills the following four main objectives:
- Sharing. Friends or family members who are geographically dispersed can connect remotely and share information, updates, photos and videos. Social networking also enables individuals to meet other people with similar interests or to expand their current social networks.
- Learning. Social networks serve as great learning platforms. Consumers can instantly receive breaking news, get updates regarding friends and family, or learn about what’s happening in their community.
- Interacting. Social networking enhances user interactions by breaking the barriers of time and distance. With cloud-based video communication technologies such as WhatsApp or Instagram Live, people can talk face to face with anyone in the world.
- Marketing. Companies may tap into social networking services to enhance brand awareness with the platform’s users, improve customer retention and conversion rates, and promote brand and voice identity.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of social networking?
Social networking can be a double-edged sword. On one end, it provides unsurpassed social benefits, yet it can also make people more vulnerable to the spread of misinformation, as well as privacy and security threats.
Social networking offers the following benefits to consumers and businesses:
- Brand awareness. Social networking enables companies to reach out to new and existing clients. This helps to make brands more relatable and promotes brand awareness.
- Instant reachability. By erasing the physical and spatial boundaries between people, social networking websites can provide instant reachability.
- Builds a following. Organizations and businesses can use social networking to build a following and expand their reach globally.
- Business success. Positive reviews and comments generated by customers on social networking platforms can help improve business sales and profitability.
- Increases website traffic. Businesses can use social networking profiles to boost and direct inbound traffic to their websites. They can achieve this, for example, by adding inspiring visuals, using plugins and shareable social media buttons, or encouraging inbound linking.
Social networking also has the following downsides:
- Rumors and misinformation. Incorrect information can slip through the cracks of social networking platforms, causing havoc and uncertainty among consumers. Often, people take anything posted on social networking sites at face value instead of verifying the sources.
- Negative reviews and comments. A single negative review can adversely affect an established business, especially if the comments are posted on a platform with a large following. A tarnished business reputation can often cause irreparable damage.
- Data security and privacy concerns. Social networking sites can inadvertently put consumer data at risk. For instance, if a social networking site experiences a data breach, the users of that platform automatically fall under the radar as well. According to Business Insider, a data breach in April 2021 leaked the personal data of more than 500 million Facebook users.
- Time-consuming process. Promoting a business on social media requires constant upkeep and maintenance. Creating, updating, preparing, and scheduling regular posts can take a considerable amount of time. This can be especially cumbersome for small businesses that may not have the extra staff and resources to dedicate to social media marketing.
What are the different types of social networking?
While there are various categories of social networking sites, the five most common types are the following:
- Social connections. This is a type of social network where people stay in touch with friends or family members through online profiles and updates or find new friends through similar interests. Popular examples include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Yelp, and Myspace.
- Professional connections. Geared toward professionals, these social networking sites may include a general forum where professionals can connect with co-workers or offer an exclusive platform based on specific occupations or interest levels. LinkedIn and Twitter are the most common examples.
- Sharing of multimedia. Various social networks provide video and photography-sharing services, including YouTube and Flickr.
- Informational. This type of social networking includes communities of people who are looking for answers to everyday problems. Fostering a sense of helping others, members provide answers to questions, conduct discussion forums or teach others how to perform various tasks and projects. Popular examples include Reddit, Quora, and DoItYourself.com Community Forums.
- Educational. Educational social networks promote remote learning, enabling students and teachers to collaborate on school projects, conduct research, and interact through blogs and forums. Google Classroom, LinkedIn Learning, and ePals are popular examples.
Examples of social networking
Every established organization advertises on social networking these days. Here are four examples of social networking websites:
- Yelp. Picking a restaurant, dentist, doctor, or hair salon is not always easy, so social networking sites like Yelp offer crowdsourced customer reviews of these types of businesses or providers.
- Pinterest. Bookmarking sites like Pinterest enable users to share photos and organize links to a variety of online resources and websites. Similar to a digital scrapbook, Pinterest enables users to save specific “pins” to “pinboards,” making it easier to search for specific topics and share them with followers.
- Rover. A popular pet-sitter services portal, Rover enables pet owners to connect with pet sitters, dog walkers, and pet-boarding services.
- Airbnb. Airbnb helps travelers search for a place to stay based on their preferences, including multi-shared spaces, shared spaces with private rooms, and entire properties. Places on Airbnb are mostly rented out by homeowners.
Learn More About 101 Popular Social Media Sites
1 – Facebook
This is easily the largest social networking site in the world and one of the most widely used. And, Facebook was perhaps the first that surpassed the landmark of 1 billion user accounts.
Apart from the ability to network with friends and relatives, you can also access different Facebook apps to sell online and you can even market or promote your business, brand, and products by using paid Facebook ads.
Recently Facebook has lost the trust of millions of its users by allowing 3rd parties to access over 87 million users’ data. This is a massive breach of trust and has created a feeling of unrest amongst the social media platform’s audience. So much so that there is now a #deletefacebook campaign where people are completely removing themselves from Facebook and using other networks instead. If you’re concerned about what Facebook is doing with your data, then why not check out my guide on alternatives to Facebook, and see if there’s a better place for you to interact with family and friends.
Number of active users per month: 1.59 billion approximately
2 – WhatsApp
Despite having been acquired by Facebook in 2014, this instant messaging platform exists as an independent entity.
It arrived on the scene much later than Facebook but has been able to capture the imagination of millions of people across the world by giving them the ability to communicate and share instantly with individuals and groups. The WhatsApp call feature is just the icing on the cake!
Number of active users per month: 1 billion approximately
3- QQ
Tencent QQ (more popularly known as QQ) is an instant messaging (chat-based) social media platform. It became international (with more than 80 countries using it) after it was launched in China.
It can be used to stay in touch with friends through texts, video calls, and voice chats. It even has a built-in translator to translate your chats. To find out more, head over to our Chinese Social Media stats page.
Number of active users per month: 853 million approximately
4 – WeChat
This is an all-in-one communications app for messaging and calling (similar to WhatsApp) that enables you to connect with the people of your choice. It was also developed by Tencent in China and can easily work alongside QQ. As per the BI intelligence report, the number of WeChat users is fast catching up with the number of WhatsApp users.
Number of active users per month: 697 million approximately
5 – QZone
Like QQ and WeChat, QZone is yet another social networking service developed by Tencent. It enables you to share photos, watch videos, listen to songs, write blogs, maintain diaries, and so on. It also empowers you to choose the accessories and customize the look and feel of your QZone webpages.
Number of active users per month: 640 million approximately
6 – Tumblr
Having been owned by Yahoo since 2013, Tumblr serves as a social media / micro-blogging platform that can be used to find and follow things that you like. You can also use it to post anything, including multimedia, to a short-form blog. Moreover, it gives you the flexibility to customize almost everything.
Number of active users per month: 555 million approximately
7 – Instagram
Instagram was launched as a unique social networking platform that was completely based on sharing photos and videos. This photo-sharing social networking app thus enables you to capture the best moments of your life, with your phone’s camera or any other camera, and convert them into works of art.
This is possible because Instagram allows you to apply multiple filters to your photos and you can easily post them to other popular social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. It is now part of the Facebook empire. Learn how to grow your Instagram audience.
Read more on Instagram Tools to help you increase social engagement and audience numbers.
Number of active users per month: 400 million approximately
8 – Twitter
This social networking site enables you to post short text messages (called tweets), containing a limited number of characters (up to 280), to convey your message to the world. With the growing craze for online shopping, Twitter also makes it possible to promote your businesses and even shop directly through tweets. Learn how to create the perfect Twitter profile.
Number of active users per month: 320 million approximately
9 – Google+ ( No Longer Available )
Owned by the tech giant Alphabet (Google), this interest-based social networking platform enables you to stay in touch with people by sharing messages, photos, videos, useful links to sites, and so on. It also extends support for video conferencing through Hangouts and allows businesses to promote their brands and products through Google+ business pages.
Several active users: In its prime, 300 million.
10 – Baidu Tieba
Offered by Baidu of China, a search engine company, Baidu Tieba (known as Post bar internationally) is a social forum network based on the keyword searches in the Baidu search engine. This discussion forum works on the unique concept of allowing you to create a social network group for a specific topic, using the search, or even join an existing online social group.
Number of active users per month: 300 million approximately
11 – Skype
Skype, owned by Microsoft, is one of the most popular communication-based social networking platforms. It allows you to connect with people through voice calls, video calls (using a webcam), and text messaging. You can even conduct group conference calls. And, the best part is that Skype-to-Skype calls are free and can be used to communicate with anyone, located in any part of the world, over the internet.
Number of active users per month: 300 million approximately
12 – Viber
This multi-lingual social platform, which is available in more than 30 languages, is known for its instant text messaging and voice messaging capabilities. You can also share photos and videos and audio messages, using Viber. It offers you the ability to call non-Viber users through a feature named Viber Out.
Number of active users per month: 249 million approximately
13 – Sina Weibo
This is a highly popular microblogging social platform in China that is known for its hybrid mix of Twitter’s and Facebook’s features.
Number of active users per month: 222 million approximately
14 – LINE
LINE is a globally available messaging social network that enables you to share photos, videos, text messages, and even audio messages or files. In addition, it allows you to make voice and video calls at any time of the day.
Number of active users per month: 215 million approximately
15 – Snapchat
This is an image messaging social platform that enables you to chat with friends by using pictures. It allows you to explore news and even check out live stories that are happening around the world.
Number of active users per month: 200 million approximately
16 – YY
YY is a major video-based social networking platform in China that enables group video chats. In such chats, more than 100,000 members can watch a single person doing an activity. Such an activity can be anything from giving a tutorial video to singing karaoke, which helps the users earn virtual currency that they can later convert into cash.
Number of active users per month: 122 million approximately
17 – VKontakte (VK)
VK is one of the largest social networking platforms in Russia and has quite similar features to Facebook.
Number of active users per month: 100 million approximately
18 – Pinterest
This is a photo-sharing and visual bookmarking social media site or app that enables you to find new ideas for your projects and save them. So, you can do DIY tasks or home improvement projects, plan your travel agenda, and so on by using Pinterest.
Number of active users per month: 100 million approximately
19- LinkedIn
LinkedIn is easily one of the most popular professional social networking sites or apps and is available in over 20 languages. It is used across the globe by all types of professionals and serves as an ideal platform to connect with different businesses, locate and hire ideal candidates, and more. It boasts over 400 million members.
Number of active users per month: 100 million approximately
20 – Telegram
This instant messaging network is similar to WhatsApp and is available across platforms in more than eight languages. However, Telegram has always focused more on the privacy and security of the messages you send over the internet by using its platform. So, it empowers you to send messages that are encrypted and self-destructive. This encryption feature has only just been made available for WhatsApp, whereas Telegram has always provided it.
Number of active users per month: 100 million approximately
21 – Reddit
This social media platform enables you to submit content and later vote for the content. The voting determines whether the content moves up or down, which is ultimately organized based on the areas of interest (known as subreddits).
Number of active users per month: 100 million approximately
22 – Taringa
Taringa is one of the largest social networking platforms in Latin America and allows users to share their experiences, content, and more.
Number of active users: 75 million approximately
23 – Foursquare
This is a local search- and discovery-based social media platform that enables you to find the ideal places (based on your location) to go to with friends and loved ones. It also gives appropriate search results for the best food outlets, night entertainment places, and more in your area. The social networking feature is now available in a separate app named Swarm.
Number of active users: 40 million approximately
24 – Renren
This is the largest social networking site in China and is a platform for everyone. It has been highly popular with the youth due to its similarity to Facebook, as it allows users to easily connect with others, quickly share thoughts and posts, and even update their moods.
Number of active users per month: More than 30 million approximately
25 – Tagged
This is a great social media site based on friendship and dating and, in 2011, it acquired another social networking platform called hi5. It enables you to socialize with others through games, browsing profiles, common interests, and so on.
Number of active users: 25 million approximately
26 – Badoo
This dating-based social networking site operates in more than 200 countries. It shares details about people nearby in your area and even about people whom you may have bumped into in real life.
Number of active users per month: 20 million approximately
27 – Myspace
This is a music-focused social networking site and provides an interactive and user-submitted network of friends. It also provides blogs, groups, personal profiles, pictures, videos, and so on.
Number of active users: 20 million approximately
28 – Mix
The mix is all about discovering new content that you will love. Officially launched in 2018, Mix had a previous life as another well-known platform: StumbleUpon.
The network is a news aggregation site that allows you to collect your favorite content. Thanks to browser extensions and smartphone apps, you can easily save favorites, share sites, and more.
The most unique aspect of Mix is the discovery portion. The platform uses machine learning to understand your preferences and recommend hidden gems from all around the Internet.
29 – The Dots
the-dots.com is a networking platform that helps everyone involved in the creative process connect, collaborate, and commercialize helping build a stronger, more profitable, and diverse creative sector. Born out of a genuine passion to make the creative industries more open and meritocratic, founder Pip Jamieson launched the platform in the UK in 2014.
30 – Kiwibox
This is a community-based social networking site, especially for those who live in New York. It offers an online magazine to target teens through fashion tips, advice, and chat. It also allows young adults to let everyone know about their skills and interests.
31 – Skyrock
Skyrock is a French social networking site that offers its users a free and personal web space to create and post blogs, add profiles, and exchange messages. Apart from French and English, it is also available in five other languages.
32 – Delicious
It is known for being the leading social bookmarking service. Having been launched in 2003, Delicious is ideal for storing, sharing, and discovering web bookmarks. It also allows its users to tag them with any keywords.
33 – Snapfish
Snapfish is a web-based photo-sharing social networking site that offers unlimited storage to its members for uploading photos. You can thus put away your storage space concerns for your vast collection of images.
34 – ReverbNation
This is the ideal social networking platform for musicians and professionals to connect with others in the music industry. It offers different tools to musicians to manage their careers and offers them the right access to their music industry partners and fans.
35 – Flixster
This is an American social networking site for people who love movies and want to connect with like-minded people by sharing their movie reviews and ratings. Its users are likely to learn about movies and get information about new movies.
36 – Care2
This social media site helps activists connect around the globe with similar individuals, businesses, and organizations that are making an impact on society. It also encourages people to lead a healthy and green lifestyle.
37 – CafeMom
This ad-supported social networking website is a community for mothers and mothers-to-be that enables them to get support and advice on various topics, such as pregnancy, fashion, health, and food. It also helps them learn from the experiences of other mothers.
38 – Ravelry
Ravelry is a community-based social network that is targeted at people who are interested in fiber arts, such as spinning, knitting, weaving, and crocheting. Such people can share their collections, and different ideas and learn from the experiences of other members for better collaboration possibilities.
39 – Nextdoor
This is a private social networking platform for neighborhoods in the US. The objective is pretty simple: allowing users to get connected with the people in their area.
40 – Wayn
Wayne is a travel- and lifestyle-based social networking platform and offers its users the ability to discover where to go, what to do and how to meet like-minded people to share their experiences.
41 – Cellufun
This social gaming community can easily be accessed on the move from any mobile device. With this mobile gaming-based social network, users can socialize, create avatars, play games and purchase virtual goods.
42 – YouTube
YouTube is the world’s largest video-sharing social networking site that enables users to upload and share videos, view them, comment on them, and like them. This social network is accessible across the globe and even enables users to create a YouTube channel where they can upload all their personally recorded videos to showcase to their friends and followers.
43 – Upstream
Upstream is a new and mobile-first social network for professionals. Some might say it’s a new alternative to LinkedIn. The social network was built by the same team who created SocialRank. Upstream aims to build a professional network around giving and getting help. Almost like a helpful community of professional friends that you can build up and utilize.
44 – Classmates
Classmates allow users to find, connect and keep in touch with friends and acquaintances from school and college. It is also possible for users to upload their yearbooks from their school years.
45 – MyHeritage
This is an online genealogy social platform that supports more than 42 languages and empowers its users to create family trees, upload and browse through family photos and manage their family history. It could also be used by people to find their ancestors and get more information about them.
46 – Viadeo
Viadeo is an online business-based social networking site that helps business people, mostly those in Europe, connect. It is available in many different languages ranging from English and French to German and Portuguese.
47 – Xing
This professional social networking site offers features that are similar to LinkedIn’s features, with its main users based in Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. However, it is unique in the sense that it enables closed group discussions between the members of a certain company or business.
48 – Xanga
This blogging-based social networking platform hosts weblogs, photo blogs, and social networking profiles for its users.
49 – LiveJournal
This San Francisco-based social networking site is available in Russia, such as Zhivoy Zhurnal or Zhe Zhe. It enables users to maintain a diary, blog, or journal, along with privacy controls.
50 – Friendster
Friendster was previously a social networking site to find friends and stay in touch but is now a social gaming network for game lovers in Asia.
51 – Funny or Die
This comedy video social website is aimed at bringing together the funniest videos from the web. Celebrities follow this social platform a lot and it enables users to share, upload and rate videos.
52 – Gaia Online
Gaia Online is an anime-themed social networking and forums-based website. It gives users access to avatars, virtual worlds, games, and so on.
53 – We Heart It
This photo-sharing social media site, which is available in more than 20 languages, is ideal for users’ daily dose of inspiration or motivation. It enables users to view and share highly inspirational images with their friends.
54 – Buzznet
This social media site allows users to share content based on their interests in the form of videos, photos, and journals. It also seamlessly integrates with Facebook.
55 – DeviantArt
DeviantArt is regarded as the largest online social networking community for art lovers and artists. It enables users to take photos of their artwork and share them with others.
56 – Flickr
This is another highly popular photo-sharing website. It serves as a platform to upload numerous high-quality images, especially by photographers or people who love photography. It is also efficient online photo management and sharing service.
57 – MeetMe
Formerly known as myYearbook, MeetMe is aimed at users who want to find new friends and chat with them. This makes it highly popular among teens and young students.
58 – Meetup
This social networking portal enables you to find groups of like-minded people, who have similar interests to you, near your locality (anywhere in the world). It also facilitates offline group meetings and you can become a part of such groups and their discussions.
59 – Tout
Tout is a social networking cum micro-blogging platform that allows you to view and share videos that are 15 seconds long. The videos that are shared on this platform are known as touts.
60 – Mixi
This is a popular Japanese social networking service that has around 20 million active users. It enables you to connect with your friends and loved ones in a convenient way and even based on your areas of interest.
61 – Douban
This Chinese social networking site has something for registered as well as unregistered users. It enables registered users to record information and create content based on music, films, books, and events in the cities of China. Unregistered users of Douban can find reviews and ratings of books, music, and movies.
62 – Vero
Vero says that it’s “a social network for anyone who loves anything enough to share it – and wants control over who they share it with. Just like we do in real life.”
Vero is a subscription-based social network that has no ads and does not collect any personal user data. It’s a great alternative to Facebook as has some really lovely features. It’s a different model from Facebook in the sense that Facebook needs user data to make money from them.
Vero does collect some usage data which is used to see how often the app is used. Another great thing about the usage data they collect is how it’s displayed to you. Vero wants to address the issue of social media addiction.
63 – Quora
Quora is a place where people can share and gain knowledge by asking and answering questions.
64 – Spreely
Spree is a social media platform that is free from censorship and free from shadow bans. The name “Spreely” is made up of Speak & Freely and promotes freedom of speech for all its users.
65 – Discord
Discord is one of the most popular platforms right now with over 250 million users, and is growing with at least a million every week. It’s designed for gamers to voice and text chat. It’s 100% free, secure, and works on both your desktop and phone. A great free alternative to the premium services such as TeamSpeak.
66 – TikTok
TikTok is insanely popular with the kids these days. If you’re under 16 then this is the place to be.
TikTok is a social video app that allows its users to share short videos. There are plenty of stickers, filters, and augmented reality features to add to your videos. It was the 4th most downloaded app in 2018 and looks like it’ll top that list in 2020.
TikTok is known in China as Douyin, which means “Vibrating Sound”. Available on iOS and Android, TikTok is popular for creating short music videos of between 3 and 15 seconds. You can also create short looping videos of between 3 and 60 seconds.
67 – WT Social
WT Social was launched by Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales. The WT stands for WikiTribune and is a new social network that is positioning itself as a true alternative to the big juggernaut commercial platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
WT Social is an ad-free social network that is funded by donations from its users. WT Social aims to empower members to choose their own content choices, encouraging and breeding a community of integrity in content and community.
68 – Triller
With more than 23 million downloads, Triller is fast becoming the hottest new app that’s a direct competitor to TikTok. It’s an AI-powered music video app that allows users to take professional quality videos in a matter of seconds, with similar features and functionality to TikTok. Users can create music and lipsync videos that they can then share with their followers.
69 – Alpha
Alpha is a unique social network for women in tech to talk easily and candidly online. It’s like a friendly Linkedin for women only. Users can expect a warm welcome as well as personal and professional support, to find jobs, and business opportunities and make friends within their industries.
70 – Yubo
Yubo is a new social networking app that hopes to reinvent online friendships. They want to do this by creating an online environment that you can trust and is safe for everyone.
Members of Yubo can create their profiles (with real names and photos) and like Facebook, add new friends and chat one-on-one or in groups. This is a Facebook alternative that you can use to live-stream video, and anyone can make comments, not just with friends.
71 – PopBase
PopBase is a platform that creates a virtual version of the user which then helps to engage with fans through user-generated interactive content. It’s a content delivery platform that acts as a digital and interactive fan club.
Users can explore a virtual place called PopCity where they can discover content updates dropped in by creators, prizes in special competition events, trivia games, watch exclusive videos, and much much more.
72 – Peanut – Connecting women across fertility and motherhood
Peanut, is a social network for mothers, helping them find friends, and providing them with useful resources, Q&A forums, Peanut Pages, and Peanut Groups. They have recently expanded their target audience to reach women who are trying to conceive.
73 – Valence
Valence is a social network/community for connecting black professionals together. It showcases, and empowers the global black professional community, helping to create meaningful connections that create career opportunities and give birth to new ventures.
74 – Flip
Flip is a social commerce network in the fashion niche. It’s a fashion-in-a-box service where you vote on other people’s clothes. The Flip app then suggests similar items available to buy which can be sent to your home.
75 – HouseParty
Originally launched in 2016, HouseParty is a network aimed at face-to-face communication. The premise is simple: members can create digital “rooms” to video chat with up to eight different people at once.
Whenever friends open up the app and join a room, users receive notifications to instantly connect. There are no limits to how many rooms users can create, so people can float from video chat to video chat and stay connected.
The Houseparty platform has gained increased popularity over the Coronavirus pandemic and has grown from strength to strength.
76 – Caffeine
Caffeine is a relatively new social media platform that’s set to reinvent live streaming. Users can join as a viewer or a broadcaster. As a view, you have access to live streamers from all over the world. Big-name gamers, athletes, and entertainers produce weekly shows.
The app is intuitive and well-designed. Browse what’s streaming now and join a live chat to communicate with others. Users can upvote streams and even donate to their favorite broadcasters.
Unlike other streaming platforms, Caffeine doesn’t have ads or subscription tiers. There’s no partner program either, so it’s accessible to any content creator.
77 – Steemit
Steemit is a social network that rewards its users with cryptocurrency. It’s a blockchain-based blogging platform where each post generates a hash. Users can create posts covering a wide range of topics. Other members then can add comments and upvote. The voting system is similar to Reddit and other popular platforms.
However, the upvote system holds a heavier weight than the likes of other platforms. It acts as a voting system. When users upvote a post or comment, they get to decide the payout! Steemit rewards user content with the STEEM cryptocurrency.
78 – Goodreads
At Goodreads, you can join a digital book club with bookworms from around the globe. The niche social network was founded in 2006 and continues to be a source of information for millions. The platform does double-duty as a cataloging site and a social network.
You can search for individual books and see what others thought about them. Or, you can leave your reviews and make recommendations to others. The network has virtual clubs as well as an intelligent recommendation system.
79 – Twitch
One of the most surprising successes of the last decade, Twitch has become a heavy-hitter in the social media bubble. Twitch is a live-streaming platform that boasts roughly 15 million active daily users as of 2018.
Twitch is mostly used for gaming. It’s launched the careers of many professional eSports players and continues to be a place for viewers to discover new titles. However, it’s much more than gaming. Users can stream or upload all kinds of content covering a wide range of topics and styles.
80 – CaringBridge
CaringBridge is a unique social network that offers a very valuable service. The network has been around since 1997. Since the beginning, the goal has always been to help those going through a medical journey stay in touch with the ones they love.
Users can create individual sites that chronicle their journey. They can post updates and send messages to family members. Meanwhile, loved ones can learn more about what’s going on in a safe and secure platform. It’s the only platform of its kind.
81 – WattPad
Aimed at both amateur and professional writers, WattPad is a network designed to tell stories. Since its creation in 2006, WattPad has been a place for writers to feed off each other’s creativity and discover new user-generated content.
WattPad acts as a publishing platform. Writers can build their fanbase and publish ongoing content to keep them entertained! WattPad even has a separate publishing and media division. Several Wattpad authors have gone on to work with multi-media companies and professional publishers after being discovered on the network.
82 – Crunchyroll
Fans of anime, manga, and dorama are likely familiar with Crunchyroll. Crunchyroll is a social network that connects like-minded individuals with the type of content they love. But that’s not all. Crunchyroll also acts as an American distributor, publisher, and licensing company.
Members can stream anime shows and read published mangas. It’s a great platform to discover new content as well as revisit familiar favorites. The social aspects of Crunchyroll allow you to connect with other anime lovers and participate in forums.
83 – Soundcloud
Soundcloud proves that you don’t need to have a record deal to build your fanbase. The music-sharing platform launched in 2008 and has steadily grown to be one of the hottest spots to discover new talent.
Users can upload original tracks to build their fanbase. Others can then listen, share, and comment on tracks. You can even follow your favorite creators so that you always know when new music comes out.
While the network started as a place for up-and-coming artists, even established musicians have a presence on the platform.
84 – Mocospace
MocoSpace has been around since the early days of social networking. It’s continually evolved to stay up with current trends. The platform is a space to meet new people, strike up a conversation, and play.
You can connect with others through public chat rooms and more private group chats. Users can also connect privately through the robust messaging system. You can also play a collection of games, send e-cards, share music, and more.
85 – CouchSurfing
Launched in 2004, CouchSurfing is a network aimed to connect friendly travelers with people from all over the world. Designed for adventurers, users can find locals to connect with at their travel destinations. You can also meet fellow travelers to meet up and explore your destination together.
One of the most unique aspects of this network is finding a place to stay! As the name would suggest, you can use the app to request a place to stay on your travels.
86 – italki
If you’ve ever wanted to learn another language from someone fluent in it, italki is the network for you. Launched in 2007, the social media platform connects you with educators and other learners. There is a myriad of languages to choose from, so your options are limitless.
As a language learner, you have the option to connect with community tutors or professional educators with structured plans.
87 – Medium
Medium is a content publishing network filled with user-generated content. Members can create content on virtually any topic they choose. After publishing, articles are exposed to millions of readers around the world.
Readers can leave feedback through the comments system as well as provide praise. Most of the content is free for readers to enjoy. However, there is also a paid membership tier for those who want to monetize the content they create.
88 – Ello
Ello is a platform built for artists. Originally founded in 2014, Ello has quickly become the go-to spot for visual artists around the world to share their latest creations. The network is beautifully designed. Naturally, it’s filled with vibrant colors and captivating artwork that will please any sophisticated eye.
You don’t have to be an artist to join. Art-lovers can enjoy the works of others while connecting with others through comments and messages.
89 – Vimeo
Whether you have long-form professionals or simple vlogs to share, Vimeo is the place to do it. Vimeo is a video-sharing platform similar to heavy-hitters like YouTube. But, it’s more feature-rich and is often focused on professionals.
Vimeo is a paid platform with several membership tiers to choose from. The membership levels offer different features you can take advantage of. For example, the top tier includes the ability to put on live events with audience chat, polls, graphics, and more.
90 – Giphy
Launched in 2013, Giphy is a fun platform devoted to the art of GIFs. Users can share short GIF files, which feature animations or looping videos with no sound. The social aspects of the site allow you to react to your favorite GIFs and even share them with friends on other platforms.
Giphy is often used as a database and search engine, too. You can search for millions of humorous GIFs to use in text messages, emails, social media, and more.
91 – Tribe
The tribe is a cloud-based platform for consumers to discuss their favorite brands. It’s a great social network for businesses, as it allows them to connect directly with fans of their brand. Companies can get feedback on products, answer questions, and interact with those that are supporting them.
As a user, you get to connect with others who love the brand, too. Ask questions, start polls, and participate in larger discussions all focused on the brands that you love.
92 – Kuaishou
Kuaishou officially launched in 2011 and has become one of the most popular video-sharing platforms in China. It has a large user base of millions. The network makes it easy to discover new content and share videos with family or friends.
While created for the Chinese market, it’s available to users in over nine countries.
93 – Imgur
Imgur is a photo-sharing website. It’s similar to some other big-name platforms. However, it’s simplistic by nature and is favored by professional and amateur photographers alike.
Users can share content and even cross-post to other platforms. There’s also a robust hashtag and topic-based search system to help you find the content you’re after.
94 – Influenster
Influenster is a network that’s all about discovering new products. You can find products catered to a wide range of consumers. Users can leave feedback, discuss brands, and more.
The cool thing about Influenster is that the app uses social media analytics to measure how influential its users are. Those who have a good social media following can even participate in marketing campaigns and events.
95 – FilmAffinity
Movie lovers rejoice! FilmAffinity is a place to discover new movies that you might have never heard of before. Whether you’re a fan of lesser-known Indie flicks or big blockbusters, you can participate in discussions for nearly every title.
Use reviews to determine if a movie is worth your time and get recommendations from other movie buffs. You can also find information about what’s playing on popular streaming services, such as Netflix or HBO Now.
96 – Open Diary
Open Diary is a simple platform with roots that go back to 1998. It was one of the earliest networks in existence and continues to serve millions. The platform went through a rough patch in 2014. It went offline completely. However, it was re-launched in 2018.
Open Diary allows you to create blog posts that you can share with others. Diaries can be private, public, or open to friends only. Those who do have access to your Diary can leave comments, share content, and link posts with others in an Open Diary Board.
97 – Bubbly
Bubbly has been around since 2005. It’s a platform that revolves around voice posts. Users can create 90-second voice memos to post publicly or share with friends.
In the early days of the app, creating and receiving voice posts required short-code text numbers. Today, most of the network’s features are accessible on the iOS and Android apps. You can use the app to apply filters, attach photos, and more.
98 – Clubhouse
The clubhouse is an exclusive social media network that centers around live audio discussions. It’s currently only available to iOS users. Furthermore, the only way to create an account is to receive an invitation from an existing user.
The app features massive chatroom-style rooms that can hold up to 5,000 people. There, users can openly discuss a wide range of topics. Recording, transcribing, or sharing live audio conversations is strictly prohibited. The privacy feature is meant to promote open discussions without the fear of retribution.
While many social media juggernauts aim to create rivals to Clubhouse, it continues to be one of the more popular audio-based networks on the web.
99 – MeWe
Touted as the “Next-Gen Social Network,” MeWe is all about privacy. While the user interface is similar to that of its more famous counterparts, MeWe describes itself as the “Anti-Facebook.”
The service doesn’t contain any ads, tracking software, or spyware. The privacy-focused business model prevents user data from being shared or sold. Not only that, but MeWe hands the reigns to the user. Members have complete control over their newsfeed, communications, and safety.
MeWe also has a light-handed approach to content moderation. The service provider doesn’t manipulate what users see, making it a favorite among those who fear corporate censorship.
100 – Gab
Gab officially opened to the public in 2017. It’s a microblogging platform that allows users to post their thoughts, share images, and more. Gab prioritizes the free flow of information online and actively promotes its dedication to free speech and individual liberty.
In addition to the main site, Gab has a few additional services. Gab maintains an email service, text messaging system, and a web browser. A browser extension is available as well. Not only does it provide quick access to the network, but it also allows for commenting on third-party sites.
101 – Rumble
Rumble is a video-sharing network similar to YouTube and Vimeo. It launched in 2013 and saw modest success in the subsequent years. However, Rumble’s popularity grew massively in 2020. At the start of 2021, it had an estimated 32 million active users a month.
The network features long and short-form video content from a wide range of creators. From family home videos to official content from more extensive news networks, Rumble has it all! Users can also upload their videos and earn revenue based on the views.
The user interface is well-designed, featuring multiple tabs and recommended feeds to find similar content. While Rumble does not permit some types of content, its moderation system is very lax compared to the likes of YouTube.
I hope that the above list of social networking portals, which are suitable for different categories like gaming, making friends, dating, photo sharing, and blogging, proves valuable to you.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Networking
Social networking can affect both individuals and corporations—both positively and negatively. That’s why it’s important to weigh out both the advantages and disadvantages of using these social media sites.
Advantages
As mentioned above, social networking allows individuals to keep in contact with family and friends they would otherwise not be able to connect with because of distance or because they simply lost touch. People can also connect with other individuals who share the same interests and develop new relationships.
It also allows companies to connect with new and existing clients. They can also use social media to create, promote, and increase brand awareness. They also rely on reviews and comments made by their clientele. The more customers post about a company, the more valuable the brand authority becomes. This leads to more sales and a higher ranking in search engines. Social networking can, therefore, help establish a brand as legitimate, credible, and trustworthy.
A company may use social networking to demonstrate its customer service level and enrich its relationships with consumers. For example, if a customer complains about a product or service on Twitter, the company may address the issue immediately, apologize, and take action to make it right.
Disadvantages
Social networking can have a big impact on the spread of misinformation and it can spread like wildfire. This became increasingly prevalent after 2012. Information starts as rumors, which spread faster than facts. One study found that misinformation is 70% more likely to be shared than factual information on Twitter.3
Networking on social media can have just as much of a detrimental impact on companies. Criticism of a brand can spread very quickly on social media. This can create a virtual headache for a company’s public relations (PR) department.
Although social networking itself is free, building and maintaining a company profile takes hours each week. Costs for those hours add up quickly. Businesses need many followers before a social media marketing campaign starts generating a positive return on investment (ROI). For example, submitting a post to 15 followers does not have the same effect as submitting a post to 15,000 followers.
Pros
- Allows people to connect with others, including friends and family
- Companies can reach new and existing clients as well as build and improve their brand name
- Corporations can demonstrate their customer service
Cons
- Help spread misinformation
- Complaints about companies can spread and create public relations issues
- Costs to advertise and develop corporate profiles can be high
Examples of Social Networking
Almost every product or service you use is backed by a company with a social media presence. It’s virtually impossible to think of any major corporation that doesn’t operate, market, and advertise on social networks. Tapping into social media is not only a good business practice, but it’s also necessary if you’re going to succeed in the corporate world. Here are two examples of companies that are doing it right.
Taco Bell
The popular fast-food chain Taco Bell has more than 1.4 million followers on Instagram and nearly 2 million followers on Twitter. The company knows how to engage people on social media, posting content about its menu offerings, employees, and restaurants. Taco Bell also posts light-hearted tweets and Instagram posts that garner thousands of replies, retweets, and likes.45
Taco Bell lobbied for a taco emoji by creating a petition on Change.org in 2014. The company spread the word on social media. The petition garnered 33,000 signatures from Taco Bell enthusiasts. Apple released the taco emoji in October 2015 when it released iOS 9.1.6
Kylie Jenner
You don’t have to be a corporation to know how to use social media. This is, after all, the age of the influencer. Kylie Jenner has more than 314 million followers on Instagram,7 36.4 million followers on Snapchat,8 and 39.6 million followers on Twitter.9
The young influencer and reality television star use her social media platforms to boost her image and brand name. She is also an entrepreneur who uses social networking to promote her business, Kylie Cosmetics. The beauty brand earned her a spot on Forbes’ list of self-made women, young billionaires, and the Celebrity 100 of 2020.10 Want proof of her reach? The company’s lip kits sold out within 10 minutes of the star tweeting the link to her followers in February 2016.11
What Is the Purpose of Social Networking?
Social networking connects individuals with other people and businesses by allowing them to share information, ideas, and messages. Companies also use social networks to create and increase brand recognition, promote products and services, and answer customer queries and concerns.
What Are the Main Types of Social Networks?
The main types of social media include big names like Facebook, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, and Twitter. These are the most popular social networking sites in the United States.2
Others include Pinterest, Tumblr, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube. LinkedIn is another popular site, which helps connect professionals with coworkers, business contacts, and employers.
Why Are Social Networks Important?
Social networks are important because they allow people to develop relationships with others with whom they might not otherwise be able to connect. It also helps boost business productivity when used for public relations, marketing, and advertising purposes.
What Are the Top 10 Social Networking Sites?
According to Statista, the top 10 social networking sites are Facebook, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Pinterest, Reddit, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Messenger by Google, and Tumblr.2
