Social Networking Sites

Every social networking site that is introduced allows for the similar function of connecting with others while sharing who we are.  Whenever a new site comes out, everyone gets the feeling that it will be the next "it" thing and starts an account to test it out.  I've never been the type of person to keep on top on all of these sites and start accounts everywhere, but I've had my share.  The first social networking site that probably set the precedent for others is Myspace.  Myspace allows for users to set up an account and build a profile about themselves where they can post statuses, pictures, videos, and most popularly music.  In my view, Myspace is very media oriented, meaning that users use it to share and listen to music.  It is a place where new artists who want to break into the music industry share their music for all to hear and hope that it will give them their big break.  Additionally, Myspace lacks the feature to see all the activity that all your friends have been up to, whether it be new status updates, new photos, and etc.  Instead, all you see is your personal page and everything that is on your profile, but it does allow for one to set a personal background.  

Similar to Myspace is Facebook, probably the most popular social networking site at the moment.  Just like Myspace, Facebook allows users to build their own profile and post anything of their choosing, most commonly status updates.  Facebook is very simple in the sense of how one's page is set up.  All the information about the user is there in plain view or under certain tabs.  But unlike Myspace you can't really personalize your background, only set a cover photo.  However, Facebook does allow users to be more connected with their news feed feature as well as the real-time activity bar on the top right and the ability to comment/chat with friends and even tag them.  The site allows almost all of your information and posts to be seen by all unless restrictions are set.  

Next, there is Twitter.  Unlike Myspace and Facebook, Twitter is a site that is meant to tell people what you are doing.  Like the news feed feature, it allows users to see what the individuals they are following are tweeting about.  When they see it, they can choose to reply, retweet, or favorite that particular tweet.  Additionally, for this site, you can can see the trends that are being tweeted the most at that moment and even click the discover button to see what tweets are happening on that day and those that may be of interest to you.  The major difference with Twitter is the fact that there is a 140 character limit, a need to use @ when tweeting someone, and also the use of # to set trends.  Overall, I feel that Twitter allows for a more personal interaction between people because one can tweet whoever they want without having to know that person or even follow them (ex - celebrities, politicians, etc.).  

Lastly, there's one of the newer sites, this one introduced by Google called Google+.  To be honest, I don't know much about Google+ as I only joined it because I was testing out the Google+ Hangout feature.  But while looking around on it, I found it to be similar to most of the sites because once again it allowed users (who have gmail accounts) to post up statuses, pictures, links, etc. but what is unique here is the ability to group the people you add.  Google+ allows users to group the people they add into circles that can range from friends to family to co-workers and so on.  With that feature, users can choose which group can see their posts so that professional and social life didn't always intertwine and only the people that should be seeing the post can.  Because I am still new to Google+ and I don't use it at all, I'm unfamiliar with other features it may have, but my impression of it thus far is that it's simple in layout and it allows you to sort your information the way you want to by giving you the power to limit who and what people can see.

After looking at all the social networking sites and comparing them, I can honestly say that they all are meant for the same purpose - to connect with others.  Each and every one of these sites allows users to build their personal profiles and share information whether it be in the form of a post, status update, or a tweet.  The only difference between each of them is their unique feature(s) that distinguishes one from the other.  But other than that, no matter which one you use, you will still be able to connect with those around you.