Social networks just keep getting better with more functionality than ever before, and just when you think the market is saturated, another completely different network piques the public’s interest and explodes with growth.
Pinterest has only been in existence for a couple of years, but it has quickly become the fastest growing social media site in the world, and in less than two years became one of the top 10 largest social network services. It’s basically a virtual bulletin board where each user “pins” photos of products, quotes, ideas and images he or she likes, and organizes and categorizes them. Other users can browse everyone else’s bulletin boards and repin the ones they like to their own boards. It’s popular with collectors who can collect whatever interests them to their heart’s content without ever spending a penny, and without needing any space in their home for their collection. It’s also used by designers, wedding planners, photographers and people who just like to find their own individual style.
Facebook continues to dazzle individual users and businesses alike with its ever-growing collection of apps. It has even noted Pinterest’s popularity and added its own bulletin board app called “We Heart It.”
Game apps, such as the favorite Words With Friends, Farmville and a host of other games keep gamers on Facebook’s site, and music apps like Sound
No need to learn complicated video conferencing programs that everyone involved has to download to their computers. Now you can hold conference calls with your Facebook friends with its OnConference Video Chat app. It’s a great feature for parents who travel with work and want to say goodnight to their kids, or for anyone who wants to chat “face-to-face” in real time.
Photo apps, such as Pic Monkey, piZap and others allows users to edit and add creative enhancements to their photographs. Slide.ly lets you create slide shows set to music then share it with your Facebook friends. Facebook even has a couple of book clubs, such as Goodreads, where users learn about and read books, then and discuss them.
Twitter remains popular, in spite of the fact it has the fewest bells and whistles, but its simplicity is the key to its success. It’s easy to learn much in a brief amount of time by scanning the tweets, and users can tweet updates on their lives or their brands in Twitter’s renowned 140 characters or less format. You can take it with you, too, by downloading Twitter’s app to your iPhone, Android, iPad, Windows 7 phone and Blackberry.
LinkedIn keeps growing as the best site for business professionals who want to raise the visibility of their professional profile and their company; renew and strengthen contacts; and look for work. Apps on the site include linking your blog to your profile, liking a portfolio of your creative work, and the polls app allows you to collect data from other site users.