So, there are at least over 50 Social Bookmarking Sites and well probably hundreds of Social Media Sites and definitely thousands of Social Networking Sites, unfortunately most of them suck (I’ve tried and signed up for many). Big Time. I suppose there’s a niche site for every niche out there, but here is what I (still) use:
Social Networking:
1. Friendster – My “original” Social Networking web site (although apparently classmates.com is debated as the first) Friendster was the first, best designed as we know it today. Still a classic.
2. MySpace – MySpace came after Friendster for me and this was the place for “Freaks”,”Geeks” and the horny people of the Internet. Now it’s EVERBODY expressing their individuality (which means lots of crappy/annoying pages). MySpace lost me a bit about 2 years ago when the SPAM started, that was/is really annoying.
3. Facebook – Oh Facebook, you were so clean and perfect before the applications, now you are an open sore like MySpace letting in everybody. However, oddly enough this is where EVERYBODY I know is. Plus it’s a lot more tame and friendly than anywhere else. So, this is my #1
4. MyBlogLog – The Social Network for Bloggers and it does a good job of it. Clean atmosphere, little Spam and very friendly people.
5. LinkedIn – Supposedly the Social Network for Business Professionals, it leaves much room to be desired. I can’t see many of my friends joining, because there is no real pull to it unless you are into Networking. I use it for Business Purposes and the Outlook Integration.
Social Media Sharing:
6. Flickr – Pro version keeps my pictures nice and backed up (with easy upload tools), not sure why so many people are obsessed, but it’s nice to browse other pictures every once in awhile.
7. Google PicasaWeb – Not really a “social site” yet, but I liked the look and feel of this compared to Flickr for just storing and viewing my photos. I also liked the WordPress and Website Integration.
8. YouTube – Definitely the original king of Video Sharing and the first place I discovered several years ago to upload videos. Now it’s Mecca of Videos. I still think Google should work on cleaning the YouTube interface into a Facebook feature like Social Network.
Social Bookmarking:
9. StumbleUpon – I love being able to approve or disapprove of a web page. Facebook integration is great. More importantly I have Stumbled Upon MANY (probably thousands of) Amazing web sites, media and games. I also love it for the IE and Firefox clean interface integration.
10. Digg – I can’t believe how Digg exploded into the Phenomena that it is today and I can’t believe Google hasn’t purchase it yet. The social aspects are also greatly missing and people probably spend too much time trying to “Digg” something, but THANK YOU to the people who Digg the truly great stuff.
That’s it. There were more that I was going to put on, but seriously this is pretty much what I use on a Daily and Weekly basis. I’m sure everyone will have comments regarding my choices and their choices, but I’m firm with what’s above… So Bring IT ON!!!
MakeUseOf Recommends
More articles about:
Hide 6 Comments
Neither Friendster nor Classmates were near the first. You guys don’t remember Six Degrees? :-)
wikipedia.org/wiki/SixDegrees.com
Under the social media sharing, you forgot Delicious. Probably one of the best sites on the internet.
Google probably hasn’t bought Digg because everyone that comments on the site are “angry” people and it doesn’t take much for the insults to start flying. If they could just have a constructive discussion, that would be fine but if one person expresses a radical point of view, they are flamed off the site! That is why I seldom use Digg as a lot of the users just really put me off with their superior attitude.
@Adam
Just a qiuck thought on each
- Friendster: I don’t use it but it’s definitely a classic.
- Myspace: Use it only for the sake of having account. After all it has 100 mil. users
- Facebook: Was perfect before they introduced apps. Apps seem to be a good concept but needs a slightly different approach.
- MyBlogLog: Love their widget, but that’s about it.
- LinkedIn: don’t have too many friends using it.
- Flickr: excellent user interface but I am not really comfortable with free account limitations.
- Google Picasa: never tried it.
Youtube: use it regularly and love it.
- StumbleUpon: my favorite website for a long time, especially StumbleVideo.
- Digg: no doubt the best social news website, however it can be much better. I just don’t get it, why they didnt’ remove networking aspect after realizing that diggers with higher friend count has much more chances of getting the story to the homepage.
And yes, you definitely should start using del.icio.us.
Hey, the facebook needs to improve its bandwidth badly, at least I in China cannot access it fast, but Youtube is much faster.
haha, I didn’t forget anything Mark, because I actually did include Del.icio.us on there, but then I decided to take it off, because really, I’m not using it enough to classify it in “I make use of”… I use it here and there, but sparingly…
Oh, and Aaron, nope, never heard of SixDegrees. I suppose the only reason Classmates.com was even so popular was because they Spammed (constant emails) and they also were some of the first heavy web advertisers.
i agree with the comments of Aibek, generally, but i believe it’s time to find new ways in the internet..open source is a “movement” that i follow and support. But recently i discovered a site where you can create your own social network, based on your interests or on whatever you want..i find it an excellent idea and as far as i can see it will grow nicely ..the place is ning.com and i hope more people will try it..