Social Networking Sites

Social Networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn create opportunities for users to share information with one another. Each website has characteristics that differentiates them from one another.

Facebook: Every user has a customized profile with a profile picture, interests, education, etc.On our profiles, we have walls, so friends can post messages to us and we can interact on our walls.There is a chat option on the right hand side for friends to chat with one another. Apps are located to the left which allows user to play games. In the center, there is a textbox for status updates and photo/video uploads.Below this is news feed that shows the posts and photos posted by our friends. This is where the most interaction and activity occurs, aside from our profile pages.  Located on the right is a trending topics list that shows what is trending now. Facebook has lots of function that allows user to communicate with one another. When Facebook users play games, they can also chat with one another.

Twitter:Compared to Facebook, Twitter is much more simple. Users interact by replying to each other's tweets or retweeting another tweet.After logging on, at the center of the page, there is a tweet box that says "what's happening?" for users to tweet updates. We can also upload a photo with a tweet. Unlike Facebook, there isn't a comment section or a wall post, but users tweet one another by tagging them with "@".

YouTube :Unlike Facebook and Twitter, YouTube is video sharing social networking platform.Instead of a profile, each user has a Channel, where they can upload videos and list their favorites.On our Channel, there is a comment page for others to provide feedback on our channels.Like a twitter and Facebook news feed, there is a "what to watch" and "My subscriptions" page where all the videos for a Youtuber who we subscribed ( same as following a user on Twitter and friending someone on Facebook) are displayed.We can click on the videos and each video has a comment page for feedback as well.This acts as the place for the "uploader" to interact with their subscribers.The biggest difference between Youtube and Facebook and Twitter is the fact that users don't share photos but they share videos.

LinkedIn: Like facebook, users also create a Profile page that contains information on their work experience, skills, and education, etc. It is similar to an online Resume. There is a search bar for individuals to search for people, jobs, companies, and more.We can send emails to professionals that we want to connect with. LinkedIn's way of sharing information is the resume like profile that is displayed to the public. There is also a place for updates, so other people can view your updates.Users can follow professionals by connecting and becoming friends with them. LinkedIn displays more detailed information compared to a Facebook profile but it is also a platform to share information and connect.