Different Types of Social Media Networks

Social media have become a prominent part of everyday life for many people. Social Media is interactive technology that enable the generation or sharing/ exchange of ideas, careers, hobby interests, and anything else through social networks and virtual communities. This is different from traditional methods of spreading knowledge and opinions through mass print media or conventional channels of communication. It has opened new avenues for businesses to advertise their brands and products by creating online visibility and creating and maintaining long term relationships with their customers.

Social media websites have emerged as an extremely easy, cost effective and most effective method of spreading awareness about products, services and events. It makes it possible for organizations to reach out to a large and global audience and create trust among users through valuable content. Social media allows for open communication between organizations and their consumers in ways that traditional channels of communication would be difficult to manage.

Social networks are built on the basis of a community and user based platform that encourage user generated content curation. It also makes it easy for organizations to engage with their clients on a more intimate platform than the conventional channels of communication such as email, phone calls or even face to face communication. Such communities include Flipboard, Zagat, RateWiz, Mixx and Recumbent.

There are various types of social media networks, some are more suited for specific purposes while others are used for almost every purpose. Flipboard is a web-based service provided by e-commerce company Flipboard Technologies that allows users to share information on virtually any topic. This service is similar to that of Twitter. Users can post links to articles, images, photos, video clips, blog posts, podcasts and websites through Flipboard. Users can then comment or start conversations on these items with fellow Flipboard users and they can easily connect to each other.

LinkedIn is another great social media service that has grown in popularity amongst professional marketers. A user can create a profile and then look for colleagues who might have similar interests and then interact with them and share information through LinkedIn. The other popular networking sites in the niche include Facebook, Google+, Twitter and Digg. All these sites allow users to share information relevant to their fields of expertise through the different types of social media platforms.

Another platform that is used extensively in the realm of social media and networking is Digg. Digg is an online news aggregator that permits anyone to submit news stories and other links to their website. RSS or Really Simple Syndication is a type of social networking platform that enables web-masters to publish content directly to the website. Users can browse through the headlines, summaries and comments of the posted items and vote on them if they like them or topics that interest them.