Social Media Overview

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Tags:

Facebook

communication

socialmedia

Instagram

YouTube

Google+

Twitter

People are using the web for more than just consuming (viewing) content on websites. They are connecting with friends, families and acquaintences in many ways, creating communities of their own, using website platforms and mobile (smartphone) technologies to extend their social interactions throughout the day and from anywhere.

Some of the active social networks -

Facebook

http://facebook.com

Year started: 2004

Active users: 1.19 billion

Identities: Personal Profiles, Business Pages, Groups

Relationships: Friends, Followers

Activities: Status Update, Like, Comment, Share, Check in

Media: Text, photos, links

Twitter

http://twitter.com

Year started: 2006

Active users: 232 million

Identities: Personal Profiles

Relationships: Followers

Activities: Tweet, Retweet (RT), Favorite, Reply

Media: Text (140 character limit), links, photo, location (GPS)

Google+

http://plus.google.com

Year started: 2011

Active users: 540 million

Identities: Personal Profiles, Business Pages

Relationships: Followers, Circles, Communities

Activities: Status Update, Plus 1 (+1), Comment, Share

Media: Text, links, photos, videos

Google+ (or Google Plus) is a platform for social sharing and interaction from the people at Google. It opened to the general public on September 20, 2011, after an invitation-only test period started in June 2011. Google+ is comprised of personal profiles, pages (for businesses, places, products, brands, arts, entertainment, sports) and communities (for interest groups and discussions), which can be private or public. It also has a "Local" dimension - specifically for places and maps. Google+ is also how Google is now managing identities across all its different properties - search, maps, YouTube, GMail and its various apps - you sign in once, and you're signed in across all the Google properties.

The integration of Google+ with other highly used web tools (search, video and local maps) sets it apart from the other social networks.