BLOG POST: CHECKING OUT SOME SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES

I am very familiar with facebook, seeing as how it is the only social networking website I use. My impression is that facebook is relatively plain, with mostly the same layout for every user. However, in contrast to the other social networking websites, facebook is a lot more interactive than the other social networking sites, because there are many applications on which people can interact with each other, aside from the regular facebook. For example, on facebook, you can install applications that allow you to play poker with friends, play scrabble with friends, or test your IQ against your friends. My impression of facebook is that it is a social networking website primarily designed to aid old friends as well as new in keeping touch with each other, with options such as “people you may know” and the tagging of albums. Another purpose that has grown out of facebook is a planning tool, allowing for people to plan events large and small.

I notice that while facebook wins in the applications department, myspace is definitely more customizable in terms of sheer appearance and aesthetics. While facebook forces you to keep the basic standard layout, myspace allows you to change the entire background of your page, making it much more personalized and basically your own website. Also, myspace allows for you to add a music playlist to your webpage, a feature I do not believe that facebook has. This playlist option makes your page more personalized as it sets a certain tone and gives a certain flavor whenever somebody visits a given person’s myspace page.
One negative aspect of myspace is the amount of spam and “fake” people that want to add you as a friend. Another troublesome point is the ridiculous amount of ads.
My impression is that while facebook is for people to reconnect with each other, myspace is more of an individualized social networking website. Myspace, as the name applies, provides a place for a person to express him or herself, whether through visual art or music. People then connect with each other based on if they like or are interested in the myspace page they see.

Friendster is basically a lesser version of facebook, as it is even more basic. This social networking website is essentially facebook without all the applications. They display sections with personal information but lack customization tools and tagging of pictures to my knowledge. In my impression, it is a stripped down version of facebook. You might as well use facebook because there is a greater chance that people you know are using it.

Twitter is the simplest social networking website, as it does not even have any personal information section. In my opinion, it is part facebook and part myspace. Twitter is like facebook in that it is essentially your “facebook status” and connecting with different people. It is like myspace in that you can customize your page to an extent, and is also about personal expression. In my impression, twitter takes social networking and whittles it down to its very basic core, which is people following and listening to other people’s thoughts; and adds a little bit of flare with a hint of customization.