Interesting social networks. Latest social networks: list. Overview of places for virtual communication
Experts have identified ten services that occupy leading positions in the world rankings and have managed to gather a record audience in their spaces. In global projects, we meet a variety of people living in different countries, professing different religions, differing from each other in level of income, age, interests, etc.
For several years now, the fast and modern Facebook network has confidently occupied a leading position in all ratings. The site has already become the most popular and widespread project of this type in the world, but the number of users continues to increase every day, striving to include all mobile device owners. The quality of FB is also growing - new tools and capabilities are regularly introduced, work is accelerated, and integration with smartphones is improved.
Google+
It would be unacceptable not to include this one in our list of social networks, which unites millions of Google account holders. Anyone who has registered an email on a popular search engine service can easily connect to Google+. The project is constantly evolving, and now in terms of the abundance of functions and capabilities, the service is practically not inferior to the leader - Facebook. So, just recently, developers provided users with the ability to create group video chats.
It is no coincidence that Twitter is included in the list of social networks that are most popular. After all, this is the most convenient service for publishing short messages. Twitter provides its users with tools for publishing photo and video materials, and almost everyone uses it, including influential politicians and stars of world show business.
This is a real paradise for photography lovers. Not long ago, Instagram was taken over by Facebook, but it still looks like an independent project. Every day, millions of new photos appear on the pages of the site, processed using beautiful bright filters. Users are happy to rate and comment on new publications.
Foursquare
Without Foursquare, the list of social networks would be incomplete. This service provides opportunities to communicate with friends online, but this is not its “trick” at all. By registering on the site, you register at a specific location on the map. And by adding friends, you get the opportunity to monitor their movements and meet if possible.
Tumblr
One of the fastest growing social networks on the Internet. It operates on the principle of a blog, which ensures its fast operation and enormous popularity among users. You get the opportunity to maintain your own online magazine, as well as view news and interesting publications from other participants.
What do we have?
So, let's continue to compile a list that includes the best social networks. In recent years, Russia has launched several promising projects that have every chance of breaking into the world TOP. Thus, the VKontakte website is breaking new and new traffic records. In addition to limitless opportunities for communication (including via webcam), VKontakte users have access to a huge number of communities of various topics and directions, and the largest libraries of video and audio recordings in Runet. In addition, the Odnoklassniki and My World projects from Mail.ru attract attention with many interesting functions and ease of use.
Specialized social networks
We wouldn’t even have enough pages to even just list all the social networks in the world. In this case, the list would also contain thousands of not too large-scale, but interesting projects that allow people of a narrow circle to communicate with each other. For example, many researchers, scientists and those who are simply interested in science use Academia.edu with great pleasure. And, for example, the CafeMom service allows young mothers to communicate and find a lot of interesting and useful information. Christians also have their own social network, and it is called Cross.tv.
Every year more and more similar projects appear on the Internet, and therefore it is easier these days than ever to find like-minded people or advertise your product to those who will be truly interested in buying it.
Today people communicate more and more in virtual space. The Internet and mobile devices allow you to do this almost anywhere. The most popular social networks play the role of a kind of bridge between vast distances and at the same time a small state, each of which has its own rules.
Today people communicate more and more on social networks
The concept of a social network itself has already become quite blurred, since many of those virtual platforms that are called by this name are instant messengers, video streamers, video hosting sites, and photo hosting sites. But nevertheless, all these communities are recognized as social networks.
List of the most popular Russian social networks. networks differs from similar global networks. Mainly on the first two lines:
- In contact with
- Skype
- Google +
- Viber
- Facebook Messenger
This is the list we have for 2016.
VK.com
VK has traditionally been the leader among all other social networks in Russia and many CIS countries for many years. Last October, Contact turned ten years old, and it remains a virtual monopolist in the sphere of online communication among Russians. The average daily audience is about 64 million visitors.
Every year, both the mobile application and the web version receive new features that are present in other social networks. One of these was the appearance of “Stories”, with the help of which you can tell your friends and subscribers about your life in videos or photographs. In addition, money transfers and voice messages, familiar to many, appeared.
OK.ru is the fifth most popular Russian website. Odnoklassniki constantly steps on the heels of Contact: 51 million users per day - but nevertheless can never catch up with it.
This year on social media. networks appeared broadcasts from groups, money transfers, and the “OK Video” application. Odnoklassniki also tries to provide users with the maximum number of communication opportunities. It is worth noting that both sites: VK and Odnoklassniki belong to Mail.Ru Group.
Facebook ended up in third place largely due to the existence of its Russian counterpart - VKontakte. Since it is more convenient for us to use Pavel Durov’s brainchild, and many have many more friends there, 6 million Russians log on to Facebook every day.
Skype
Skype cannot be called a full-fledged social network. network, since it is still deprived of many functions inherent in the same VK. The main feature of Skype has been and will be video calls. Yes, there are chats and the ability to add personal information, but most people use Skype specifically for video or audio communications.
Despite the emergence of such programs as Viber, WhatsApp, FaceTime, Skype does not lose its popularity. Perhaps this is because many are not yet sufficiently accustomed to new substitutes for the old, reliable program.
Google +
Google + is an unsuccessful attempt by Google to create its own social network. net. Unsuccessful because the popularity of Google + is decreasing every year. It’s only a matter of time before there are no users left there at all.
The most interesting thing is that Google + ranks fifth in our country. In other countries, it is practically not quoted at all due to low popularity.
The popular application is rapidly conquering the world. Today, WhatsApp is used by hundreds of millions of people around the world: the monthly audience is 1 billion. It is also quite popular among Russian users.
Viber
An analogue of WhatsApp with similar functionality. However, it is more often used to make calls than to exchange messages.
Viber is already beginning to lose ground after the emergence of such popular means of communication or social media. networks like WhatsApp.
Instagram is in eighth place, while in the world it is constantly in the lead and is located in the top five. This is a network that is used by a large number of young people. It finally became possible to consider it social after Direct appeared on Instagram - chat with users.
Instagram is gradually starting to outpace Twitter. On Insta, everything is built on sharing photos, on Twitter, on short messages.
Twitter has become quite strong in the post-Soviet space, but is beginning to lose popularity to Instagram, which is still winning new users. The monthly audience is 7.7 million people.
On Twitter, the main feature is small notes about their lives that users share with each other. Naturally, the creators did not stop there and added many more different features: chat, the ability to post videos and photos, likes and reposts - making Twitter a full-fledged social network. network.
Facebook Messenger
Facebook Messenger also cannot be considered as a separate social network. This is an application that allows you to chat with your friends.
However, despite this, Facebook Messenger found itself in the top ten most popular networks. The messenger has an arsenal of capabilities similar to Viber and WhatsApp.
How are things going abroad?
- Facebook Messenger
- QZONE
YouTube is also well known to Russian users, but in the world it is ranked second, and as one of the most popular social networks. networks. Billions of videos are watched daily on the site, and the number of accounts is 1.3 billion.
Well, perhaps in a few years YouTube will become just as popular here. The service at the moment mainly acts as a server for a huge number of videos, allowing users to create their own channels, comment on each other, and put “likes” or “dislikes”.
Tumblr appeared in Russia relatively recently and is just beginning to gain its popularity. While in the rest of the world it is already in the top ten. Its monthly audience is 555 million people.
This network is used mainly by young people. In it you can share various multimedia content. At the same time, the developers try to ensure its uniqueness.
The QQ and QZONE services are known primarily in Asia. This is a messenger and a social network, respectively. It is unlikely that if you go to them, you will find your friends there.
So, as you can see, in 2016 the lists of the most popular networks partially overlap. And even if they do not merge at all, it is clear that everywhere people follow the path of instant messengers and specialized applications in order to discard the unnecessary. Although traditional social networks still occupy the top.
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Originally developed as a mobile application for smartphones, this utility has now grown into one of the largest social networks, the number of users of which has already exceeded 100 million. The resource settings help filter images according to specified parameters and accompany them with short captions. Now, with the help of this site, people not only meet people and post photos, but also earn money by creating online stores and banks of paid images.
https://www.instagram.com/We present to you a site designed for young and mobile people who are interested in modern music and cinema and want to find new acquaintances. The resource registration conditions prohibit users under 18 years of age from logging into the system. There are no other restrictions. So come in, get acquainted, download music and movies, create groups, post news and share life hacks with 200 million Internet users who have chosen this portal as a platform for virtual meetings.
http://www.connect.uaA social network without claims to uniqueness, made on the principle of similar resources with all the attached services: adding photos, posting videos, downloading music, creating author’s blogs and joining communities. The news feed is dominated by non-political news, and the game catalog contains a good selection of Internet toys available online. Among the attractive features, we note the simple functionality; among the disadvantages, we note the unsystematic nature of posting news messages.
http://www.privet.ru
A free all-Ukrainian student network, where, along with services that allow students from different schools to communicate, there are functions for posting the school schedule and grading. Parents, by visiting their son or daughter’s page, can find out how teachers rated their child’s knowledge this week, and teachers have the opportunity to remotely post homework assignments. The functionality of the resource also provides for communication at the level of school teams.
http://shodennik.ua/
A thematic resource designed for travelers. Its services allow you to mark your location on a map, communicate with other tourists and evaluate the performance of restaurants, hotels, shops and entertainment venues around the world you have visited. The authors of the resource attract new visitors with the opportunity to gain access to short tips from locals that will help them navigate a foreign city, choose a good and inexpensive hotel, cafe and nightclub.
https://ru.foursquare.com/
F.Gid
The portal for fishermen, which we invite you to visit, contains information that will be of interest to lovers of quiet hunting. By registering on the site, you will become part of a community of Internet users who cannot imagine their life without a fishing rod. Here you can show off your own catch by posting a photo report about it, learn about the best baits, get advice from experienced fishing enthusiasts, read the fisherman's encyclopedia and inquire about the bite forecast in your locality.
http://www.fgids.com/
Do you have a dog and want to receive training tips from professional dog trainers and connect with other animal lovers like you? A social network of dog breeders will come to your aid, where the most complete information about our four-legged friends is collected, including a list of nicknames, a schedule of exhibitions, descriptions of breeds, a rating of record holders and addresses of kennels. At the puppy exchange you can get a cute little barking cutie, and in the “video” section you can post videos about his first successes.
http://www.dogster.ru/This is a combination of a social network and a dating site. Therefore, in addition to the usual services for posting photos and videos, games and creating groups, here you can take a compatibility test and start your own diary, giving access to it only to a select few, vote for the best couple and get into the rating of duets that received the most votes. The concept of a group on this site is replaced by the name “club”, but otherwise the functionality is similar to other portals of a similar format.
http://www.limpa.ruHere is a portal that combines the features of a social network and a dating site. In addition to the usual functions of finding new acquaintances, online games, sharing music and videos, there are unique services that distinguish it from other portals. Firstly, duels are organized here - virtual discussions between two opponents on a given topic, in which anyone can take part. Secondly, here you can take part in a club meeting. And thirdly, you can go on a “blind date”.
http://www.justsay.ruOne of the largest Russian-language social networks, the number of registered users currently exceeds 200 million. Along with traditional services for searching for people, playing games and posting audio and video files, a lot of functions are available here, including transferring money between users, broadcasting live broadcasts within a group, as well as a mobile messenger application and many options with which you can promote your group and make money online.
http://www.odnoklassniki.ruIn fact, this project arose as a result of a symbiosis of two formats - a dating site and a social network. Hence the selection of resource services that are designed to allow users to communicate and find new acquaintances. The youth audience under the age of 35, who generously share their photographs, are the main visitors to this Internet site. The portal's services allow you to spend time playing online games, share posts with friends and rate photos of other users.
http://www.fotostrana.ruThis resource is a platform for communication between people with an active lifestyle. Here the most pressing issues are raised and current topics are discussed. In other words, this portal is designed for those who are interested in politics in all its manifestations. Those who are taking their first steps on this path will be able to learn from more experienced colleagues, and for those who already have their own experience, the site will help expand the ranks of their associates by attracting new like-minded people.
http://www.soratniki-online.ru
This site claims to be a guide to the world of information and a platform for communicating with people who have similar interests to you. Here you can watch movies, play online games and applications, download videos from torrent trackers to your personal page, participate in discussions and share your impressions. The portal provides the opportunity to create your own resource using a website builder, optimize it in search engines, increase traffic and learn how to make money from it.
http://platforma.mirtesen.ru/Wyw
A youth network that unites over two million registered visitors. Here, to communicate, you do not have to register under your real name and surname, or post real photos. According to the authors of the resource, such concessions make the portal more comfortable to use and distinguish it for the better from other similar services. The rest of the site’s functionality is traditional: communication in groups, posting photos, searching for people, creating author’s blogs and online games.
http://www.wyw.ru
This portal was created for those who monitor their health and want to know more about how to maintain it. The “Medical Encyclopedia” contains definitions of medical terms and diseases, the “Traditional Medicine” section contains advice from our grandmothers on treating many diseases and strengthening the immune system, and the “Psychology” section contains materials that help to understand gender relations and the relationship between parents and children. . Register, communicate, exchange opinions and photos.
http://polonsil.ru/
Xing
One of the largest professional social networks with more than 10 million members. By registering here, the user gets access to a job search service abroad, and also expands the circle of his acquaintances with whom he finds himself in the same professional field. An important bonus received by network users is the opportunity to exchange experiences, meet new companies and employers, and maintain a personal blog, creating a reputation as an expert.
https://www.xing.com/This resource was created exclusively for schoolchildren and, according to its developers, is a virtual assistant in their studies and a place where children look for new friends and peers, expanding their social circle. Teenagers can unite in groups, the topics of which cover all areas of the life of a modern student - from studying to watching films. The site regularly holds competitions among its subscribers, and the games section contains single-player and multiplayer Internet toys loved by teenagers.
http://www.classnet.ruThe purpose of creating this resource was to unite Russian-speaking people living in different parts of the Earth and to help restore lost connections with relatives, classmates and friends. Subsequently, this direction ceased to be the main one, resulting in a small portal that became a platform for communication between residents of the regions of Russia and Ukraine. The functionality of the site is not very diverse: there is the ability to add photos, search for a person, conduct correspondence and place advertisements.
http://www.100druzei.ru
Here is the world of computer gamers, where they get acquainted with reviews and previews of cyber games, the latest news from gaming software developers and share their secrets of success. Fans of comics and blockbusters will also find something to enjoy here, since a separate section of the portal is dedicated to this topic, where reviews, videos and testimonials are posted. Otherwise, this is the same social network as others, with the need for registration and the ability to communicate with others like you.
http://kanobu.ru/According to Wikipedia, today it is the most popular communication network in Russia and Ukraine, ranking fourth in the world in terms of the number of users. Initially positioning itself as a platform for schoolchildren and students, this resource later changed its format, expanding the age range, but young audiences still remain predominant among its visitors. The functions of the service are traditional: publishing photos and creating albums, adding video and audio, and communicating through posts.
http://www.vkontakte.ruChoose a platform for communication. The list is compiled according to the principle of a catalog, where next to each site there is information on its main topic. You can choose a resource that helps you find friends, allows you to create groups, play games together, establish business contacts, buy, sell or exchange things, cars and real estate, prepare for the arrival of a baby in the family, get advice on raising and developing a child. A small note: social networks from all over the world are collected here.
http://www.ph4.ru/tsoc_index.ph4Are you looking for a platform for communication, but find it difficult to choose the right one? To help you, Yandex has created a catalog of the most popular social networks. More than 100 sites presented in it cover different areas of life and will help you find a resource that suits your interests: with an extensive film library, a wide selection of games, and a large music storage. There are portals where schoolchildren communicate, businessmen discuss and needlewomen exchange experiences.
http://yaca.yandex.ua/yca/cat/Entertainment/commun...This site contains the most famous and popular social networks. Whatever your hobbies, here you will find portals that match your interests and allow you to chat with friends, exchange experiences and post photos, undergo language practice communicating with foreigners, create your own group, find former classmates, find out the latest news about the latest events in country and world, etc. In the new products section you can get acquainted with social portals that have recently appeared on the World Wide Web.
http://www.starterix.ru/social-nets.htmlHere is a catalog of social networks, compiled to make it easier to find a platform for communication. The authors of the resource have grouped sites by topic: business, health, dating, art, hobbies, travel and tourism, sports, etc., thereby significantly simplifying the choice of a suitable site. In the TOP 10 of the catalog you will find the best resources that received the highest ratings from users, and in the “Article Categories” section you will find materials that tell you how to learn how to earn a stable income using social networks.
http://www.social-networking.ru/soccat
Scientists have not remained aloof from the currently fashionable trend of creating thematic social networks and have developed their own platform for communication, where you can find like-minded people, find out news about the latest scientific conferences and symposiums, and also get acquainted with the plan for upcoming events. Those who need a job will certainly be interested in the “Vacancies” section, and those who need funding for their research and development will find it useful to visit the “Grants” section.
http://www.science-community.org/Russian social network for Russian-speaking people both in Russia and abroad. This is a place where you can make new acquaintances and meet new friends, download songs and upload your tracks, maintain an author’s blog and get acquainted with the latest entries in the user music chart. The portal is designed for those who love not only listening to music, but also writing. Therefore, music news appears here regularly, and it is possible to create a page for your own musical group.
http://www.ruspace.ru
This site is positioned as a national social network. Created on the basis of the mail.ru portal, it is a good platform for communication among the Russian-speaking audience, whose age ranges from 20 to 50 years. Here you can search for classmates, fellow students and former work colleagues, view and add new photos and videos, read blogs, answer questions, leave entries in the guest book. At your service is a user-friendly interface, a set of games and a news feed.
http://my.mail.ruHere is an attempt by Belarusian programmers to create a national social network. Judge for yourself how successful it turned out to be. We note that the start page is more reminiscent of a news site, where the official point of view on events taking place in the country and the world is posted. The resource developers also chose a rather unusual method of registration via a QR code, although you can also use the traditional method by clicking on the “Our chat” link and going through the usual procedure for creating a personal account.
http://www.vceti.by
User reviews of literally everything are posted here, from household items purchased and tested in practice to vacation spots they visited. The authors of the resource encourage site visitors to exchange useful information, thereby helping each other. Network members not only describe their impressions and give ratings, but also write what problems you may encounter when purchasing or traveling, and give advice on how to avoid them.
http://otzovik.com/
Lovely ladies made an attempt to create their own social network, the results of which you can evaluate by visiting this site. Participants who register here can find new friends and propose their own topics for discussion, start a diary and start their own group, inviting like-minded women into it, post articles of their own composition, and take part in competitions. The topics of the portal’s materials are selected taking into account women’s interests: beauty, cooking, handicrafts, children, travel, etc.
http://www.myjulia.ru/
Anyone can join this book lovers club. What does registration on this resource give? Firstly, expanding your social circle to include book lovers who share your interests. Secondly, you will be the first to know about new works appearing on bookstore shelves and in virtual libraries. Thirdly, you will have the opportunity to meet authors, read reviews from professional critics, and even start your own blog where you can show off your literary talents.
http://bookmix.ru/Do you want to get rid of loneliness and find your partner or friends with whom it would always be interesting and fun? Then visit this resource and expand your circle of friends. All you need is to know English and register. After this, services for sharing music, uploading photos, posting advertisements, creating a personal blog and a thematic forum will become available to you. Otherwise, we have before us an ordinary social network, where users unite in groups, exchange posts and comments.
http://www.umka.mobiWhat can you say about this portal? Among its visitors are teenagers and young people under the age of 25, united by common interests. Accordingly, the services are selected taking into account this category of users. Search for music, an IM client with a video chat function and a lot of information in demand by teenagers. All that remains is to add: knowledge of the English language is indispensable here, since the network is designed for an English-speaking audience and does not have a Russian-language version.
http://www.tagworld.comThis is a three-dimensional virtual world with elements of a social network. Account owners have the opportunity to choose an avatar from the “Humans” and “Vampires” categories, independently create their own virtual character, goods and art objects, and build architectural structures. The site's services allow you to chat online. In other words, the authors of the resource have created a second life for real people in the virtual world, where their abilities are limited only by their own imagination and the capabilities of the software.
http://www.secondlife.comIn addition to searching for old and new acquaintances, how does this portal attract users? Firstly, the presence in its archives of a solid collection of abstracts. Secondly, the opportunity to test your strength by passing the online Unified State Examination and State Examination tests. Thirdly, the presence of cloud storage where you can upload files for storage. And fourthly, a messenger distribution for computers and phones. In other words, this is a resource designed for young students who want to combine the interesting with the useful.
http://friends.qip.ru
This is a social network that positions itself as an entertainment portal that functions as a platform for communication, an online store and a blogosphere. By registering on the site, you can take part in the discussion of any of the existing topics or propose a new one. To make it more convenient for network members to connect, all topics are combined into groups, among which you will find “Home and Interior”, “Cosmetics”, “Recreation and Tourism”, “Movies”, etc. Photo and video posting services are included.
http://vilingstore.net/A social network created on the basis of the famous portal and designed to find old and new acquaintances. Like most similar services, it has functions for downloading movies, videos, music, books, games, photos and wallpapers. The network community unites into interest groups in which they exchange opinions, life hacks and the latest news from their areas of interest. Here you can listen to the radio online, set up a personal organizer, send a postcard to a friend and find an interesting recipe.
http://narod.i.ua
An online community of creative people: artists, musicians, writers and photographers. Here you can get acquainted with young authors and their works. If you yourself belong to the cohort of creators, then you have the opportunity to submit your work for general discussion and even raise funds for its publication. For this purpose, the resource has created a “Crowdfunding” section, where anyone can make a contribution to the release of a music album, the printing of a book, or the filming of a film.
http://kroogi.com/explore?locale=ru
This is a portal for mothers who are ready to share their own experiences of raising children. Here, like any other social network, there are interest groups, a news feed and a people search service. Due to its specificity, the site also has distinctive features. For example, it contains a catalog of maternity hospitals, schools and kindergartens, a recipe section, a section on face and body care, as well as a pregnancy calendar and a list of names that can be given to the baby.
http://www.stranamam.ru/According to the authors of this service, LifeStyleRepublic.ru is a network multimedia portal that hosts community services and reality shows designed for an Internet audience. The theme of the portal is style and beauty. Therefore, the users of the thematic network are young people who are interested in the latest news from the catwalks, publications of famous couturiers with comments about new trends in the fashion world. There are communities of interests and services for uploading videos, music and photos.
http://lifestylerepublic.ru
By creating this resource, its authors wanted to unite politicians, party leaders, journalists, experts and ordinary citizens who are not indifferent to the fate of the state within one online community. For some, this site can become a launching pad into big politics, for some it will open their eyes to events in domestic politics, and for others it will simply make new acquaintances and listen to the opinions of others about trends in foreign and domestic politics. Everyone will find theirs.
http://politiko.ua/A social network (social network) is an Internet service (site, applications) for creating and maintaining connections between people, as well as for consuming information and games. Social networks are used in friendly communication, work, study, love - in almost all moments of life.
There are a large number of social networks, but only a few are truly popular. They have many similarities. A social network usually consists of people (users - you and me) and communities (groups, publics). People join communities based on their interests. You can communicate with other people one-on-one, or in a group conversation. Important elements of social networks are adding people as “friends”, posting photos and videos, your thoughts, creating your image. Events and information from all your friends and communities are combined into a “feed” that you watch and read.
In contact with
Also called “VK”, “VK.com”. The most popular social network in Russia and the CIS countries. You can search for people by first name, last name, place of study and work, and hobbies. There are groups you can join (and create your own), listen to music, watch movies online. Initially it was a student social network, but then it quickly became popular among a wide audience. About 65 million visitors per day.
We talk in more detail about VKontakte, registering with it and logging into the site here:
Classmates
This is the second most popular social network. It is believed that its active users are older than VKontakte users. Initially it was intended to search for classmates, fellow students, relatives, old friends and communicate with them. On Odnoklassniki, like VKontakte, you can listen to music, watch movies and TV series. Overall, this is an entertaining social network. Odnoklassniki has about 44 million visitors per day.
All about Odnoklassniki, how to get there and what to do - here:
For more information about Facebook (and how to use it), see here:
My world
Moy Mir is part of Mail.ru, a “national social network”. In terms of the number of active users, My World comes after VKontakte and Odnoklassniki. There are all the traditional elements of a social network - news feed, photos, videos, messages. In My World there are many people from the regions. An important part of the social network is games.
Acquaintance
Dating sites are also, as a rule, social networks where people find each other, communicate, make friends, post photos, and fall in love. Large free dating sites that we can safely recommend are Megakiss and Photostrana.
How to find a person on a social network?
We have a built-in people search on the start page, which is exactly what people search for on social networks. More about this here:
How do social networks affect us?
We have enormous opportunities for communication that did not exist before. Now we can find those whom we have lost or have not seen for a long time. Communication with friends has moved to social networks. When everyone has so little free time, social networks can be used to “virtually” meet and communicate – even with those who are far away.
Through social networks we find out the latest news, keep track of what is happening with friends, watch films and TV series. True, social networks can bring not only joy, but also disappointment and irritation. Therefore, you need to clearly understand how and why you use social networks and whether you depend on them.
- On social networks we trust people too much. We rely on what others write and share with us without checking whether it is actually true.
- We are jealous. Yes, yes: when people brag about their successes, travels, and new acquaintances, it may seem that their lives are more eventful. But this is an illusion - on social networks people tend to embellish themselves.
- On social networks we behave differently than in real life. When people communicate at a distance, they become bolder and more relaxed, and therefore on social networks they often declare and discuss things that they are silent about in ordinary life.
- We depend on people's reactions. When we get used to approval, “likes,” we may be more hurt by disagreement or criticism in the future.
- Scientists cannot say whether social media is beneficial or harmful. It all depends on how we use them. It is necessary to maintain a balance between virtual (“apparent”) and real life.
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A social network is a site through which you can communicate with other users of the resource. On such Internet platforms, you can publish and view information from other registered participants: music, photos and videos, documents, articles, and write comments.
The growing popularity of such portals encourages them to be used not only for personal purposes. Promotion and support of companies, sales of goods and services are the goals of strategies in social marketing (SMM). The key to success is choosing the right network among the many available. Otherwise, spending time and effort searching for the target audience will be useless. What social networks exist on the Internet, how do they differ from each other, and how have they earned popularity among their users? Let's take a closer look.
History of social networks
The first prototype of a communication service was described back in 1837 in a science fiction novel by Vladimir Odoevsky. The theory and principles of creation are set out in the works of mathematicians of the 1950-1960s. In 1954 the term itself appeared. Social networks became a reality with the widespread development of the Internet.
The first similarity was the resource Classmates.com in 1995, where you could find students from different educational institutions. The now more familiar look and functions appeared in the SixDegrees.com project in 1997. Registration, creating a personal profile, finding friends, communicating with them were innovative features for that time.
The now familiar social networks began to appear en masse in 2003. LinkedIn and Facebook are starting to work. Since 2006, Odnoklassniki and VKontakte have been created in Russia. Since then, the number of resources has been constantly increasing, new functions have appeared in them, which are not only convenient for users for entertainment and communication, but also for doing business.
What social networks are there on the Internet?
Based on functionality and opportunities for users, you can segment what types of social networks there are. To classify by content type, the following types of social networks can be distinguished:
Functionality
There are a lot of options for what to do on communication resources, but we can highlight the main ones. Services allow you to:
- Communicate – with colleagues, friends, like-minded people and many people who are interesting according to one or another criteria. You can join interest groups, meet for specific purposes, and share personal information with all or selected visitors to the resource.
- Search – people (according to certain parameters, for example, educational institutions, places of work, city of residence), companies and goods that are offered for sale through communication sites.
- Share news - media outlets and news agencies have their own pages. Information about events can be added by all participants.
- Relaxing - this is facilitated by a lot of varied content posted on the portal for a fee or free of charge: films, games, music.
- Learn - educational programs, lessons, materials and advice from other people allow you to obtain useful information in different areas of life. Learn to cook, master the grammatical subtleties of another language, attend master classes on making useful items with your own hands, hone your skills in using technology or computer programs - all this will be found in abundance.
- Store files and share them.
- Find a job or employee - professional networks are created to exchange experiences, develop business connections, and search for vacancies from employers.
- Share documents – working on one task has never been so easy! Borders, time differences, and other factors are offset by general access, the ability to comment and edit materials.
Reasons for popularity
The huge interest in communication sites that has been observed in recent years is understandable. Among the main reasons:
Regardless of what kind of social networks there are, users are increasingly aware of the hidden threats from their use. And we’re not just talking about dependence on a computer or other gadget, although the time spent is valuable. Much worse, and sometimes even more dangerous, is the fact that personal life circumstances become known to a wide circle of people. The intentions of the latter are not always honest. Here are just a few examples:
- Apartment thieves can find out when the owners of an apartment or house have been away for a long time by looking at vivid vacation photos.
- For the abduction of a child, information about the parents will play into the hands, which will convince the child to believe that the person really knows mom or dad.
- It is easier to choose a potential victim after making sure of the person’s financial viability using information from open sources.
- Groups are being created for teenagers to encourage suicide.
It is becoming a common practice when, before hiring, HR employees look through the pages of a potential candidate, wanting to learn more about him, his habits and social circle. Explicit photos, aggressive posts, support for extremism and other aspects can play a negative role both in employment and in your career.
Leaks of personal data, manipulation of audiences, hacking of accounts with subsequent use are becoming more and more common. And even the giants in this area are not immune from such troubles. All this makes you think about what to publish on resources and who to give access to view, and teaches you to observe the minimum requirements of caution on the Internet.
Trends and prospects
A 2017 report from We Are Social and Hootsuite shows compelling user growth on social media. With a total population of about 7.5 billion people, over 3 billion are registered in one application or another. 1 million new registrations occur every day. Moreover, the number of visits to sites from mobile devices is growing - almost 90% of visitors use smartphones and tablets, rather than desktop computers.
At the same time, if a couple of years ago on communication platforms it was possible to quickly find out news and events from the lives of real people, now the situation is radically changing. There are more and more advertisements, posts about cats, motivators and other general information. And this is no longer such a close, intimate and familiar circle of friends. The level of trust drops, which means it becomes more difficult to sell something.
More and more startups are emerging, which, although they will not displace Facebook from its leadership position in the near future, will attract part of the audience. Planning a marketing campaign requires more attention and with a preliminary analysis of the selected resource, product and target audience.
Forecasts are that active growth will slow down and the social media boom will subside. You shouldn’t give up your usual web portal in favor of only a page on Facebook, VK or another network. The familiar Internet and websites will remain on par with social networks.
What are the most popular social networks
Dozens of services work. Some of them are loved in several countries or even around the world, others unite citizens of one country and are not widely used outside its borders. An overview of what social networks there are and a list of popular world services is provided below.
The unconditional first place is ensured by over 2.2 billion accounts in the world. Facebook has been in operation since 2004, created by Mark Zuckerberg. A simple and free communication service that allows you to:
- Register your own page where you post photos and other materials.
- Find other users, add them as friends, find out their news.
- Share information from the network or from other participants, upload videos and photographs.
- Create groups (open or closed).
- Find out the news.
- Comment and rate publications.
Facebook Inc. (the owner of the service) is constantly expanding its capabilities. Hyperlocal advertising (within a certain radius from the advertiser), Snapchat (disappearing stories), GIF animation for commenting, saving interesting materials, messenger and other functions confidently retain the interest of users.
YouTube
Video hosting You Tube from Google is the most popular video network in the world. It is also considered a social network, as it allows users to register, communicate, and share their videos. Here you can find information for every taste, from entertainment to educational courses. Founded in February 2005 in the USA. At the beginning of 2018, there are over 1.5 billion active users, and the result of several million views of popular videos is quite achievable.
Main features:
- Post your videos for viewing.
- Various formats are supported: panoramas, HD, Full HD, MPEG-4 AVC and others.
- Edit videos from the browser using editor programs (add titles, audio tracks, images, transitions).
- Comment, rate other people's videos or comments.
- Create group chats.
- Maintain a video channel.
The company is trying to control the content of the resource, periodically deleting videos that violate copyright and are recognized as extremist. In some countries, the resource is blocked for publishing materials objectionable to the authorities.
Mobile messenger for more than 1.2 billion people. WhatsApp was created in 2009, and since 2014 it has been owned by Facebook Inc. It is considered a social network due to its functions:
- Correspondence between participants.
- Creation of groups, communication in group chat mode.
- Share videos, music and other content.
- Possibility of assigning statuses for an account.
These features make it possible to classify WhatsApp as a social network, with one feature - it works based on the phone book. To communicate, you need the phone number of the interlocutor. Whether this limits it or, on the contrary, allows you to maintain privacy – there are different opinions. One of the advantages is that a large number of versions have been developed that support different operating systems, including Symbian (which is rare).
An application for different operating systems for publishing pictures and short videos (up to 60 seconds), viewing materials from other participants, with the ability to rate and comment. Since its launch in 2010, Instagram has reached more than 1.1 billion registered members. In 2012, it was acquired by Facebook Inc. Popular Features:
- Blogging.
- Photo processing - effects, frames, special shooting modes, collages.
- Creating your profile and publication feed.
- View friends, rate and comment on their posts.
- Cross-posting – simultaneous posting of material on several social networks.
- Search for the necessary information using hashtags (special marks).
Instagram is especially popular among young people under 25 years of age and is actively developing. This network is one of the most promising for business, product promotion, brand promotion and services.
The leader among Chinese services is WeChat, a micromessaging application. Considering the ban in the country of world favorites Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, Chinese users communicate with their developments. WeChat is not just an application; it has much more options. Basic:
- Personal communication, video calls, voice messages.
- Group chats for up to 500 people.
- Blogs, reviews, testimonials, “Moments”.
- Pay bills and purchases.
- Dating (including geographic search).
- Photo editing, text translation.
- One account on different devices at the same time.
And although there are a number of restrictions (for example, one publication per day), the application is relatively new (working since 2011), the number of accounts is approaching a billion. WeChat is being promoted outside of China (Russia, India and other countries).
Qzone
A Chinese social network with the following capabilities: blogging, watching videos, listening to music, communicating, making purchases. Basic options are free, additional options are available with a premium subscription. Since its foundation (2005), it has attracted 600 million participants. Available in English and Chinese.
Sina Weibo
A Chinese version of a microblog, basically similar to Facebook and Twitter. Since its inception (2009), it has attracted the attention of more than 500 million users. Development is hampered by the support of English and Chinese languages, and government censorship of the country. It has a convenient tree structure for comments, an online shopping service, and a premium profile with advanced functionality. On the Internet you can communicate, meet new people, download and view photos, search for interesting information and follow the news.
Google+
Google's own development. The operating principle is based on the concept of circles. The user creates them himself, regulating who and what information will be available. Main features: sharing photos, videos, links, games, group chats, support for mobile devices, video conferencing. Launched in 2011, there are more than 135 million users. The profile is associated with an email from Google and affects search results. The service is considered one of the most promising; the number of accounts is expected to grow steadily in the coming years.
Network for professionals. More than 500 million users from 200 countries communicate on its pages. The main emphasis is not on entertainment, humor, news and other content familiar to other services, but on a resume, portfolio, list of skills (with confirmation from real people), vacancies. Asking colleagues for advice, discussing professional issues, looking for a job or employees, getting recommendations are the tasks of LinkedIn. The project was launched in 2003 and purchased by Microsoft in 2016.
Started working in the USA in 2006. Features: blogging with short messages (maximum 280 characters). An interesting option is “Moments” (plots with development). You can learn about high-profile, popular news without subscribing to other users. People famous in various fields from show business to sports maintain their microblogs on Twitter. The total number of accounts exceeds 330 million.
What social networks are there in Russia?
In Russia, the popularity of online communication services does not lag behind global indicators. Only they have their favorites - Russian VKontakte and Odnoklassniki. Anyone who promotes their products or brand through SMM is required to know their leaders in this industry.
The rating of all social networks in Russia is estimated as part of the traffic that is created by this service on the Runet. The assessment is based on the results of 2018 studies of the largest Russian statistical data collection services on the Internet: Yandex.Metrica, SpyLog/Openstat, LiveInternet, Hotlog, [email protected].
These services lead in activity among Russians. Let's briefly look at two main national developments.
In contact with
Russian network created in 2006. Owned by Mail.Ru Group. Supports over 90 languages, over 460 million registered users. Most popular among Russian-speaking users - the leader of all social networks in Russia in terms of use. Possibilities:
- Creating your own page.
- Correspondence with other project participants.
- Sending pictures, audio and video recordings.
- Online cooperative games.
This resource is most often chosen for online stores and sales. This is facilitated by a wide range of opportunities and a large Russian-speaking audience.
Classmates
Another successful development by Mail.Ru Group. It ranks third in popularity in Russia with more than 330 million participants. The project is available in 14 languages and has been operating since 2006. Main features:
- Your own page for publishing information.
- Communication by messages or video calls.
- Search for people using different parameters.
- Payment for goods, money transfers.
- Additional paid options (invisibility, blacklist...).
The Odnoklassniki project works in both full and mobile versions, which is convenient and saves network traffic and time for loading the page.
List of social networks
A clear answer to the question “which social networks are better?” No. Each of them has a number of advantages and is popular in a certain environment. Country, age, range of interests influence preferences. We have decided on the main services, but the choice is much wider. Below is a list that includes the most promoted projects.
Social networks of the world:
- For communication: Facebook, VKontakte, MirTesen, Pinterest, Moy [email protected], Odnoklassniki, xbeee.com, Pikabu, ASKfm, Cloob, Instagram, Google+, Myspace, RetroShare, Vine.
- Thematic: Promise Bank, Diary, On the Wall, Habbo, Jeep-er Club, Auto Club AutoPCL, NumPlate, Last.fm, Olvet Community Network, MyAnimeList, Untappd, CHIF.SU, Wakoopa, Vsoyue, ktoprochto.ru, Nekto.me , Dravi.ru, Generations, Starichki.ru, Mom's page, MommyBuzz, BabyBlog, Badoo, Mamba, LovePlanet, Vichatter.net, Violetta, MegaMixGroup, Sociale by Vampir4ik, Ilovecinema.ru, Goodreads, Oplace, Zeenga.ru, We place , DRUZHNO.COM, Peers, Lemberg, Limpa, Badoo, LibertySpace, Locals.ru, Facerunet.ru, Krabitsa, Love Me Tender, Vpiski.Net, Neforu.ru, Budist.ru, Politix.ru, Politiko, In the Army, Classmates, Smeshariki, Moya Shkola.com, KSODIS, TOPodnoklassniki, Webkrug.ru, Car2gether, Tourout.ru, Marshruty.ru, Geoid, Naarende, IT Specialists, Habrahabr, Abyrvalg.NET, BookHook, Rybakiohotniki.ru, Foursquare, Schoolchildren .
- Professional: Doctor at work, My Circle, Professionals, E-xecutive, Mendeley, iVrach, LinkedIn, Viadeo, Academia.edu, Voiceland, Webby.ru, My Business Card, ResearchGate,.
- For blogs: Instagram, Fixfeel, Twitter, TipTopic.net, RuTvit, Toodoo, Blogosphere, LiveJournal, LiveJournal, Diary.ru.
- Asian: Tencent Qzone, Sina Weibo, QQ, Renren, Pengyou, WeChat, Douban.
Find like-minded people, meet love, get advice, learn something new and just chat - everything is possible on social networks. And what are the most popular ones you now know.
