Google plus

Google+ (Google Plus) is a multilingual social networking and identity service owned and operated by Google Inc. It is the second- largest social networking site in the world. It has approximate 359 million active users. As of May 2013, it had a total of 500 million registered users, of whom 235 million are active in a given month.

Google launched the Google+ service as an invitation- only “field test” on June 28, 2011, but soon suspended early inviters due to an “insane demand” for new accounts. On August 6, each Google+ member had 150 invitations to give out September 20, 2011, when Google+ opened to everyone 18 years of age or older without the need for an invitation. Google+ is an available as a website and on mobile devices. In the “Stream”, this occupies the middle of three columns on the page; users see updates from those in their Circles. There is an input box which allows users to enter a post. Along with the text entry field there are icons to upload and videos. “Circles” enable users to organize people into groups for sharing across various Google products and services.

Although other users may be users may be able to view a list of people in a user’s collection of Circles, they cannot view the names of those Circles. “Hangouts” are places used to facilitate group video chat (with a maximum of 10 people participating in a single Hangout at any point in time). Only Google+ users can join the “Hangout” if they happen to possess the unique URL of the Hangout.
“Messenger” is a feature available to Android, I Phone, and SMS devices for communicating through instant messaging within Circles.

“Instant Upload” is specific to mobile devices; it stores photos or videos in a private album for sharing later.
“Data Liberation” option provides the ability to download one’s content from Google+. “Search in Google+” allows users to search for content within Google+. Users type what they’re looking for into the Google+ search box, and Google+ will return relevant people and posts, as well as popular content from around the web.
Ripples, introduced on October 27, 2011, are a visualization tool, showing how reshaping activity happens regarding a public post.

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Twitter

Twitter is an online social networking service and micro blogging service that enables its users to send and read text- based messages of up to 140 characters, known as “tweets”.
Twitter was aerated in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and by July, the social networking site was launched. The service rapidly gained worldwide popularity, with over 500 million registered users as of 2012, generating over 340 million tweets daily and handling over 1.6 billion search queries per day.

 Tweets are publicly visible by default, but senders can restrict message delivery to just their followers. Users can tweet via the twitter website, compatible external applications (such as for smart phones), or by Short Message Service (SMS) available in certain countries.

Users may subscribe to other users’ tweets- this is known as following and subscribers are known as Followers or tweets, a portmanteau of Twitter and peeps. The users can also check the people who are un- subscribing them on twitter via various services.
Twitter allows users to update their profile their mobile phone either by text messaging or by apps released for certain smart phones and tablets.

Users can group posts together by topic or type by use of hash tags – words or phrases prefixed with a “#” sign. Similarly, the “@” sign followed by a user name is used for mentioning or replying to other users.
On April 30, 2009, Twitter adjusted its web interface, adding a search bar and a sidebar of “trending topics” the most common phrases appearing in messages. Biz Stone explains that all messages are instantly indexed and that “with this newly launched feature, twitter has become important – a discovery engine for finding out what is happening right now”.

In late 2009, the “Twitter Lists” feature was added, making it possible for users to follow (as well as mention and reply to) ad hoc lists of authors instead of individual authors.
The tweets were ser to a 140 – character limit for compatibility with SMS messaging, introducing the shorthand notation and slang commonly used in SMS message.

There are numerous tools for adding content, monitoring content and conversations including Tally (video sharing, old name is twitvid), Tweet Deck, Salesforce.com, Hoot Suite, and Twitter feed.
Twitter has mobile apps for I phone, I pad, Android, Windows phone, Black Berry, and Nokiya S40. There is also version of the website for mobile devices, SMS and MMS service.

In March 2012, twitter became available in Arabic, Farsi, Hebrew and Urdu, the first right to – left language versions of the site.
About 13,000 volunteers helped with translating the menu options. In August 2012, beta support for Basque, Czech and Greek was added, making the site available in 33 different languages.

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Ning

 
Ning is an online platform for people and organizations to create custom social networks, launched in October 2005.

Ning offers customers the ability to create a community website with a customized appearance and feel; feature sets such as photos, videos, forums and blogs; and support for “Like”, plus integration with Face book, Twitter, Google and Yahoo!. Ning, Inc. Is owned by Glam Media and, like the operating company, has its headquarters in Palo Alto, California.

The word “Ning” is Chinese or “peace”, as explained by Gina Balanchine on the company blog. Ning started development in October 2004 and launched its plat form publicly in October 2005. Ning was initially funded internally by Balanchine, Andreessen and angel investors. In July 2007, Ning raised US $44 million in venture capital, led by Legg Mason.

Ning appeals to people who want to create their own communities and social networks around specific interests with their own visual design, choice of features and member date. The central feature of Ning is that anyone can create their own social network for a particular topic or need, catering to specific membership bases or community needs.

A  Ning community can integrate with online services like Face book, Twitter and Google. For instance, people can join a Ning Network using their Face book or Twitter account, and share content from a Ning Network directly to their Twitter or Face book accounts.

Ning formerly had both free and paid options; it switched to three levels of paid service in April 2010. Each pay level allows for different degrees of features, viral tools, customization, and customer support.
Ning added an I phone interface in March 2009, then made networks more compatible with mobile phones in August 2009. In October 2010, Ning launched an IOS application (I phone, I pad, I pod Touch) for network administrators to use to manage their social networks.

Ning has 90,000 customers with social websites on the Ning Plat form. A range of different types of communities, organizations and businesses use Ning as their website.
Ning is currently located in downtown Palo Alto, California and its headquarters are in Face book’s old office space.

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My space

My space (previously stylized as my space and My-----) is a social networking service with a strong music emphasis owned by Specific Media LLC and pop music singer and actor Justin Timberlake. My space was launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In June 2012, my space had 25 million unique U.S. visitors.

In August 2003, several e Universe employees with Friendster accounts saw potential in its social networking features. The group decided to mimic the more popular features of the website. Within 10 days, the first version of My space was ready for launch, implemented using Cold Fusion. The project was overseen by Brad Green span (e Universe’s Founder, Chairman, CEO), Josh Berman, Tom Anderson (My space’s starting president), and a team of programmers and resources provided by e Universe.
My space allows users to customize their user profile pages by entering HTHL (but not Java Script) in to such areas as “About Me”, “I’d like to meet”, and “Interests”. Videos and flash- based content can de included this way. Users also have the option pages via my space Music, a service that allows bands to post songs for use on my space.

Bulletins are posts that are posted on to a “bulletin board” for everyone on a space user’s friends list to see. Bulletins can be useful for contacting an entire friends list without resorting to messaging users individually.
My space had a “Groups” feature that allowed a group of users to share a common page and message bored. Groups could be created by anybody, and the moderator of the group could choose for anyone to join, or to approve or deny requests to join.

In late 2003 Fin Lavelle encoded his personal music in to my space profile, becoming the first my space musician. My space profiles for musicians in the website’s my space Music section differ from normal profiles in allowing artists to upload their entire discographies consisting of MP3 songs.
Moods are small emoticons that are used to depict a mood the user is in. The feature was added in July 2007. The mood feature as of 2010 is not included by default with the status updates, but could be shared on the homepage as a separate update.

On March 10, 2010,  my space had some new features added like recommendation engine for new users which suggests games, music and videos based on their previous search habits. The security on my space was also accounted to, with the criticism of Face book, to make it a safer site.
In September 2010, my space continued to work on improving the website. A photos section was added and the photo flexor app was added to photos.

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Friendster

Friendster is a social gaming site that is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was previously  known as a social networking website.

Before the site was redesigned, the service allowed users to contact other members, maintain those contacts, and share online content and media with those contacts. Users could share videos, photos, messages and comments with other members via their profile and their network. It was considered one of the original and even the “granddaddy” of social networks. The service became popular in Southeast Asia and is a major site in that region of the world.

Friendster was founded by Canadian computer programmer Jonathan Abrams in 2002, before the wider adoption of My Space (2003), Face book (2004) and other social networking sites.
Available languages include English, Filipino, Thai, Malay, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Chinese, and Japanese, Korean, and Spanish. Friendster launched all language support on a single domain – www.friendster.com . Friendster is the first global online social network to support Asian languages and others on single domain so that users from around the world can talk to each other.
Friendster.com went live in 2002 and was adopted by three million users within the first few months. Friendster’s rapid success inspired a generation of niche social networking websites including dogster and Elfster.

As of 2008 Friendster had a membership base of more than 115 million registered users and continued to grow in Asia.
According to Alexia, the site has suffered an exponential decline in traffic in America since 2009. From a peak 40 ranking it reached 800 in November 2010. Most people have since attributed this decline to the rise of Face book, a rival social networking site.

Friendster has been an open site since August 2006 when it first began allowing widgets and content to be embedded in user profile pages through its developer program. Roughly 39 percent of Friendster’s users have widgets on their profile.

Friendster gives software developers access to APIS that utilize content and data within the Friendster network to build and deploy customizable applications on and off Friendster.

In June 2011, Friendster shifted from social networking site to social entertainment site which focus on gaming and entertainment. The accounts are unchanged and still existing. However, all comments, testimonials, shout outs, blogs, forums and groups that the users may have had in the past may no longer be part of their Friendster account.

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LIVE JOURNAL

 Live Journal in Russia is a social network owned by SUP Media where Internet users can keep a blog, journal or diary- a wide variety of political pundits also use the service for political commentary, particularly in Russia, where it partners with the politically independent online news-paper Gazette, ru (also owned by parent company SUP Media). As with many other social networks, a wide variety of public figures use the network.


Each journal entry has its own web page, which includes the comments left by other users. In addition, each user has a journal page, which shows all of his or her most recent journal entries, along with links to the comment pages.

The most distinctive feature of Live Journal is the “friends list”, which gives the site a strong social aspect in addition to the blog services.

Live Journal allows users to customize their accounts in several ways. The S2 programming language allows journal templates to be modified by members. Users may upload graphical avatars, or “usurpers”, which appear next to the Unser name in prominent areas as it would on an Internet forum.
Each user also has a “User Info” page, which contains a variety of date including contact information, a biography, images (linked from off-site sources) and lists of friends, interests, communities and even schools which the user has attended in the past or is currently attending.

1.    Sending Text Messages- users can receive text messages sent via Live Journal without sharing their phone number. If the text messaging feature is set up, anyone (or any authorized user) can use Live Journal to send text messages to the cellular phone by following a link on your User Info page.
2.    “To-do list” feature – Live Journal offers “to-do list” for managing users’ goals and aims. Users can have 150 to-do list items.
3.    “Express Lane” – users with paid accounts have access to express lanes, which make pages load faster.
4.    “Voice Post” – members with paid accounts can call from any phone to a specific number, record the audio and upload it directly to their journal.

The   unit of social networking on Live Journal is quaternary (with four possible states of connection between one user and another). Two users can have no relationship, they can list each other as friends mutually, or either can “friend” the other without reciprocation.

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BUZZNET

Buzz Net is a photo, journal, and video-sharing social media network, owned by Buzz Media. Like other social networking sites, Buzz net is a platform for members to share content based on their personal interests.
Unlike classic social networking sites, which focus primarily on messaging and  profile pages, Buzz net members participate in communities that are created around ideas, events and interests, most predominantly music, celebrities, and the media. Buzznet.com was founded by Marc Brown, Steve Haldane, Kevin Woolery and Anthony Bat (CEO). The site was officially launched in 2005 when the company received private funding from Anthem Venture Partners.

User pages are controlled by individual members and can be customized with colors and text. Upon sign in, registered members are prompted to upload videos, photos, or post journals, all of which can be tagged to appropriate tag topic pages.

Tag topic pages house all photos, videos, journals, and links that have been tagged to a particular topic. Topics are most commonly a band, celebrity, or content genre.
Members are recognized for their popularity in the Buzz net community based on the amount of buzz they receive. Each photo, video, and journal can receive buzz from other members. Top buzzed members and top content contributors are recognized throughout the site.

Users can access Buzz net from a mobile device in four different ways. They can upload content directly via email, with ShoZu, or access their account with mobile and I phone versions of the site. With the mobile version, users can update their account, upload photos, and post journals.

The buzz net is a website for people to discuss about different views of music. Banners displayed on the homepage link to Buzz net’s contest groups and Buzz net polls. Each Buzz net contest is typically endorsed by a band, celebrity, or record label. Past contests include “Get Dressed by Avail” March Model Search, endorsed by pop-rock icon, Avail Lavigne, and “Feel the Elite Beat” Dance video Contest sponsored by Nintendo. The homepage also links to music features, festival updates, and Internet stars.

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P interest

P interest is a pin board-style photo-sharing website that allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections such as events, interests, and hobbies. Users can browse other pin boards for images, “re-pin” images to their own pin boards, or “like” photos. The site was founded by Ben, Silber Mann, Paul Scarred, and Evan Sharp.
P interest is similar to earlier social image book marking systems based on the same principle, such as David Galbraith’s 2005 project Waists. It allows users to save images and categorize them on different boards. They can follow other users’ boards if they have similar tastes. Popular categories are travel, cars, food, film, humor, home design, sports, fashion, and art.

The launch of an I phone app in early March 2011 brought in a more than expected number of downloads.
On 10 August 2012, P interest no longer required a request or an invitation to join the site. In addition, the P interest app for Android and I Pad was also launched on August 14, 2012.
In October 2012, P interest announced a new feature that would allow users to report others for negative and offensive activity or block other users if they do not want to view their content. P interest said they want to keep their community “positive and respectful”.

P interest users can upload, save, sort and manage images, known as pins, and other media content (e.g. videos) through collections known as pin boards. P interest acts as a personalized media platform, whereby users’ content and the content of others can be browsed on the main page.

On the main P interest page, a “pin feed” appears, displaying the chronological activity from the P interest boards that a user follows. When browsing for new boards and relevant pins, users can visit a “Tastemakers” page that recommend pin boards with content similar to previous pins saved by a user. For both guests and P interest users, there are currently four main sections to browse: everything, videos, popular, and gifts.
The website has proven especially popular among women. According to Nielsen, in 2013 the female audience of P interest in the U.S was 70%. The most popular are food & drink, DIY & crafts, women’s apparel, home décor, and travel.

Pin boards can be used by educators to plan lessons. Teachers can pin sites for later referral. Students can collaborate on projects.

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Tumbir

Tumblr, stylized In its logo as tumblr. Is a micro blogging platform and social networking website owned and operated by Tumblr, Inc. the service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a short-form blog.
Users can follow other users’ blogs as well as make their blogs private. Much of the website’s features are accessed from the “dashboard” interface, where the option to post content and posts of followed blogs appear.
Development of Tumblr began in 2006 during a two week gap between contracts at David Karp’s Software consulting company. Davidville (housed at Karp’s former internship with producer/incubator Fred Seibert’s Federator Studios, which was located a block from Tumblr’s current headquarters).

In early June 2012, Tumblr featured its first major brand advertising campaign in conjunction with Adidas. Adidas launched an official soccer Tumblr blog and bought placements on the user dashboard.

Dashboard-The dashboard is the primary tool for the typical Tumblr user. It is a live feed of recent posts from blogs that they follow. Through the dashboard, users are able to comment, re blog, and like posts from other blogs that appear on their dashboard. Queue- Users are able to set up a schedule to delay posts that they make. They can spread their posts over several hours or even days.

Tags- For each post a user creates, he is able to help his audience find posts about certain topics by adding tags. HTML coding to control the appearance of their blog .A user is also able to use a custom domain name for his blog.

With Tumblr’s 2009 acquisition of Tumblesets, an Apple App Store application created by Jeff Rock and Garrett Ross, the service launched its official I Phone app. The  site became available to Black Berry smart phones on April 17,2010, via a Mobiles application in Black-Berry World.

AS of May 19, 2013, Tumblr hosted over 108 million blogs. Its headquarters is at 35 East 21st Street in the Flatiron District in New York City’s Silicon Alley.

On May 20, 2013, it was announced that Yahoo! And Tumblr had reached an agreement for Yahoo! To acquire Tumblr for $1.1 billion in cash Many of Tumblr’s users were unhappy with the news, causing some to start a petition that achieved nearly 170,000 signatures. David Karp will remain CEO, and the deal was finalized on June 20, 2013.

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Flicker

            
Flicker (pronounced “flicker”) is an image hosting and video hosting website, and web services suite that was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo! In2005.

In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, and effectively an online community, the services is widely used by photo researchers and by embed in blogs and social media.
 Flicker was launched in February 2004 by Ludicorp, a Vancouver-based company founded by Stewart Butterfield and Catherina Fake. The service emerged out of tools originally created for Ludicorp’s Game Never-ending, a web-based massively multiplayer online game.

In August 2011 the site reported that it was hosting more than 6 billion images and this number continues to grow steadily according to reporting sources. Photos and videos can be accessed from Flicker without the need to register an account but an account must be made in order to upload content onto the website. For mobile users, Flicker has official mobile apps for iOS, Android, Play Station Vita, and Windows Phone operating systems.
Flicker currently offers three types of accounts; Free, Ad Free and Doublers. The free option includes one terabyte of storage limited to 200 MB per video. The Ad Free option allows subscribers to avoid advertisements for an annual free. As the name suggests, the Doublers account includes two terabytes of storage.

Groups can be started by any member of Flicker. The creator of the Flicker group has the ability to monitor and set restrictions for the group. Groups are used as a way to communicate with fellow members of Flicker around common photography interests.

Organizer is a web application for organizing photos within a Flicker account that can be accessed through the Flicker interface. It allows users to modify tags, descriptions, and set groupings, and to place photos on a world map (a feature provided in conjunction with Yahoo! Maps).

Flicker had a partnership with the Picnic online photo-editing application that included a reduced- feature version of Picnic built into Flicker as a default photo editor.

Flicker provides both private and public image storage. A user uploading an image can set privacy controls that determine who can view the image. A photo can be flagged as either public or private.  Private images are visible by default only to the up loader, but they can also be marked as viewable by friends and/or family.
In May 2011, Flicker added an option to easily reverse an account termination. This action was motivated by a very public accidental deletion of a Flicker user’s account, and its protracted restoration.

According to the company, as of August 2009 Flicker is hosted on 62 databases across 124 servers, with about 800,000 user accounts per pair of servers.

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